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Town meeting authorizes selectmen to lease Lakeville well site for telecommunications tower
Summary
Town meeting authorized the selectmen to lease roughly 14.7 acres of town-owned well-site off Route 18 to a telecommunications provider and to grant necessary utility easements; the article passed by more than two-thirds (180–17).
Town meeting authorized the Board of Selectmen to lease town-owned land identified as a 14.7-acre Town Well site off Route 18 for construction of a telecommunications facility and to grant any necessary utility access easements.
Selectman Jerry White presented the article, saying town meeting had previously petitioned the Legislature to change the site’s permitted use and that the required legislative approval had now been granted, clearing the way for a lease and permitting process. The finance committee recommended approval.
Because the article was a zoning/land-use authorization outside the standard appropriation articles, it required a two-thirds vote. A counted vote was taken after several voters raised objections that required the tellers to count ballots. The tellers reported an affirmative tally of 180 and 17 opposed; the moderator declared the motion approved by more than the two-thirds threshold.
The authorization permits the selectmen to set lease terms (including terms longer than 10 years) and to grant utility access easements as necessary; it does not itself award a contract or identify a specific telecom operator. The article directs the selectmen to proceed with the steps needed to issue any lease and easement and to return to town meeting or the selectmen’s processes with any specific lease terms for approval as required by law.
