WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE – 09/02/25

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD 

The Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB) held its first meeting last Tuesday. This board, made up of seven members, was formed to assist with increasing the commercial tax base by supporting local businesses and attracting new businesses to town. Board members are Kelly Grill, Parker Happ, Robert Hummel, Sravana Krishna, Finley Perry, Wilson St. Pierre and Jordan Thayer. Thayer was elected chair, with Hummel elected vice chair. The board is taxed with recommending strategies for economic development and will conduct public outreach to  inform these recommendations. They will be able to utilze the town’s meals tax, which is expected to grow to approximately $100,000 by the year’s end, to fund these initiatives. They will be required to submit a report in January reviewing their efforts to that point. Upcoming meetings will be held on September 16th and 30th at 7:00 p.m. 

EDAB holds initial meeting, talks priorities (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 08/27/25)

FINANCE DEPARTMENT 

The Finance Department has explained why a state website aimed toward returning unclaimed property / money has posted 10 accounts under the name of “Town of Hopkinton OBRA.” This website, findmassmoney.gov, advertises on social media, television and radio. Town Treasurer/Collector CJ Paquette has explained that these identified accounts are dormant and belong to former employees, not the town itself. Paquette noted that listing the claims in this way is misleading and he has requested that the state list them under the former employees’ names instead. It was explained further that the town does file reports biannually with the state to retrieve unclaimed money, which is a lengthy and time-consuming process that generally yields small amounts. The finance department has made strides toward improving processes. 

Finance Department explains dormant town accounts appearing on state website (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 08/26/25)

SELECT BOARD 

Public Hearing Cancelled. The public hearing set by the Select Board for this Thursday, September 4th, to consider options regarding Hillers Pizza’s common victualer’s license, has been cancelled, as Hillers Pizza permanently closed on Monday and cancelled its license. A new restaurant under new ownership is expected to take over the space.  

New owners to take over Hillers Pizza location (Article by Nick Schofield, 09/02/25)