There is a Special Town Meeting that is scheduled to be held on Monday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m.  As stated in a recent newspaper article, the purpose of this Special Town Meeting “is for voters to take action on the proposed Elmwood School replacement plan, a $158 million project endorsed by both the School Committee and Select Board. If the project is approved at Special Town Meeting, a ballot measure will appear in a subsequent special election, which will ask voters to authorize the town to raise the funding.”

For those opposed:

• who do not want to see their real estate taxes increased by approximately 38% (or more?);

• who live on or need to navigate Hayden Rowe Street between the hours of 7-9:30 a.m. and 2-4:30 p.m. when schools are in or out of session;

• who oppose schools and other town buildings being built on wetlands when no one else was able to build on these properties;

• whose homes/businesses will be adversely impacted by the size, lighting, traffic, noise, water runoff, etc., that this school will produce;

• who do not want a traffic light installed at the Marathon School, which will adversely impact traffic on Hayden Rowe Street or anyone trying to exit Chamberlain Street;

• who do not want to see excess traffic on Chamberlain Street, Angelo Road, Colella Farm Road, Teresa Road, etc., as vehicles seek an alternate route past this new Elmwood School;

• who do not realize that moving street signs, trees and stone walls, adding a turning lane, crosswalks, street lights and a roadway from Marathon School to Elmwood School behind properties on Hayden Rowe, etc., is not part of the proposed $158 million requested for the Elmwood School project, with an additional cost to residents; [Editor’s note: According to the Elementary School Building Committee, the $158 million budget in fact does include these traffic improvements.]

• who think that the PFAS water situation needs resolving, our police/fire departments and other department salaries need to be competitive with other towns, not just our school system;

• who think that any project started in Hopkinton hasn’t cost more than originally planned or finished on schedule without any additional funding or without negative impact to residents;

Vote ‘no’ at Special Town Meeting, Nov. 13!

— Ellen Holmes, Hopkinton, and the Hayden Rowe Abutters (haydenroweabutters@gmail.com)

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