Voters to Decide on Budget Changes, Kindergarten Funding Nov. 3
COHASSET – Residents in Cohasset will gather in November for a Special Town Meeting to vote on 12 warrant articles.
School Roof Replacement is Largest Expense
Article 5 seeks approval for the town to appropriate, borrow, or transfer $5,858,522 for a roof replacement project at Joseph Osgood Elementary School on Sohier Street.
According to the warrant, the proposed repairs would “materially extend the useful life of the school and preserve an asset that otherwise is capable of supporting the required educational program.”
The Town may be eligible for a Massachusetts School Building Authority grant of up to $1,902,262 or 32.47% of approved costs, whichever is less. The project is expected to be completed in summer 2026, with costs paid through the School Stabilization Fund over fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
Town and Financial Infrastructure Articles
The warrant also includes several financial and infrastructure items. Article 2 covers unpaid bills from previous fiscal years, such as payments for tree removal, facility supplies, and school repairs. Article 3 allocates $448,500 from free cash into the Other Post Employment Benefits Trust Fund (OPEB).
Article 4 funds capital improvement projects, including a $420,000 upgrade to the Lily Pond Water Treatment Plant and $72,000 for a sewer asset management grant match. The Department of Public Works would also receive $42,332 for trench drains, and schools would receive $22,682 for a diesel bus lease payment.
Article 8 provides funding for one-time projects, including $10,400 for a permit purchasing module, $96,464 for high school electrical room upgrades, $10,000 for a Cohasset Village Historic District Study consultant, and $25,000 for state-mandated plover management.
Article 6 would establish an Enterprise Fund for the town’s Recycling Transfer Facility, allowing operating expenses to be balanced with revenues, similar to existing water and sewer enterprise funds.
Article 7 proposes adjustments to the Fiscal 2026 operating budget, for items including:
Hazardous waste collection and landfill gas monitoring,
Recycling Transfer Facility expenses,
IT equipment,
PEG Access and Cable-related funds for Cohasset 143TV,
Debt costs,
Treats Pond flood relief interest, and
Water Department legal/engineering and extraordinary maintenance.
Licensing and Solar Energy Measures
Article 9 proposes adopting a state law that would allow the Select Board to approve requests to convert existing wine and malt beverage licenses to all-alcohol licenses after a public hearing. The converted licenses would be non-transferable and revert to wine and malt status if surrendered or transferred.
Article 11 seeks authorization for the Select Board and School Committee to lease school property for solar energy generation. The proposal includes installing solar panels on Joseph Osgood and Deer Hill School rooftops for up to 25 years. The warrant states the new Osgood roof “would be able to support a 20-year lease for a new solar energy array” once completed in 2026.
Citizen Petition: Tuition-Free Kindergarten
Article 12, a citizen’s petition, asks the town to reinstate tuition-free full-day kindergarten beginning in the 2025–2026 school year. The measure would allocate $300,000 from the town budget, re-baselining the school budget to include funding for full-day kindergarten.
According to the petition, funds would be reallocated from the town manager’s, chief technology office, and police department budgets, citing growth in those areas outpacing overall revenue since 2020. The petition argues this would “solidify the commitment the school committee made to the town in 2023 while also rebalancing areas of the town budget that have since disproportionally outpaced the rate of revenue growth.”
The Special Town Meeting will take place Monday, November 3, 2025, at 7 p.m. in the Cohasset High School Sullivan Gymnasium, 143 Pond Street, Cohasset.
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