Hamilton Select Board places specialized stretch energy code on April town meeting warrant

HAMILTON — March 2, 2026 — Hamilton Select Board votes 3-1 to put specialized stretch energy code before voters at April 11 town meeting. The board, with Chair Bill Wilson and members Tom Myers and Ben Guza in favor and Rosie Kennedy opposed, cleared the code for the warrant after a two-meeting debate that featured testimony from Town Building Inspector Rich Maloney, who called the code philosophically unsound and warned of ongoing state-level changes — at least 64 amendments since 2023 — and from Town Energy Manager Vicki Mason, who argued adoption is the fastest path to grant funding for rooftop solar on the Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, potentially saving the district roughly $250,000 per year in electricity costs. The board also voted unanimously to place a $1,340,550 operating override question and a debt exclusion for the $10.3 million high school roof replacement — carrying a net Hamilton share of roughly $4 million after a 45.52 percent MSBA reimbursement — on the April ballot. In a separate unanimous vote, the board named the new town hall addition in honor of the late Joseph J. Butler, a longtime Community Preservation Committee volunteer credited with helping fund the project.