Traffic tickets, data centers and the sewer that could clear a path for sandwich sales: A Town Meeting roundup

Two people dressed in colonial garb stand on the steps of a yellow building, with a sandwich and a chair. The chair, one says in the video posted to Facebook, is where they got greedy. 

"May a weary traveler purchase coffee without consulting the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and may the lord have mercy on whichever poor soul next attempts to open a business in this town," says the narrator of the video posted by the prospective owners of Carlisle's Ferns Market & Country Store. 

The video is a glimpse into one of the strangest sagas to hit a Town Meeting warrant this fall. The couple that's trying to reopen the closed country store, Ben and Amy Pirri, has detailed their wastewater roadblocks along the way — the septic system on the historic lot falls short of required standards for a cafe with seating, and after engineering reviews found no workable on-site solutions, they now hope to connect to a municipally owned treatment plant in what the town administrator once reportedly called a "moonshot" option.

Carlisle voters will get a say in the matter at Monday night’s Special Town Meeting, when they’re set to take up an article on funding, design and permitting for a wastewater main between their town center and the treatment plant.

Here’s a look at some of the other thorny issues communities are grappling with this Town Meeting season: 

Traffic safety and policing: Brookline, in a Town Meeting session that also starts next week, is poised to consider a non-binding resolution calling on the police department to step up enforcement of traffic and parking violations as the community works toward a goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2035. The resolution, put forward by Town Meeting members including transportation consultant Chris Dempsey and retired police officer Debbie Hatzieleftheriadis, also calls for "adequate funding and staffing of the Brookline Police Department" and describes its officers as valued members of the community. Brookline.News reports the proposal comes after years of heated debate over policing and police funding in Brookline, and as the number of tickets issued for moving violations has fallen 80% in the last 15 years.

Data centers: The drumbeat of opposition to data center construction is pulsing through the latest round of Town Meetings, with Dedham weighing a zoning change to ban data centers next week. Wrentham and Foxboro approved their own restrictions this week.  

Turning off Flock: A high school senior cheered for the Fourth Amendment as Middleboro voted to discontinue its police department's use of Flock cameras. But elsewhere, Town Meeting votes to block Flock haven't exactly taken off. Charlton's Select Board opted against suspending the license-plate readers after an October Town Meeting passed a nonbinding resolution. And after Medway voted 167-92 Monday to get rid of the cameras, the MetroWest Daily News reports that local officials are waiting for Attorney General Andrea Campbell to review the measure before deciding their next moves, with the police chief raising the possibility the bylaw might not be approved.

Sewers, again: It doesn't seem like anyone impersonated colonial figures in the run-up to Mattapoisett Town Meeting's sewer debate. There, the props were brown water and dirty filters as a proposal to borrow for a new water and sewer department building failed, falling short of a two-thirds majority. Residents who opposed the new building said the town should work first to fix pipes and water quality issues. 

What’s the big local issue in your community? Tell me about it at [email protected].

A correction from yesterday: Gov. Maura Healey announced her support for the “No on 3” ballot campaign on Oct. 30.

...Former longtime state representative Byron Rushing will be back in the neighborhood next month, as the civil rights activist and community organizer is honored at the African Meeting House's 220th anniversary celebration on Dec. 12. Rushing is the founding executive director of the Museum of African American History, which includes the meeting house as part of its Beacon Hill campus...

...Gov. Maura Healey offered her take on midterm results this week in conversation with Katie Couric. In a video interview posted to Couric's Substack, Healey, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association's Women Governors Fund, says she's thrilled the country is on track to have 30 Democrats serving as governor, half of whom are women. Many of the governors, Healey said, have been talking, texting and congratulating each other since last week, "and also offering support to the incoming class because there's a lot of work to do in a short amount of time to get your administration and team built up and get ready to go"...

...It's a new day at Liberty Square Group, the Boston strategic communications and government relations firm that's fresh off a series of election wins for clients including Sen. Ed Markey, U.S. Rep.-elect Dan Koh and Rep. Stephen Lynch, Middlesex DA Marian Ryan, state Sen. Will Brownsberger and Speaker Ron Mariano's fund supporting the House’s growing Democratic supermajority. LSG announced a restructuring this week that saw founder Scott Ferson pass the title of president to Tim Sullivan, who's worked for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Ferson, a former press secretary to Sen. Ted Kennedy, will remain CEO. Former state lawmaker and cannabis control commissioner Jennifer Flanagan Long succeeds Sullivan as managing director of government relations, and Casey Atkins returns to the firm as chief operating officer...

8:00 | UMass Amherst Provost Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, MassBay Community College President David Podell, Lasell University President Eric Turner and Brandeis University President Arthur Levine discuss challenges facing higher education at the Charles River Regional Chamber's 111th annual fall business breakfast | Newton Marriott, 2345 Commonwealth Ave., Newton

9:10 | Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins delivers opening remarks at the Boston Fed's 70th Economic Conference, a two-day gathering of academics, central bankers, policymakers, and other experts examining challenges facing the U.S. housing market. The conference continues Saturday, and all sessions are livestreamed | Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 600 Atlantic Ave., Boston | More Info

10:00 | Department of Energy Resources holds a public hearing on proposed changes to the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard. Officials want to reduce the minimum standard starting next year, which the hearing notice says will “reduce the cost of the APS program by 77% between 2027 and 2029 and save ratepayers up to $238 million” | More Info and Zoom

10:00 | Executive Office of Health and Human Services holds a public hearing on the emergency adoption of updated payments to nursing facilities to align with fiscal 2027 budget requirements | More Info and Access

1:00 | Elizabeth Dionne and Gene Parini, candidates for MassGOP chair, join GBH News' The Curiosity Desk live from the station's Boston Public Library studio | GBH 89.7 FM

5:00 | Deadline for 2026 general election candidates to submit recount petitions and district-wide recount petitions for certification of signatures with registrars of voters.

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Real Estate Specialist, Town of Nantucket

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DATA DRIVEN: The 2028 ballot could feature a question that would put new restrictions on data center development in Massachusetts, including an approval vote by a host community’s residents. The political consultant chairing the ballot committee, Jim Fleming, says he hopes it encourages lawmakers to take action before then. | State House News Service (gift link)

MONEYBALL: House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz says he’s confident lawmakers will reach deals by the Jan. 5 end of session on a "number of" the major bills still being negotiated but it's still too early to tell if they'll "bat 1.000 on them." | Boston Globe

CLEARLY CANADIAN: The Healey administration is advancing its efforts to work with Nova Scotia on offshore wind projects, issuing a request for information with the Canadian province. Four other New England states are also participating. | CommonWealth Beacon

NURSING A DEAL: Gov. Healey, who calls herself a "pro-labor governor," worked behind the scenes to help Brigham and Women's Hospital and its 4,000 nurses come to a contract agreement and avoid a strike. | WBUR

TAKING STOCK OF FLOCK: As cities and towns continue debating police use of Flock cameras, Watertown Rep. Steven Owens is preparing to file a bill next session to regulate the license-plate reader technology and address community concerns around surveillance and data security. | CBS Boston

STILL MORE SEWER NEWS: Local leaders in Springfield, including state lawmakers from the city, oppose language in an environmental bond bill pending on Beacon Hill that would change the makeup of the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission's board, adding residents from three other communities served by the utility. | NEPM

HO, HO, HOLD ON: After a brawl broke out last year at Nantucket's annual Christmas stroll and liquor-law violations led one restaurant to shake up its management team, town officials are taking a chilly stance against some entertainment permits for this year's event. | Nantucket Current

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KELLER AT LARGE: 8:30 a.m., WBZ-TV. Political analyst Jon Keller talks to state Rep.-elect Daniel Darris-O’Connor about how the 19-year-old Billerica Democrat beat an eight-term incumbent, what he intends to focus on in office and generational differences in local politics.

@ ISSUE: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard sits down with MassGOP chair Amy Carnevale.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. NewsCenter 5's Ed Harding and Sharman Sacchetti host a conversation with Congresswoman Katherine Clark. Political analysts Mary Anne Marsh and Ginny Buckingham join for a roundtable discussion.

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