Whately Select Board approves $40,000 Highway transfer, previews town meeting bylaw debate

WHATELY — June 1, 2026 — Whately Select Board clears $40,000 highway transfer and debates common driveway bylaw ahead of Saturday town meeting. The board unanimously approved the transfer of $40,000 in unspent Highway Department payroll funds, pending Finance Committee sign-off, at its June 1 meeting. The session's longest discussion centered on Article 25, a Planning Board proposal to amend the common driveway bylaw, with a Planning Board member joining the meeting to address resident concerns raised at a pre-town meeting session the prior week. The member argued that replacing an explicit by-right exemption with site plan review does not remove by-right status, saying "site plan review is viewed across the state as by right — it's not a discretionary decision." He disclosed four floor amendments he is preparing for Saturday's Annual Town Meeting, including an expanded waiver provision and a new de minimis relief standard. The Town Administrator warned that a ballot initiative to cut the state income tax from 5 percent to 4 percent could significantly reduce municipal aid beginning in fiscal year 2027, citing Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analysis that a comparable 1990s cut took 18 years to recover from.