Hanson Select Board advances highway department overhaul, defers housing plan vote

HANSON -- August 5, 2025, Hanson Select Board unanimously backs preliminary planning for a $2.2 million to $2.7 million Highway Department renovation while deferring a vote on the town's Housing Production Plan over MBTA Communities language. The board directed the highway building committee to sharpen cost estimates for a plan that would relocate highway administration to the former police station, replace a structurally compromised 1938-era garage with a new 9,400-square-foot Morton-style steel building, and construct a new salt shed, with total project costs potentially reaching $4 million under a debt-exclusion ballot question. Town Planner Tony Fry and consultant Karen Sundberg presented the updated Housing Production Plan, which the Planning Board approved in January, but board members objected to language acknowledging MBTA Communities Section 3A obligations. Sundberg agreed to query state housing officials on whether the plan would be accepted without that language, and to resubmit the draft before the board votes. The board separately voted to appoint Darthy Morocco to the Hanson Housing Authority and reappointed three Zoning Board of Appeals members, including Michael Fleming through June 30, 2028, and Kevin Amato Jr. through June 30, 2027.