Goat Article A No Go At Danvers Town Meeting

DANVERS, MA —Danvers Town Meeting will delay deliberating two controversial articles until a special town meeting at a later date —one because it would have drawn a big crowd that would have made social distancing difficult and the other because of the uncertain fiscal picture as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The first article would have had town meeting vote on a zoning law change that would allow a Hobart Street couple to keep Dean and Deluca, a pair of goats. Timothy Raesly and Brittany Dupon-Raesly presented selectmen with a petition last year with more than 900 signatures asking them to put the article on a town meeting warrant.

In November, the Massachusetts Land Court turned down the couple's appeal of a town decision ordering them to remove the goats from their Hobart Street property. The court denied a motion for summary judgement, ruling in favor of the town of Danvers's motion for summary judgement.

The other article called for spending $3.6 million to convert an old barn at Endicott Park into an event venue. At the May 5 selectmen's meeting, Town Manager Steve Bartha said it didn't seem prudent to move forward with the article given the town's uncertain fiscal picture.

Danvers finance officials are proposing a hiring freeze, cuts in benefits for town workers and reduced capital expenditures, among other measures, to balance the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

"This is a project that would require $2 million in discretionary debt," Bartha said. "That doesn’t make a lot of fiscal sense."