Select Board members on Tuesday gave Town Manager Elaine Lazarus praise for her accomplishments in her first year in the role during her first annual review.

Human Resources Director Jessica Lewerenz said she received feedback from all five members, which she compiled into a report. Members highlighted Lazarus’s effective communication style and her ability to convene a successful Special Town Meeting last year without the assistance of an assistant town manager.

Lewerenz added that there were no goals for Lazarus for the past year because it is not town practice to have goals for employees in their first year in their positions.

Lazarus gave a self-assessment to the board, which aligned with their comments. One of her accomplishments was creating a weekly newsletter sent via email that shares information about town issues and happenings.

“My goal was to improve communication with the public and bring a more of a sense of community to the town,” she said.

She noted that she was able to coordinate the logistics for both last year’s STM and this year’s Annual Town Meeting, which lasted one day.

Highlights Lazarus spoke about Included successful labor negotiations that came in under budget. In addition, she led land use negotiations for open space properties that the town acquired. She also worked with Lewerenz to update the employee handbook, which hadn’t been updated since 2012. They added enhanced benefits, including paid parental leave, earlier vacation time accrual and the establishment of a sick time bank.

Vice chair Shahidul Mannan reflected on Lazarus’s “calm, steady leadership and strong commitment to effective operations.”

“You have so much knowledge and strategic insight into what makes the town work,” added member Matthew Kizner.

Members encouraged Lazarus to let them know how they could support her in reaching her goals as she heads into her second year. She said she wanted to learn more about different aspects of the job with which she is less familiar, including municipal finance and legislation changes. She also said she wants to work with the board on creating a strategic plan, the future of the Elmwood School and ways to highlight the downtown area, such as creating a cultural district.

Lewerenz said Lazarus received a review score of 3.8 out of 5. This means that she was able to “meet and sometimes exceed expectations.”

Marathon charity bibs awarded

The board issued the 50 invitational entries for the 2026 Boston Marathon that were awarded by the Boston Athletic Association. The BAA manages, organizes and hosts the annual event, which is the world’s oldest marathon.

These bibs go to qualified charities, Lazarus explained. Six town departments and committees applied for a total of 12 entries. Forty-four nonprofit organizations submitted a total of 67 applications.

Chair Joe Clark pointed out that these bibs are the main source of finding for many smaller organizations.

Lazarus stressed that the goal was to give an entry to “as many charitable organizations as possible.” The Hopkinton Marathon Committee gave up one of its five requested entries. The Veterans Celebration Committee, the high school BPA robotics team and the Senior and Disabled Tax Relief Committee each received an entry.

The remaining entries were distributed so that other organizations that applied could receive a bib, with the exception of two that are related to the Hopkinton Public Library. They are the Hopkinton Public Library Foundation and the Friends of the Hopkinton Public Library.

Kizner objected to this distribution method and voted against it in a 4-1 vote.

“The intention of equity is not to make it so that everyone gets the same thing and to call it equal,” said Kizner. “That is not equitability.”

Clark did a random draw from the names of the two library applicants. The Friends of the Hopkinton Public Library received the entry.

Legal advice sought on CV policy

For the third consecutive meeting, the board discussed the revision of its written policy on the issuance of common victualer (CV) and related licenses. It chose to seek town counsel’s opinion on several matters. The board previously talked at length about requiring Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) and Sex Offender Registry Information (SORI) checks.

Board members agreed that businesses should not be allowed to open if all of their inspections have not been completed. But if the town is unable to complete the inspections by the Dec. 31 deadline, the board was open to granting a short extension period.

Member Brian Herr stressed that the extensions should be granted by the Town Manager’s Office rather than the Select Board. He said this would prevent a “quagmire.”

He also said town counsel should weigh in to determine if performing CORI and SORI checks is appropriate. Questions arose as to what would be done with the information gleaned form these reports.

“I think that with everything that’s transpired in town, we need to be more informed,” said Clark. “And my hope is that all these CORI and SORI checks are clean. If they’re not, to me that warrants an individual discussion in what’s otherwise a routine conversation around license renewals.”

Members debated moving the responsibility for CORI checks from the Hopkinton Police Department to the Town Manager’s Office. Mannan requested advice from legal counsel.

Herr called this “a big can of worms that we have to be careful with.”

Another measure discussed was implementing a town bylaw regarding FBI database checks on business owners and managers via fingerprinting. Town Meeting would have to approve this. Herr said town counsel’s input would be needed.

Clark requested that town counsel also review the legality of a proposed policy on potentially reviewing the financial records of each business, including loans and ownership interests. Members agreed.

At different discussion points, members expressed concerns about “overreach.”