Town Meeting

A proposed Marblehead Town Charter will be up for a vote at May’s Town Meeting, when residents will decide whether after 376 years, it’s time for Marblehead to have a formal document that defines how the town works. A Town Charter Committee started work in 2024 and has spent hundreds of hours meeting with elected and appointed officials, as well as town boards, committees and commissions to understand current practices. It has also studied the town’s bylaws, as well as state laws. TCC Chair Amy…

Voters approved the town’s $120 million budget for fiscal year 2026, updated regulations for accessory dwelling units, floodplain bylaws and tax relief measures for seniors and disabled veterans during the second night of Town Meeting on Wednesday. Just under 500 attendees made up Marblehead's Town Meeting, enough for a quorum but well under the nearly 1,800 people who showed up for the first full night for the legislative body. CURRENT PHOTO / LEIGH BLANDER The session in the Marblehead High School field house saw articles…

Voters will decide two debt exclusion overrides in the town’s June 10 election that together would add $117 a year, for 20 years, to the tax bill for the median-priced home in Marblehead. High School roof project On Tuesday, Town Meeting approved debt exclusion overrides for the high school roof project and a Mary Alley makeover. CURRENT PHOTO / LEIGH BLANDER On May 6, Town Meeting voters approved, 804-282, an $8.6 million debt exclusion override for a roof project at Marblehead High School. In 2022,…

10:55 p.m. Article 33 passes, 617 to 103. There will now be two Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion override questions on the June ballot. And that's a wrap for night one of Marblehead Town Meeting. "We need you back tomorrow night to do the rest of the business," Moderator Jack Attridge implored the crowd. 10:48 p.m. Article 33, the Mary Alley renovations, will be the last piece of business for tonight. The meeting will reconvene Wednesday, May 7 at 7 p.m., again in the Marblehead…

Marblehead will stage a special Town Meeting in November to reconsider the MBTA Communities Act zoning proposal that narrowly failed at the annual Town Meeting in May.  Nick Ward, center in apricot-colored shirt, and Trevor Moore, founding members of the Marblehead Housing Coalition, address the Fair Housing Committee and the Housing Production Plan Implementation Committee. CURRENT PHOTO / WILL DOWD Select Board member Dan Fox revealed the news during a joint public meeting of the Fair Housing Committee and the Housing Production Plan Implementation Committee. …

In the aftermath of Town Meeting’s rejection of a controversial zoning proposal aimed at complying with a state mandate, Planning Board member Edward Nilsson expressed disappointment but remained hopeful for future opportunities to revisit the warrant article. Applause erupted when Town Meeting rejected the zoning article on a 377-410 vote Tuesday night. With that 33-vote margin, the town joined Wakefield, Milton, Marshfield, Wrentham and Holden in pushing back against the state's Dec. 31 deadline to adopt zoning changes under the MBTA Communities Act. Looking ahead,…

Town Meeting voters approved Article 34 on Tuesday, on a 373-360, narrowly establishing a new Community Development and Planning Department to oversee the town's development and planning efforts.  The move comes in response to the retirement of longtime Town Planner Becky Cutting, who managed multiple responsibilities. Town Meeting approved a new Community Development and Planning Department, which will have a wide range of duties. CURRENT PHOTO / LEIGH BLANDER Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer said the new department will be led by a director responsible for…