Government

Educate Hopkinton hosted a public forum regarding town growth and development. Educate Hopkinton (eHop) President, Nanda Barker-Hook started off by presenting some of the facts about town growth. The panel featured Town Manager, Norman Khumalo, Director of Town Operations, Elaine Lazarus and Planning Board Chair, John Ferrari. View highlights and the full forum below.

View more about Educate Hopkinton (eHop): http://ehop.org/

Three students from Blackstone Valley Tech High School (Noah Boudreau, Kevin Healy and Andrew Regan) visited the Hopkinton Fire Department to show off their "EZ Escape" system. The system is meant to help evacuate buildings during emergencies. The students will be entering the design into the Skills USA competition and the students are hoping the design can be sold and used. The system was primarily designed for fires but has opportunity to be used in other emergency situations such as an active shooter. View the video below to hear more about the "EZ Escape" system.

The Hopkinton Board of Selectmen and School Committee met this past week to talk about the 2019 fiscal year budget. The goal of the meeting was to discuss ways to decrease the 7.4% increase of the School Committee budget in order to avoid going over the projected town tax rate increase of 5%. The School committee had concerns that further cuts could lead to insufficient funds to maintain all of the current school programs.

BILLERICA, Mass. – Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian welcomed Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services Secretary Francisco A. Ureña for a visit to the Housing Unit for Military Veterans (HUMV) on Wednesday, March 14, 2018.

The visit to the Middlesex Jail & House of Correction came nearly two years to the day after Governor Charlie Baker helped formally open the Commonwealth’s only dedicated unit for incarcerated Veterans.

Massachusetts State Senator, Karen Spilka recently talked with HCAM news. Topics included, a recent bill for capital facility repairs and improvements in the Metrowest that recently passed. The 3.65 billion dollar bond includes $2,000,000 for improvements in Hopkinton's town hall and I also asked about a recent piece of legislation passed known as the "Patch Act".

The Hopkinton School committee hosted interviews and a public forum with the 3 finalist for the Assistant Superintendent position. The 3 candidates included: Jennifer Parson - Current Principal of Lincoln St. Elementary School in Northboro, Michael Caira - current principal of the David Mindess Elementary School in Ashland and Dr. Michael Hanna - Current Learning Leader of Stratton Elementary school in Arlington.

Update: On Friday March 16th, Hopkinton Public Schools selected Jennifer Parson to serve as the next Hopkinton Assistant Superintendent.

BOSTON—Today, the Massachusetts Senate passed legislation to improve several areas of current law dealing with the sale and treatment of dogs and cats. S.1155, An Act relative to protecting puppies and kittens, filed by Senator Karen Spilka, ensures that puppies and kittens are bred and sold in safe and healthy environments and strengthens the Massachusetts “Puppy Lemon Law” to give pet owners more options if they unknowingly purchase a sick pet.

The Water and Fire Department requests your assistance, in maintaining accessibility to the town's fire hydrants, for the safety and protection of everyone. During the winter hydrants can become buried by snow during a storm. If you have a fire hydrant that that is near your home, please help us make it visible and accessible to the Fire Department for use in an emergency. Precious seconds can be lost, searching for the hydrant or removing snow to gain access to it. Talk with your neighbors about taking turns shoveling around the hydrant in winter.

The Water and Fire Department requests your assistance, in maintaining accessibility to the town's fire hydrants, for the safety and protection of everyone. During the winter hydrants can become buried by snow during a storm. If you have a fire hydrant that that is near your home, please help us make it visible and accessible to the Fire Department for use in an emergency. Precious seconds can be lost, searching for the hydrant or removing snow to gain access to it. Talk with your neighbors about taking turns shoveling around the hydrant in winter.