By Beth David, Editor
Fairhaven Town Meeting members will vote on nine articles at the special TM on Tuesday. Most articles are spending articles, carried over from FY 26. There are also two bylaws articles.
Article one would allow $168,628.08 in insurance proceeds to be used to repair damages to an elementary school caused by the 2026 blizzard. It will cover flood damages and other repairs.
Article 2 will fund the Dispatch Union Memorandum of Agreement. There is no amount in the article because the money is included in the police department’s FY2 budget.
The agreement is in the online packet for the Select Board’s 10/13/26 meeting.
Article 3 is a request to authorize the Board of Public Works to enter into an agreement to lease space on and around the water tower off Sconticut Neck Road for an antenna.
Article 4 would transfer the remaining balance of the West Island Treatment Plant Capital Improvements in the amount of $253,156 to the Sewer Nitrogen Plant article from 2022.
Article 5 would transfer $30,348 from salary reserves to supplement the FY27 Accounting Department budget. The article allocates funds to fully fund the Assistant Town Accountant position and fund the costs of hiring a new Town Accountant.
The SB discussed this article at their 10/13/26 meeting, explaining that the Assistant Town Administrator/ Town Accountant is retiring in July of 2027. The town administrator hopes to fill the position before the end of that fiscal year (FY27). The funds would fully fund the position for the remainder of FY27 and also cover the costs of having the outgoing Town Accountant work with her successor for approximately one month to assist in the transition.
Article 6 would assign the Conservation Restriction of 117 acres on Weeden Road/DeNormandie Farm West to the Conservation Commission from the Buzzards Bay Coalition.
Article 7 would allow the town to adopt the Mass. General Laws statute establishing a trust fund agreement for OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits/retirement fund). The town established an OPEB Liability Trust Fund in 2011 but did not fully execute a Trust Fund Agreement after the vote. To establish the fund, the town must re-adopt the OPEB Trust.
Article 8 will amend a number of bylaws as recommended by the Charter Committee. The town adopted a charter, and the committee was charged with reviewing existing bylaws and recommending changes to bring them into conformity with the provisions of the charter.
Town Meeting will also be asked to vote on a new bylaw in Article 9 to ban Automatic License Plate Readers from anywhere in Fairhaven, and to prohibit any town department from accessing any third-party networks.
The law also requires any contracts for existing ALPR systems to expire, and for the equipment to be dismantled and removed.
The bylaw has exceptions for standard recording equipment used by law enforcement.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday, 11/17/26, at 7 p.m. in the Hastings Middle School Auditorium, 30 School Street. The meeting is open to the public and will be livestreamed by FairhavenTV.com and run Comcast Channel 97.
Fairhaven has a representative TM, so only elected representatives can vote. The meeting is open to the public and they may speak if TM members vote to allow it.
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