Shahidul Mannan was elected chair of the Select Board in a unanimous vote at Tuesday’s meeting. He succeeded Joe Clark, who nominated him for the role.

In another unanimous vote, Matthew Kizner was voted in as vice chair, replacing Mannan in that position. Clark also nominated Kizner. There were no other nominations.

Mannan was elected to the board in 2022. Kizner recently completed his first year as a Select Board member.

ATM reviewed, improvements suggested

Town Clerk Connor Degan and Town Moderator Zachary Kosan provided a mostly positive review of the May 2 Annual Town Meeting. This marked the first ATM held on a Saturday since the vote to move it last year from Monday.

Degan noted that he received both positive and negative feedback. While turnout was “disappointing,” he said more people attended than voted to move the day to Saturday.

Child care was one concern raised to Degan. He said local organizations and Girl Scout troops volunteered to provide babysitting services. The Boy Scouts offered to provide food and refreshments to the community next year.

The availability of food and potentially transportation were considered areas for improvement.

Stressed Degan: “We’re never going to be able to set this up in a way as an open Town Meeting that’s going to satisfy everybody.”

He noted that older residents and people with disabilities have told him they would have been unable to attend the meeting if it were on a weeknight. On the other hand, some parents said the time conflicted with sports or religious services.

“Obviously anytime you do something which is a fundamental change, there’s going to be bumps in the road and things we learn from,” said Clark.

The lack of controversial articles was one factor in the low turnout, Degan said. Conversely, this allowed the meeting to be completed in one day.

Kosan agreed with Degan’s assessment. He noted that it is hard to get a quorum when an ATM extends to a second or third night.

“One thing I’ve heard from several people is that we do need to do a better job announcing and advertising Town Meeting,” said Kosan.

Added Kosan: “I think we have some room for improvement, but I think for our first Saturday Town Meeting, it went quite well.”

Town counsel Jason Talerman noted that the preparation for the meeting by town staff was “really great.” He attends at least 30 Town Meetings a year and said Hopkinton was “above average.”

“I thought there was a lot of involvement where the warrant and the motions touched a lot of hands,” he said. “And there was a concerted effort to get everything right.”

Citizens’ petition issue raised

Parker Happ announced during the public comment period that he had been gathering signatures for a citizens’ petition. It requests that a Special Town Meeting be called to address concerns regarding the acceptance of private ways as town roads.

At the May 2 Annual Town Meeting, Article 38 contained three motions. The first motion in a three-motion article requesting the acceptance of Auciello Drive as a public road failed in a 53-42 vote. A two-thirds vote was required for its passage.

Happ, an Auciello Drive resident and Planning Board member, called for a quorum after the measure was defeated because of the low vote number. But it did not affect the motion, as it already was voted down. Town Meeting then was dissolved before the other two motions could be considered.

Brian Herr noted that “citizens’ petitions rarely work.” There were two presented at this ATM.

“In the future, if folks really want to get something done, they’ve got to find a champion inside town government,” he stressed.

The town recently released a survey to gather information on residents’ perspectives on the ATM. It is available on the town website.

Mannan said that “more communication and more evangelism” will be keys to increasing member turnout.

Town receives high marks in FY 25 audit

Hopkinton received a good review during its fiscal year 2025 annual audit. Performed by Roselli, Clark & Associates, the audit showed that the town’s financial statements were presented fairly and did not identify any violations in the expenditure of federal awards.

“I’m happy to say that we did not encounter any significant difficulties in dealing with management and performing and completing our audit,” said accountant Terenzio Volpicelli. “We did not have any disagreements with management on any financial accounting, reporting or other auditing matters.”

Volpicelli praised the town for being able to maintain an AAA bond rating from S&P Global.

One area of concern is the town’s increased spending because of the school projects and upcoming capital expenses. This may lead to a lower future bond rating, he cautioned.

Volpicelli also noted that, like other towns, Hopkinton “faces significant future obligations in terms of personnel costs.”

He stressed the need for the town to be able to prevent cyberattacks such as phishing scams, which have plagued other communities.

Kizner pointed out that the Hopkinton Public Schools showed a surplus in a revolving fund. Volpicelli said the fund has $1.9 million.

The accountant explained that the federal government has a requirement that the school lunch program fund have a reserve of three months. The district’s surplus amounts to “roughly one year.” He suggested that this amount be spent down, possibly toward food service equipment.

New officer joins HPD

Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett appeared before the board to announce that Victoria “Tori” Fullager is joining the force. The Select Board approved her unanimously.

Fullager was previously employed as an investigator with the federal Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Capitol Police.

“I really look forward to working with Hopkinton and getting to learn more about all the residents and building a relationship with all of them,” she said.

Kizner said he was impressed with her statement about using her interviewing skills in a way that recognized the needs of diverse populations.

Town to seek public safety assessment

The board approved 4-0 the posting of a request for proposals for a public safety assessment. The project will go out to bid and be shared with state and federal agencies as well as to consultants used by other towns.

Town Manager Elaine Lazarus noted that $24,000 was approved at Annual Town Meeting for this assessment. After discussions with consultants, she proposed the draft overview and scope that focused on Hopkinton’s needs.

“I think it would be critical as a path forward to have that expertise that we could lean on and establish kind of a future path for us,” said Clark.