By Dakota Antelman, Contributing Writer
Hudson – Voters will settle a mix of housekeeping articles and long running issues at this year’s November Town Meeting.
Scheduled for Nov. 16 at Hudson High School, the event boasts a warrant of 22 articles. Nine of those are primarily finance focused items that officials passed over at the last town meeting, in June, amid the economic uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis.
“Based on all the action that we took in June, we should be fine,” Executive Assistant Tom Moses said at a Sept. 28 Board of Selectmen meeting, explaining the choice to move forward with these votes now.
Hudson did make notable cuts to its budget, which voters then agreed to in June.
At the time, municipal leaders here and across the region feared a drop in state aid to communities of as much as 14 percent.
Now, though, reassurance from the state has people like Moses breathing a sigh of relief.
Despite the pandemic, state leaders like Gov. Charlie Baker say aid for the Fiscal Year 2021 should be on par with 2020 funding.
“Promises can be broken,” Moses said. “But the governor has a long track record of supporting local government and living up to his commitments. So, I fully expect that he will do that this time.”
Moving through the November warrant, voters will also make twin real estate decisions for Hudson.
In Article 20, the Board of Selectmen asks to transfer control of the old Packard Street police station to the Affordable Housing Trust.
An ongoing discussion since police moved to their new headquarters off Cox Street, this move comes amid a proposal to give historic former police station and school for a third life as an affordable housing development.
A public information session on that proposal is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7p.m.
Article 21, meanwhile, will decide whether to allow Hudson to move forward with the legal maneuvering required to eventually purchase the old National Guard Armory using money that the Hudson Cultural Alliance is currently fundraising.
Read the full town meeting warrant…https://go.boarddocs.com/ma/hudsonma/Board.nsf/files/BTRQ5M65564E/$file/Nov2020Warrant.pdf
