Mattapoisett Town Meeting — May 11, 2026

The Mattapoisett Annual Town Meeting was held on May 11, 2026, called to order by Town Moderator Lizanne Capper Campbell. Select Board member Tyler McAllister gave opening remarks marking his final Town Meeting as a board member, praising town leadership for crafting a balanced FY2027 budget without requiring an operational override or reduction in force. The meeting approved an overall operating budget of $36,555,526 under Article 2, along with associated enterprise funds for landfill, water, sewer, and waterfront departments. Town Meeting also approved an appropriation of $734,587 from the stabilization fund to cover Mattapoisett's portion of the Gateway Health Trust deficit affecting the Old Rochester Regional School District, which was subsequently replenished with $735,000 from free cash under Article 6.

Voters tackled multiple capital investments and financial articles, approving $1,919,000 in capital acquisitions (Article 13), borrowing $725,000 to reline cast iron water mains on Pine Island (Article 14), and appropriating $2,000,000 ($1,000,000 from free cash and $1,000,000 through borrowing) for the Water Street culvert replacement (Article 17). New revenue-generating measures passed smoothly, including the adoption of a local room occupancy excise tax of up to 6% on short-term rentals and lodging under Article 23 and a 3% community impact fee on professionally managed short-term rentals under Article 24. Four Community Preservation Act appropriations totaling over $90,000 also passed unanimously for historic resource surveys, Hammond Cemetery wall restoration, universal access improvements on Church Street, and grave digitizing.

The most extensively debated items centered on housing and zoning. Article 26, establishing a framework for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in compliance with state law, passed by a two-thirds majority after being amended to specifically require compliance with local Board of Health regulations. In contrast, Article 27, proposing a cottage community development zoning bylaw along the Route 6 corridor, faced sharp opposition from residents and Select Board member Jordan C. Collyer regarding a lack of mandated affordable housing units; an initial motion to indefinitely postpone failed narrowly (85 to 90), but the main bylaw motion ultimately failed to pass (67 in favor, 102 opposed). The meeting concluded with approvals of a general bylaw update under Ollie's Law (Article 28) and land/easement acquisition authority for the MassDOT Main, Water, Beacon, and Marion Road improvement project (Article 29).

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