Scituate Moves Ahead on Housing at Gates, Approves $102M Budget

SCITUATE - Scituate residents packed the high school gym Monday night for the Annual Town Meeting. The meeting opened with an emotional goodbye to retiring public officials, including longtime Select Board members Karen Canfield and Karen Connolly and Town Moderator James Toomey. 

“Whether you’re a youth basketball ref or baseball, it shows you how much you actually love that sport,” said Goodrich, comparing Toomey’s role to a youth umpire. “If you’re a moderator, it proves to me how much you actually love this town.”

State Senator Patrick O’Connor and State Representative Patrick Kearney were on hand to give Canfield and Connolly citations from the State House in recognition of their public service.

“It’s been an honor to serve with K2,” said Canfield, using the affectionate nickname given to Connolly. “We are going to miss working with the great folks at the state levels, but more importantly we’re going to miss working with the staff and all of the volunteers.”

The meeting continued on, marked by a tone of fiscal caution, with voters approving a $102 million operating budget and a $13.4 million capital plan—without seeking a Proposition 2½ override.

“Budgets are all about priorities,” said Select Board Chair Andrew Goodrich. He cited nearby towns like Hanover, Duxbury and Plymouth facing override votes and cuts. “Everything we do starts with understanding that this is your money.”

The FY26 budget maintains current services and avoids layoffs. One notable increase was the fire department budget, which rose due to new contract terms designed to retain paramedics.

“In order to make sure that we can attract and keep those paramedics, the contract does contain significant increases,” said Town Administrator James Boudreau.

The article to authorize the sale/lease of a portion of the old Gates Intermediate School property passed by a two-thirds majority after extended debate and a failed motion to postpone. This approval authorizes the Select Board to take the next steps toward redeveloping a portion of the old Gates Intermediate School property into housing. Any actual development would still need planning board, zoning, and funding approvals in the future. 

Residents also authorized a $5 million borrowing for foreshore protection, enabling the town to match potential FEMA grants and respond to emergency seawall repairs.

“This is both in case of an emergency and... if we have a match for a project that gets permitted, we can move ahead without losing that permit,” Boudreau said.

Some residents questioned the amount and called for betterment fees on impacted property owners. Boudreau acknowledged the topic “has not been discussed” but said “the board would be more than willing to discuss with you going forward.”

Several Community Preservation Act (CPA) projects also won unanimous approval, including:

• $100,000 for design of new basketball and pickleball courts
  

• $750,000 in additional funding for the SALE affordable housing project
  

• $480,000 to rehabilitate the historic Bates House

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