WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE – 04/27/26 – ANNUAL TOWN MEETING EDITION
EHOP’S ANNUAL KNOW YOUR VOTE FORUM – TOMORROW
eHop’s 14th Annual Know Your Vote forum is tomorrow evening! Attend in person or tune in live on HCAM-TV or YouTube (or watch the recording later) so you can get the the answers you need from town officials before Town Meeting on Saturday.
- Tuesday, April 28th from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at HCAM TV Studios (77 Main St., Lower Level).
- Residents are encouraged to submit questions during the forum via email (knowyourvote@ehop.org) and via Facebook (@ehop01748). Residents may also submit their questions via email prior to the event.
ANNUAL TOWN MEETING – THIS SATURDAY!
Annual Town meeting will take place at a new day and time, this Saturday, May 2nd, at 9:00 a.m. in the Middle School Auditorium. We hope to see you there!
- Check out eHop’s Town Meeting 2026 information page to review the warrant articles and for more details about town meeting.
- Also, check out the Hopkinton Independent’s Town Meeting Primer: Primer for May 2 Town Meeting: another vote on MBTA Communities zoning, proposed e-bike speed limit on tap.
WATER & SEWER ADVISORY BOARD
At its Wednesday meeting, the Water & Sewer Advisory Board discussed issues expected to come up at Annual Town Meeting on Saturday, including elevated manganese levels which the board notes are above the state’s advisory level but do not rise to the level to cause concern for public health, and misconceptions that brown water, caused by iron and manganese sludge in pipes, is equated with PFAS. Board members emphasized the importance of getting articles approved at Town Meeting to fund necessary water and sewer capital projects, as well as the purchase of the Carbone’s property where the town plans to build a water supply pump station for the potential MWRA connection. The board also again stressed the importance of resident water conservation given the town’s water situation and drought status, which was recently downgraded from a critical Level 3 to a Level 1 (mild).
WSAB talks water quality, conservation ahead of ATM, Select Board meeting (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 04/23/26)
COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
At its Thursday meeting, the Community Preservation Committee made changes to funding requests on two key projects to be voted on at Annual Town Meeting, due to newly received information. It first changed the funding request amount that the CPC will contribute to the proposed purchase of a portion of the Carbone’s Restaurant property. Its original proposal to purchase the Ashland parcel of the property for $225,000 had to be revised due to the owners decision to keep that parcel. The committee voted to contribute $185,000 instead toward the town’s $2 million purchase of the property with the expectation of receiving 5 acres to be designated as open space with a conservation restriction.
The committee also changed the funding recommendation wording for phase one of the Center School reuse project to recommend $2.4 million for the demolition of the two rear additions and removal of hazardous materials, and removed a clause in the motion that the CPC would have “first dibs” on the property’s use if the project does not move forward, as town counsel advised that this exceeded its authority.
The other projects that the CPC has recommended for funding include:
- “Amending the use of the previously approved $1 million grant for the redesign of Pyne Field to investigate other sites for the proposed cricket and baseball fields;
- A $20,000 grant for headstone preservation at town cemeteries;
- A $25,000 grant for benches and picnic tables at Parks & Recreation facilities;
- A $250,000 grant for lighting at the pickleball/tennis court at the Fruit Street fields;
- A $25,000 grant for floor restoration in the Hopkinton Public Library’s Ellsworth conference room;
- A $10,000 grant for the restoration of the limestone entrance at Town Hall;
- A $35,000 grant for the purchase of approximately 3.5 acres of land off Winter Street for open space to link Cameron Woods and Sylvan Way.”
CPC adjusts Carbone’s, Center School recommendations ahead of ATM (Article by Mary Ellen Gambon, 04/24/26)