Tewksbury Special Town Meeting

Special Town Meeting Summary: Articles 1 – 22

Tewksbury – Special Town meeting was called to order Tuesday, October 5th, 2026, at 7:00 pm, respectively, at the Tewksbury Memorial High School. Dustin Weir moderated the evening.

View full Town Meeting Warrants here.

ARTICLE 1 Executive Summary: This article raises and appropriates funds to FY2027 Budgets. Additional funds are available since state and local revenue will be higher than projected. This will not adversely impact the tax rate.

Article 1 was adopted.

ARTICLE 2 Executive Summary: This is a correction for the final Shawsheen Valley Technical High School Assessment. The Spring Budget reflected a 1/12 budget up to and including October. This adjustment reflects the final assessment for the full year.

Article 2 was adopted.

ARTICLE 3 Executive Summary: This article funds non-union salaries and adjusts the Town’s Personnel Administration Plan FY27 Pay Plan. Human Resources, Incorporated (HRI) surveyed the market of comparable municipalities, developed and recommended a new classification and compensation plan. The process involved a review of job responsibilities, work performed and market pay rates for each PRRB position. The proposed FY27 Pay Plan will be presented as an addendum to this article at Town meeting and will be included in the handout.

The Town received direction from the Spring Town meeting to conduct a formal salary survey before any proposed wage scale changes were presented to Town Meeting. Based on the results of this survey the following proposed amendment was presented: Language be removed and replaced with “$125,000 for a salary increase effective January 1, 2027 to fund the Town’s proposed FY27 Pay Plan and the Police Chief’s contract”. This amendment was passed.

An additional proposed amendment to move from Grade 6 to Grade 7 failed.

Article 3 was adopted, as amended, by a vote of 170 in favor and 44 against.

ARTICLE 4 Executive Summary: This article transfers funds from certified General Fund Free Cash for specific one-time capital expenditures.

Discussions included Whipple and Pine improvements, police cruisers, and K9 replacements.

Article 4 was adopted via a voice vote.

ARTICLE 5 Executive Summary: This article transfers funds from Sewer Retained Earnings for specific one-time capital expenditures. The first three items in the table above are also funded through the General Fund Free Cash and Water Retained Earnings.

Article 5 was adopted via voice vote.

ARTICLE 6 Executive Summary: This article transfers funds from Water Retained Earnings for specific one-time capital expenditures. The first three items in the table above are also funded through the General Fund Free Cash and Sewer Retained Earnings.

Article 6 was adopted via a voice vote.

ARTICLE 7 Executive Summary: According to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44 § 64, bills that are late must be approved by Town Meeting before payment. This article authorizes the charges to be paid.

Article 7 was adopted by a vote of 174 in favor and 1 against, achieving the required two-thirds majority vote.

ARTICLE 8 Executive Summary: This is a correction to a scrivener’s error on the Spring Warrant. The Budget was inadvertently funded through a raise and appropriation. It was intended to be funded through retained earnings. This portion of the budget is capital expenditures and can be funded through Stormwater Retained Earnings.

Article 8 was adopted.

ARTICLE 9 Executive Summary: This article seeks approval to set aside these funds in the Stabilization Fund to be used for future emergencies or one-time purchases or projects. This action replenishes the Stabilization fund for all Spring Town Meeting Appropriations and satisfies the 25% set aside in the Select Board Financial Policy.

Article 9 was adopted.

ARTICLE 10 Executive Summary: This article seeks approval to set aside these funds in the Debt Stabilization Fund to be used to reduce the tax impacts of future debt.

Article 10 was adopted.

ARTICLE 11 Executive Summary: This article seeks approval to reappropriate funds from prior school capital articles that have been completed and reappropriate the money for future capital needs that affect the immediate health and safety of school buildings.

This article was amended to show a new figure of $727,956. Article 11 was adopted via the required two-thirds majority vote.

ARTICLE 12 Executive Summary: This article seeks approval to reappropriate funds from Article 2 of the 2020 Special Town Meeting to pay for lighting at the High School Field.

Article 12 was adopted via the required two-thirds majority vote.

ARTICLE 13 Executive Summary: This funding will allow for the installation of lights at the High School Field.

Article 13 was adopted.

ARTICLE 14 Executive Summary: This funding will allow for rehabilitation and upgrades to the Band Stand located in Tewksbury Town Common.

Article 14 was adopted.

ARTICLE 15 Executive Summary: This article would allow the Town under State procurement laws to lease a portion of property at the Heath Brook School to a cellular carrier or tower company.

Article 15 failed and was not adopted with a vote of 33 in favor and 142 against.

ARTICLE 16 Executive Summary: Adoption of Section 8J of Chapter 40 will allow the Select Board to establish a Commission on Disability consisting of not less than 5 and not more than 13 members that will address the needs of those in Tewksbury with a disability. Adoption of Section 22G of Chapter 40 will allow the Commission to use funds from parking fines to fund any activities relative to
addressing the needs of the committee/disabled community in Town.

Article 16 was adopted via voice vote.

ARTICLE 17 Executive Summary: This article is intended to recognize that certain articles will require a longer period of time based on the type of contract or borrowing associated with an article.

Article 17 was adopted via a standing vote.

ARTICLE 18 Executive Summary: Eliminating the requirement to mail the Town Meeting warrant to every household will reduce recurring costs for printing, paper, postage, and staff time. Residents will continue to have easy access to the warrant through the Town’s website, the Town Clerk’s Office, and printed copies available upon request. This change modernizes the Town’s communication methods,
improves operational efficiency, reduces paper waste, and provides a fiscally responsible approach while maintaining public access to important Town Meeting information.

Article 18 failed and was not adopted via the required two-thirds majority vote.

ARTICLE 19 Executive Summary: This Article will amend the Zoning Bylaw to bring the Town of Tewksbury into compliance with M.G.L. Ch. 40A, Section 3A, known as the MBTA Communities Act. This law requires certain cities and towns to adopt a district in which multifamily uses are allowed by right. This bylaw amendment complies with the provisions of the law while exercising the Town’s
ability to evaluate projects under Site Plan Review by the Planning Board.

Article 19 was adopted via majority vote.

ARTICLE 20 Executive Summary: This article is the companion to the zoning amendments proposed for compliance with M.G.L. Ch. 40A, Section 3A. The maps shown above align the area identified for the proposed overlay district to its physical location in Town. Large scale versions of the map are online and available for viewing at the Town Clerk’s Office, Community Development Office, Library, and
Senior Center.

Article 20 was adopted with a vote of 150 in favor and 5 against.

ARTICLE 21 Executive Summary: This article adopts a general-by-law governing how the Town acquires and operates technology that collects information about people. It requires Select Board approval, in an open meeting and written findings, before the Town acquires such technology, uses it in a new way, or enters an agreement to share the data it produces. It defines a category of data whose handling requires the strictest treatment, sets duties for that category, prohibits several specific practices, and requires annual public reporting and independent examination of access records. It applies to every Town Department and Office.

James Mackey made a motion to refer the decision to a subcommittee for further review, with a report to be presented at the 2027 Annual Town Meeting.

ARTICLE 22 Executive Summary: This article adopts a general by-law limiting how automatic license plate reader systems may be operated in Tewksbury. It permits the Town to receive alerts identifying stolen vehicles and vehicles associated with wanted, missing, or endangered persons, and requires that plate reads matching no such list be destroyed within minutes and never sent off systems the
Town controls. Matches may be kept until the underlying matter is resolved and must be available to a criminal defendant. Data sharing with outside agencies requires an individually reviewed written request, and an officer must confirm a match before acting on an alert.

James Mackey made a motion to refer the decision to a subcommittee for further review, with a report to be presented at the 2027 Annual Town Meeting.