Hanson Select Board Places 37 Warrant Articles, Three Override Ballot Questions for Spring Vote

HANSON — March 17, 2026 — Hanson Select Board places 37 town meeting warrant articles and three Proposition 2½ ballot questions ahead of annual town meeting. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to place a $630,000 override question to add two police officers and four firefighter-paramedics, a debt-exclusion question for the Hanson Highway Department building, and a library renovation debt-exclusion question totaling $33,037,515 — up sharply from an earlier project estimate of roughly $25.2 million. Town Accountant Eric Kinsher told the board the town faces a roughly $2 million operating budget shortfall that can only be closed by drawing down free cash, leaving just $245,000 to cover $1.76 million in additional free-cash article requests. On the South Shore Voc Tech debt exclusion, the chair cautioned that "no means we've got to find money somewhere else," noting Hanson is already legally obligated to pay its share of the school's construction costs regardless of the ballot outcome. The board also accepted the retirement resignation of Plumbing and Gas Inspector Scott Bizzazaro and appointed Tom Leary as his replacement, and deferred a decision on whether to allow Whitman-Hanson Dolls for Scholars to place a fundraising sign on Town Hall property — a question complicated by Town Counsel's advice that the board must apply a uniform policy to all nonprofits or none.