Hopkinton's Town Election is Monday: What You Need To Know

HOPKINTON, MA - Hopkinton voters have some big decisions to make in Monday's town election.

Voting will be held in Hopkinton Middle School's gymnasium, located at 88 Hayden Rowe St. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Major elections

Three candidates are running for two seats on the Select Board, including current member Mary Jo LaFreniere. Shahidul Mannan, a Planning Board member, is vying for a seat along with former Select Board member John Coutinho.

There are three seats up for grabs on the School Committee, each with different terms. Current Chair Nancy Richards-Cavanaugh is running for reelection to a three-year term. Community advocate Christopher Melton is challenging her for the position.

For the two-year term, parent Ashley Fogg is competing with Holly Morand, a behavioral health research fellow at Brigham and Women's and a doctoral student, for the vacant seat.

Former School Committee member Jenn Devlin is running for the one-year vacancy against Jared Pray.

Six ballot questions

There are six questions on the ballot, each resulting from the recent approval at Annual Town Meeting a couple of weeks ago.

Question 1 requests a debt exclusion for the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to purchase a replacement fire engine for Fire Engine 2 and its maintenance and use. The Annual Town Meeting voted to appropriate $736,318 by authorizing the town to borrow the money to cover the cost. The tax impact on the average homeowner with a house valued at $681,100 would be just below $11.

Question 2 also relates to the fire department. It is seeking a positive vote to pay for upgrades and repairs in the vicinity of Fire Station No. 2, known as Woodville. At the 2022 ATM, the town voted to appropriate $400,000 for the payment of costs for the renovation of the Woodville Fire Station, including any planning, design and construction costs.

To meet this appropriation, the town authorized the transfer of funds from unexpended proceeds of existing town bonds. Because the funds are already held by the town, there will not be an incremental tax impact.

Question 3: This debt exclusion pertains to the funds needed to perform repairs on the Lake Maspenock Dam area. At the Annual Town Meeting, the town voted to appropriate $400,000 for the payment of costs of the Lake Maspenock dam repair project, including any planning, design, engineering, construction and associated costs or related expenses. This appropriation would be made by authorizing the transfer of funds from unexpended proceeds of existing Town bonds. There would be no incremental tax impact because the funds already are held by the town.

Question 4: This question would authorize payment for the replacement of air handling units in Hopkinton Middle School and Hopkinton High School, which would cost $475,000. The amount includes planning, design, engineering, construction and associated costs. The town would need to borrow the money, resulting in a temporary tax increase. The peak year tax impact for principal and interest payments on this proposed debt is just over $6 for a homeowner with Hopkinton's average house value of $681,100.

Question 5: This question seeks approval for the appropriation of $695,000 to pay for the bond issued to cover the additional costs of the addition to the Marathon School. This request was approved at the Annual Town Meeting because supply chain issues and inflation have increased the estimated costs for the project.

Annual Town Meeting members voted in favor of the request. This appropriation would come from the unexpended proceeds of existing town bonds.

Question 6: This debt exclusion request asks voters to authorize the town to borrow $1,671,543 for the purpose of replacing the Fruit Street Turf Field, including any planning, design, engineering, construction and associated costs or related expenses on the project. Annual Town Meeting authorized the town to borrow $1,271,543 towards the total cost, contingent upon passage of the debt exclusion. This borrowing was made contingent upon the passage of a debt exclusion. The cost to homeowners in the peak tax year would be just over $25.