Hamilton Select Board Closes Town Meeting Warrant, Sets June Special Meeting Date

HAMILTON — March 10, 2025 — Hamilton Select Board closes annual town meeting warrant with school consolidation vote and flood plain fix among key articles. The board voted unanimously Monday to close the warrant after pulling a proposed specialized energy building code article, Article 3-2, at the request of multiple members who said the process needed more public vetting; the article was referred to a future town meeting. A last-minute Article 3-11 was added to update the town's flood plain overlay district to comply with revised FEMA maps, with Town Manager Joe Dorant warning that failure to pass the change by July 8 would cost residents in flood zones access to the National Flood Insurance Program. The board also received a lengthy briefing from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Chief of Staff Marijn Tams, who outlined a draft development agreement under which the seminary would sell 209 apartment units with 25 percent affordable, deed-restrict roughly 11 acres of the middle campus, waive future 40B rights, and contribute $200,000 toward town legal costs — projecting more than $500,000 in new annual property tax revenue. The board set a special town meeting for Thursday, June 26, to take up the seminary overlay district and other business.