Dear President Stacey

I hope all is well and that you are staying safe. As you know, the Town of Walpole has been working under an emergency declaration since early March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of this emergency declaration the Town has been unable to hold its annual Town Meeting this Spring. Last week Town Moderator Dan Bruce moderator decided to hold the Annual Spring town meeting on Saturday June 20th at the Walpole High school football field. The Moderator has informed me that Town Meeting will be addressing three Articles which include:

• the FY 21 General operating Budget and
• FY 21 Sewer budget
• FY 21Water Budget.

The moderator will be referring all other articles back to the petitioner. This means that your contract which was set to be addressed under Article X of the Spring Town Meeting will not be considered. The moderator has explained to me that he has decided to consider just these three articles to ensure that the Town is able to continue operations as the Town transitions from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021. His plan is to keep Town Meeting as focused and as short as possible in order to avoid any unnecessary prolonged group interaction.

It is my expectations that the Town will revisit all 6 of the  municipal contracts that are set to expire on June 30, 2020 at the Fall 2020 Town meeting when residents can safely get back together in a large group setting for a prolonged period of time to have an extensive discussion about all of the articles that are set to be considered at that time.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions

Thank you

Jim Johnson

Town Administrator

Town of Walpole

508-660-7304

Cell 774-259-2220