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December 2026 Special Town Meeting

At a glance

  • What: Special Town Meeting on Dec 7, 2026. Draft warrant (reviewed Oct 13): five articles, two on police and fire personnel rules, two zoning bylaws (drone facilities, data centers) and one on 15 Maple Avenue. Not yet posted as final.

  • Next: Planning Board hearing on the zoning articles Nov 5; Select Board signs the warrant at its next meeting (reported Oct 22); Finance Committee hearing Nov 19.

  • Set Sept 22, 2026: the Select Board voted to hold the meeting at 7 p.m. on Dec 7 at the Oak Middle School auditorium; Nov 10 is the board's article presentations and recommendations, and packets go to members Nov 20.

  • Related: Special Town Meeting - December 7, 2026.

  • Finance Committee review (Oct 15): the committee discussed each article; see the individual article pages.

Sources

Discussion time

About 9 minutes across 3 meetings (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting Minutes
2026-10-15 - Finance Committee 1
2026-10-13 - Select Board 7
2026-09-22 - Select Board 1

Log

  • 2026-10-05 - 2026-10-05 - Community Preservation Committee: The town manager's office advised against financial warrant articles at the December meeting because of tax rate timing, so Community Preservation articles move to the May Annual Town Meeting.
  • 2026-10-21 - Page created from public town materials and news coverage (retrieved 2026-10-21); no meeting transcript processed yet. Ranking of issues is inferred from committee activity.
  • 2026-10-15 - 2026-10-15 - Finance Committee: Kevin Mizikar reviewed the five-article draft warrant with the Finance Committee (details on each article page) and said he does not expect more articles. Committee hearing Nov 19; the Dec 7 meeting is expected to take one night; January committee dates of the 17th and 21st were mentioned. Planning Board hearings were given as Nov 4 in these captions (other pages say Nov 5). About 1 minute on the schedule, plus the article discussions logged on their own pages.
  • 2026-10-13 - 2026-10-13 - Select Board: Kevin Mizikar presented a five-article draft warrant: police civil service exemption (Police Civil Service Exemption Article), removing the hiring age cap (Public Safety Hiring Age Article), aviation facilities and drone zoning (Amazon Prime Air Drone Delivery), data center zoning (Data Center Zoning Bylaw Update) and 15 Maple Avenue (15 Maple Avenue Municipal Use Designation). Planning Board hearing Nov 5; Finance Committee hearing Nov 19; board to sign the warrant at its next meeting.
  • 2026-10-01 - 2026-10-01 - Planning Board: Planning Board previewed the drone delivery and data center zoning articles; hearing November 5 before the December 7 meeting.
  • 2026-09-22 - 2026-09-22 - Select Board: the board voted to set the Special Town Meeting for Monday, Dec 7, 2026 at 7 p.m. at the Oak Middle School auditorium. Key dates cited: Oct 22 warrant signing, Nov 10 article presentations and recommendations, Nov 19 Finance Committee hearing, Nov 20 packets to members; Oct 20 was named as the citizen petition deadline.
  • 2026-09-08 - 2026-09-08 - Select Board: the board referred two draft zoning amendments (drones and data centers) to the Planning Board for hearings ahead of a fall or winter Special Town Meeting, expected in early December. A member noted a tree preservation bylaw would not be ready for it.
  • 2026-08-04 - 2026-08-04 - Select Board Workshop: Workshop: Mizikar said he was uncertain whether a Special Town Meeting would be needed before the tax rate is set in November. Board members also listed zoning matters to be addressed before the next Annual Town Meeting in May.
  • 2026-09-17 - 2026-09-17 - Finance Committee: Manager recommended December 7; no financial articles needed; possible hearing at the November 19 Finance Committee meeting.
  • 2026-10-27 - 2026-10-27 - Select Board Meeting: board signed the six-article warrant after editing Article 6 to limit the CPA-funded tree planting transfer to CPA funds only.
  • 2026-11-08 - Special Town Meeting: citizen guide updated to the signed six-article warrant (Article 6, Community Preservation tree planting, added). Planning Board hearing #1 held Nov 5 (2026-11-05 - Planning Board); Select Board review 2026-11-10 - Select Board; recommendations 2026-11-24 - Select Board; Finance Committee hearing 2026-11-19 - Finance Committee Public Hearing.