Abington voters are asked to come to what’s expected to be a brief Special Town Meeting Monday night.
The meeting agenda, known officially as the warrant, only has three items, but each are needed to allow projects to move forward over the next few months, according to Town Manager Scott Lambiase.
The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. in the Middle/High School Auditorium. All registered Abington voters are able to attend and participate. A quorum of 150 voters is needed to hold the meeting.
ARTICLE 1: South Shore Vocational Technical High School Agreement Amendment
The region’s technical high school is looking to build a new $267 million facility on its Hanover campus. The state is likely going to pick up about $109 million of the tab, with the member communities — including Abington — paying the remaining $158 million. The other member towns are Cohasset, Hanover, Hanson, Marshfield, Norwell, Rockland, Scituate and Whitman.
The school’s annual budget is split up using a formula that’s adjusted every few years based on student enrollment per town. However, the percentage each member pays for bond payments is locked in the time the money is borrowed — regardless of how student enrollment fluctuates, or if new towns are allowed into the district.
“I don’t know why it’s different for large-scale projects,” Lambiase said.
Town Meeting is being asked to approve a new funding arrangement that will allow the funding formula to be adjusted every four years.
“It’s more fair to all the communities, especially as we’re letting in one new town (Marshfield) and there could be others over the course of the next 30 years,” said Lambiase.
Each member town will head to the polls in January and vote whether to officially approve the new school project. If the district approves the project, Abington voters this spring will likely be asked to approve a Proposition 2/12 override to pay its share.
Lambiase discussed the project with South Shore Technical High School Superintendent/Director Tom Hickey during a recent episode of his Town Manager’s Corner show on Abington CAM.
COST: n/a
FUNDING SOURCE: n/a
ARTICLE 2: Community Preservation Budget
The Community Preservation Committee is asking to spend $10,000 to improve one of the two softball fields behind the Beaver Brook Elementary School. Town Meeting back in 2022 approved $40,000 in renovations to the main softball field behind the school, which paid for new dugouts and fencing, and a functioning scoreboard, among other things. The new allocation would improve the dugouts at the field closer to the school’s playground, among other upgrades.
Lambiase said they are asking for the funding now so that the improvements can be completed prior to the spring softball season.
Community Preservation Committee Chairwoman Rachel Collins said the money is coming from reserve funds and not from next year’s allocation.
COST: $10,000
FUNDING SOURCE: Community Preservation Act funds
ARTICLE 3: Hancock/Chestnut Street Intersection Improvement Project
It may seem like it’s taking forever, but the Hancock Street/Chestnut Street Improvement project is moving forward. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is proposing to build a roundabout at the intersection, which is one of the most accident-prone in the region.
This article gives the town permission to take strips of land along the intersection’s four corners. Lambiase said the state will handle the land-taking negotiations, and is paying for the project, but the town will ultimately own the roundabout.
COST: n/a
FUNDING SOURCE: The state is paying for the $6.7 million project.
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