The Hopkinton Town Council on Monday voted to put a single question on the November 3rd general election ballot: whether the town clerk should stop being an elected official and instead be appointed by the council.
The resolution, adopted by voice vote, would amend Sections 2-130A and 4-110 of the town's Home Rule Charter. As read aloud at the meeting, the ballot question asks whether the charter should be amended "to reflect that the Town Clerk's position no longer be an elected position but be appointed by the Town Council." A Home Rule Charter is a town's own governing document, and changes to it require voter approval.
Council members said they deliberately kept the ballot to one short question. A member noted that a previous attempt, in the 2024 election, was "worded wrong" and included too many questions.
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A resident attending his first council meeting asked directly how long the clerk's job has been elected, why the town wants to change it, and why now. The town manager answered that the position was political in the town's early days but is not anymore, and that the prior clerk served more than 30 years, largely unopposed.
The practical argument offered was contractual. The town manager said the clerk's position went years without pay raises because compensation was set only through the budget process, while five town unions and the appointed manager all have negotiated contracts. Under an appointed structure, the manager said, the council could set a multi-year contract that is a public record.
Officials also confirmed the clerk must be a qualified elector of Hopkinton, meaning a resident.
Trash contract goes to the low bidder over a longtime local vendor
The council voted by voice vote to award the town's municipal waste removal contract to Homes Disposal and Recycling, a three-year contract. Bids opened July 15th came in at $3,240 annually from Homes Disposal, $5,136 from the incumbent local hauler, and $7,968 from Eastern Waste.
Public Works Director Dave Caswell and the town manager both said they would have preferred to keep the current local contractor, which also handles the town's septic work and abandoned properties, but said Rhode Island procurement law makes it difficult to reject the lowest bid without documented justification. Officials said the town had never worked with the winning bidder and ran reference and background checks. Asked where the company disposes of waste, staff said Johnston.
The council separately granted commercial haulers' licenses to Homes Disposal and Recycling and Eastern Waste Services after sitting as a licensing board.
Truck purchase, lease rate
The council awarded the bid for a heavy-duty dump truck with plow to a Warwick-based dealer at $245,728 with an extended warranty, the lowest of three bids. Public works told the council delivery is expected to take a year and a half to two years, because the body alone takes about a year.
A related resolution required by the lender was also approved, covering lease financing for that truck over five years and a police SUV over three years, at a rate officials described as 5.45%. Both purchases were previously approved in the fiscal 2027 capital improvement plan; the votes were procedural steps to finalize financing.
Council asks Westerly and DEM for Potter Hill Dam records
Sponsored by Vice President Burns, the council voted to send letters to the Westerly Town Council and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) requesting copies of reports and findings on test wells and water samples tied to the Potter Hill Dam, and asking that Hopkinton be added to stakeholder and notification lists going forward.
Burns said roughly 115 Hopkinton residents with wells near the dam have not received results from studies they were asked to participate in, and that he had since heard Westerly is seeking to transfer the dam to DEM while keeping the mill site. "We're not looking to cause a wave, but we have a vested interest in the people we represent who live on that side," a council member said during the discussion. Another added, "Disclosure of what goes on is not optional."
The transcript does not include any response from Westerly or DEM; the letters had not yet been sent as of the meeting.
Former school auction bids close; appraisal questioned
The auction for the former Hope Valley Elementary School closed the day of the meeting, the town manager said. He told the council that the state has no clear procurement process for selling municipal property, so the town chose a public auction, and that the town reserved the right to reject any and all offers. A bid package will be prepared for the council to review.
A resident asked what the property appraised for. The town manager said the appraisal included two figures: roughly $1 million for adaptive reuse keeping the existing structure, and about $500,000 if the building were demolished and redeveloped, because demolition costs eat into the value. The resident said that seemed low compared with nearby residential assessments; the town manager said the town paid for a professional appraisal and stood by it.
Town hall move-in delayed to August 12th
The town manager said employees will not move into the expanded town hall until at least August 12th, after an initial plan to move in the following Wednesday was pushed back so contractors can finish punch-list items, including paint and trim. The architects were scheduled to complete a full punch list the next day. Final occupancy sign-off was still pending a DEM approval related to the septic system.
Loam and hydroseeding of the site are scheduled for September, and ramp railings are awaiting hardware. The manager said the total for the addition plus rehabilitation of the existing building will be just under $4 million, and told a resident that about $1 million came from town capital funds, $1 million from ARPA, and $1 million from donated funds. He recommended holding off on a ribbon cutting until exterior work is finished.
Public comment
A Hope Valley resident told the council that Hope Valley and Hopkinton City no longer appear on the current Rand McNally atlas or in digital navigation directions, and asked the town attorney to formally demand corrections. Council members were skeptical that print cartography drives the digital maps, and one described his own experience correcting a street mix-up through an online map correction form. A council member said he would look into the process, but no vote was taken.
Another resident said the attorney for a proposed Dye Hill solar project withdrew the application on Friday, and questioned why the town's Technical Review Committee has met only twice since 2024. Council members said the committee meets as needed to support the town planner on applications that no longer go before the full planning board. A committee meeting is listed for August 13th at 11 a.m.
A resident asked the council to create a body focused on land and water resources to work with developers on clear-cutting and drainage, noting five more solar projects remain in the pipeline. No action was taken.
The council also ratified contracts for Police Chief Mark Carrier and Police Captain Glenn Ahern, along with town clerk salary and benefits for fiscal 2027, as part of the consent agenda — a bundle of routine items voted on together. The consent agenda also set August 17th as a public hearing date on a special event permit and Class F liquor license application.
A retiring fire chief introduced Jason Caswell as the new Fire Chief of Hope Valley.
What's next
Voters decide the town clerk charter question on November 3rd. The Technical Review Committee is scheduled to meet August 13th at 11 a.m., and the council has a public hearing set for August 17th on the special event permit and liquor license application.