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Shrewsbury · Westborough · Northborough · Southborough · Marlborough · Hudson · Grafton
Vol. 46 | No. 32 | August 7, 2020
Shrewsbury’s Annual Town Meeting to be held Aug. 8 outside By Melanie Petrucci Senior Community Reporter SHREWSBURY – After at least four postponements, Shrewsbury’s annual Town Meeting will finally take place on Saturday, Aug. 8 starting at 8:30 a.m. Town Meeting members will meet outside at the Oak-Sherwood Middle School Campus, 45 Oak St., to deliberate a warrant that contains 41 articles. Rest room facilities will be available and social distancing and sanitizing precautions will be in place throughout the meeting. The quorum was reduced by roughly 50 percent to 61 Town Meeting members by the Selectmen at their July 14 meeting. In a statement to the community that was posted on the town website on July 22, titled “FY21 Fiscal Projection 2,” Town Manager Kevin Mizikar stated, “COVID-19 has not only challenged our operations but our ability to plan for fiscal year 2021 and beyond. Significant uncertainty remains with regards to both the virus’s impact on residents and on the town’s revenues and future expenses.” “Because of COVID-19 the state has yet to pass a fiscal year 2021 budget in place. Given this and many other unknowns related to COVID-19, the revenue model used for this budget has a higher level of uncertainty than a normal budget. Significant changes to this financial plan are likely at some point in the fiscal year,” Mizikar’s statement continued. During a presentation to the Finance Committee on July 22 when they met to discuss the Warrant in a public hearing, Mizikar said that the general approach to COVID-19 costs needs to be separated from on-going operations and that Town Meeting will meet again in the fall to fill in any gaps. The Finance Committee recommends an Operating Budget of $137.1 million dollars for FY2021 which can be found along with other budgetary business items within the first 16 articles of the warrant. The Selectmen offered their recommendations at their July 28 meeting for all but three of the articles, notably Articles 1, 21, 27 and 30, all of which relate to the establishment of a Community Preservation Act (CPA). The board noted they do not not wish to ask residents to support a new Police and Municipal Building Project and the CPA in the same year; the campus project taking precedence. Article 17 seeks the town to transfer $150,000 from ATM | 7
PHOTO/ ED KARVOSKI JR
Graduating seniors enter the Joseph R. Mewhiney Turf Field in single file.
‘Great and gritty’
Westborough High class of 2020 finally celebrates graduation
By Ed Karvoski Jr. Contributing Writer WESTBOROUGH – It was better late than never when the Westborough High School (WHS) class of 2020 gathered Aug. 1 for their outdoor graduation ceremony – albeit with pandemic-era safety measures. Most of this year’s 264 graduates attended. The ceremony began with graduating senior Jennifer Brown singing “The StarSpangled Banner.” WHS | 12
inside this issue: sports ....................11 schools ...................12 homes & more ........16 business...................17
crossword .............17 police log ...............18 obituaries .............18 classifieds .............19
Festival announces virtual art exhibit
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