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Select Board backs article to extend maximum town land lease term from 10 to 30 years for infrastructure projects
Summary
The Select Board voted to approve a draft town-meeting article that would amend the leasing-of-land bylaw to extend the maximum lease term for town-owned land from 10 to 30 years to aid long-term infrastructure investments such as cell service at the landfill.
The Select Board on Feb. 3 approved a draft article for annual town meeting that would amend the town’s leasing-of-land bylaw to increase the maximum lease term for town-owned land from 10 years to 30 years.
Megan, a staff presenter, told the board the proposed change is intended to give the town greater flexibility to enter long-term leases — for example to support private investment in capital-intensive infrastructure such as cell-service equipment at the landfill — and that a longer lease term can make projects more viable for investors.
Board members questioned specific language and the coexistence of an older clause that references a 40-year exception tied to municipal building leases; staff explained that the bylaw addresses both land and municipal buildings in separate subsections and that the new draft aims to simplify the land-lease cap to 30 years while leaving existing building provisions intact. After clarifying that town manager authority and select-board authority differ in certain sections, the board voted to approve the draft article to appear on the warrant for annual town meeting.
Next steps: staff will finalize the article language for the warrant and present it to Town Meeting according to the usual timetable.
