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.