SB resumes in-person meetings without incident

By Mike Berger

For the first time since July, the Canton Select Board met live at Town Hall on Tuesday and conducted business efficiently and without any incident.

The board had made the switch to Zoom meetings in an effort to restore peace and order after several public disturbances; however, the move was not intended to be permanent and there had been increasing calls from the public as of late to return to in-person meetings.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, the Select Board held three public hearings and also took a vote on the municipal budget for the next fiscal year. The board intends to be back at Town Hall for its next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, March 25, at 7 p.m.

During the 15-munute public comment period, board members heard from several residents on topics ranging from local election information to Select Board candidates John Connolly and Susan Harrington to the prominence of Police Chief Helena Rafferty and Lt. Michael Lank in the Karen Read case. The actions of board member Chris Albert, specifically as it relates to recording people walking by his restaurant, also came up during the comment period.

Regarding the FY26 municipal budget, the Select Board voted unanimously on Tuesday to accept the recommendations of Town Administrator Charles Doody and Finance Director Randy Scollins. The budget target as set by the Finance Committee is $29.351 million, marking a 5.05 percent increase over FY25.

To reach that figure, Doody and Scollins had to pare new spending requests by approximately $688,000. Among the items cut were four new patrol positions as well as overtime and equipment costs requested by the police chief. Also eliminated from the budget were requests for an assistant conservation agent, additional hours for the assistant to the veterans agent, additional library page hours, and money for firefighter development and fitness equipment. The budget now goes to the FinCom for review before an eventual vote at the May town meeting.

Also at the March 18 meeting, the Select Board voted unanimously to adopt a set of rules for Canton’s two new dog parks, which are due to open later this spring at the Revere Heritage Site. Canton Holdings LLC, developer of the site …

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