GROVELAND – About 120 residents gathered at the Elmer Bagnall School on Monday April 28 for our Groveland Annual Town Meeting. The meeting started at 6:30 pm as scheduled without a plea for residents to come to meet the quorum of 100.
The warrant was a dense tome of 48 articles including several wordy town bylaw changes. Amazingly all 48 articles passed, and the meeting ended at 9:19 pm, a mere 2 hours and 49 minutes.
The most notable approval was for the MBTA Law or 30B zoning overlay district which passed with barely a whimper of dissent. Due to the excellent explanation offered by Planning Board chair, DJ McNulty, most residents’ questions about it seemed to be answered.
Additional bylaw changes that were enacted included a town administrator bylaw, changes to the Council on Aging bylaw, changes to the Community Preservation Act bylaw and changes to the Battery Energy Storage Systems bylaw.
New bylaws were also enacted for Accessory Dwelling Units, Driveways regulations and Flood Zones.
Residents later passed a $24.2 million budget and a $44 million water filtration plant funded by rate payers, with no dissent. Moderator Joe Damore attributed the smooth meeting to thorough preparation, including our Groveland Cable News (GCN )news coverage, his community TV shows on the issues, and a display of articles on screen at the front of the meeting stage.
Town Administrator Rebecca Oldham thought the meeting went so smoothly because there was a lot of preparation and clear communication ahead of time. The messaging around MBTA compliance emphasized the practical benefits and made it clear that this was a state mandate we needed to address. That helped frame the article as a necessary step rather than a controversial choice.
Overall, Oldham felt like residents trusted the work that had gone into all the proposals, which contributed to the smooth discussion and broad support at the Town Meeting. Also, the positive and cooperative tone of the meeting helped set expectations for a productive night rather than a confrontational one. ♦
