The Andover Town Meeting was held May 30th at the Andover Town Hall. Eighty four registered voters participated in the process and a handful of others who are residents attended as unregistered listeners.
Some of the highlights of the articles voters acted on were:
- The Property Maintenance Ordinance, with voter results cast by written ballot was not in favor of adopting said ordinance
- After a full year of meetings, the Solar Ordinance Moratorium Committee put forth a revised Small Solar Systems Ordinance; removing all medium and large scale projects from the original Solar Systems Ordinance, which was approved by a majority hand vote
- Updates to the Budget Committee and Personal Ordinance were approved
- A 15 year Road Bond for up to $1MM to complete paving projects and other needed road work was approved
- The Town Treasurer position will move from salary to an hourly position starting July 1, 2026
- $7,072 dollars in donations supporting community organizations were approved
- The addition of an Connex box for fire training was approved for up to $12k to come from a designated account (no additional money raised)
- New ramps at the Town Hall and Town Office were approved for up to $5K each
- The voters were asked for their preference of sidewalk replacement around the one mile square and the historical (as is) style was the choice
- The Animal Control Officer will begin receiving a $200 monthly stipend vs an hourly rate starting July 1, 2026 following the trend of other surrounding town ACO’s
- The Selectboard (split three ways) pay was raised to just over $18K in hopes to attract and retain members who serve. Board members put in at least 10 to 15 additional hours weekly beyond Tuesday night meetings to complete what Town Managers are doing in surrounding towns for much more money
- Permission was granted to sole source the Town’s re evaluation duties and funds were raised to secure a date with John O’Donnell, our assessor, who did our last reval in 2019. This is necessary as currently our town sits at 52% (out of 100%), which negatively affects reimbursements such as homestead, tree growth, state programs, etc. This will allow the board to request we get put on a waiting list with hopes of having it completed in 2027 vs bidding the job out as other companies are looking at scheduling out in 2028 and beyond
Click here to view the unofficial FY27 Town Book (revisions highlighted in yellow). As with prior years, original printed versions remain available at the Town Office.