The first Town Meeting held at Wareham High School in three years passed smoothly, as nearly all items on the agenda were approved by voters on Monday, April 22 including the town’s roughly $81.5 million dollar budget and $5.7 million in capital expenses. 

Two sets of changes to town bylaws were held for further study and a citizens petition to lift the cap on marijuana retailers in town was disqualified for improper formatting. 

The town’s budget passed unanimously. The budget allocates $34.6 million to Wareham Public Schools, $16.8 million to employee benefits and $16.3 million to general government departments, according to town documents. 

This year’s budget adds one additional employee to the Council on Aging and switches a “floater” position from part time to full time. This person who holds this “floater” position is available to help multiple town departments.

The $34.6 million allocated to Wareham Public Schools is more than the $33.5 million it received last year, yet less than the approximately $37 million it said it needed to maintain an even level of services. 

The budget is not what the school  needed, but it’s what’s available, said Sullivan. 

The town’s capital expenditures for 2024 also passed unanimously. 

According to Sullivan, repairs to the Middle School Roof, one of the capital expenses voted on, could cost the town less than expected. While bids for the repair were expected to be around $6 million to $7 million, the town has received bids at around $3.5  million, he said. 

Throughout Town Meeting, there were few interjections from voters on the floor. While voters raised numerous procedural questions and points of order, a majority of the issues of substance brought up came from former Select Board member and current Select Board candidate Brenda Eckstrom. She made several motions to amend items on the Town Meeting agenda without substantial support from other voters. 

For a full list of the items that were to be taken up by Town Meeting, click here. 

Marijuana

A citizens petition requested Town Meeting remove the cap of three marijuana retail establishments in town. 

Jaakko Rinta, who submitted the petition, said the town was allowing cannabis to fail in Wareham, because the cap depressed competition and led to less innovative stores. 

Select Board member Alan Slavin said that marijuana in Wareham had already declined since its initial introduction and that he expected to see at least one of its current retail stores fail. 

Town officials had expressed concerns when the petition came up about its form, claiming it was improperly formatted. The Town Moderator agreed, saying it was too vague as written to know its intentions, and made a motion to dismiss. 

Town Meeting voted to dismiss the petition, albeit with some dissenting voices. 

Bylaws

Several items that proposed changes to town bylaws passed at Town Meeting, including one that changed the town’s wetlands bylaw to better align with state regulations. 

According to Conservation Administrator Josh Faherty, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will put out new rules in 2024 that will change the way wetlands are conserved, and a passage in Wareham’s wetlands bylaw needed to be deleted to keep the town’s bylaws in line with the new state regulations. 

Two sets of changes originating from the town’s Bylaw Review Committee were held for further study, at the request of the Select Board and Finance Committee. 

One of them would give the Town Clerk authority to make formatting changes such as numbering to the town bylaws. The other deleted a set of bylaws which the Bylaw Review Committee deemed obsolete or unnecessary. 

According to Select Board Chair Judith Whiteside, the Bylaw Review Committee met in the afternoon before Town Meeting and decided to hold these two items. Because of this, the Select Board and Finance Committee recommended to hold them as well, she said. 

Eckstrom claimed the Bylaw Review Committee was illegitimate because it was formed based on a set of 2021 changes to the Town Charter, which have yet to be approved by town voters. 

A question on the Tuesday, May 7 town election ballot will ask voters if they approve of the changes to the Town Charter. If approved by the voters, the changes will go into effect.