OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Bourne Select Board Meeting - January 13, 2026: Cannabis HCA, Road Petition, and FY27 Budget Discussion

Select Board — Tuesday, January 13, 2026
BodyBourne, Massachusetts
SessionSelect Board
DateTuesday, January 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:18:02

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

If anyone from the public wishes to access the meeting, they can do so by calling the following conference line.

0:09

1929-205-6099.

0:14

Zoom meeting ID 897 1229-3538 password born all caps.

0:23

The Zoom chat will not be monitored.

0:26

Participants who wish to speak must raise the hand icon until the chair asks them to unmute.

0:32

All items within this meeting agenda are subject to deliberation and votes.

1:01

Underground individual.

1:08

Thank you.

1:12

Okay.

1:14

So public comments on non-agenda items.

1:16

I'm not sure if anyone is signed up for public comment, but public comments are allowed for a total of 12 minutes at the beginning of each meeting.

1:24

Each speaker is limited to three minutes for comment.

1:26

Board members are unable to respond due to the post and requirements of the open meeting law.

1:31

Do we have anyone here for public comment outside of the agenda items?

1:38

All right.

1:46

This is really a resolution of the outstanding social equity host community agreement.

1:53

So the select board had met on 1217 and we had decided some had felt necessary to just hold one more meeting to maybe either gather some more information or find any new information, which is included in the select board's packet.

2:16

And at this point, I would really like to see if we could entertain someone to make a motion here regarding this HCA.

2:32

So are we targeted?

2:35

Are we gonna discuss the narrative?

2:36

And the narrative seems to be the outstanding issue.

2:41

Well, I think the narrative, I think we can't really discuss the narrative until we've chosen our our host community agreement person, correct?

2:48

I mean, I think you know, I'd like to see if somebody wants to put the motion on the the floor and and get this done.

2:54

I think we've we've had a plenty of meetings here.

2:57

Um we did have a uh decision of the board um that we had, and then we had to get to this narrative decision, and here we are.

3:06

So yeah.

3:10

So the decision, the vote was 3-2 for born cannabis.

3:14

Yep.

3:16

The narrative could not be decided upon or HCA applicants, the narrative discussion that's and the recommendation at that time was to not initiate the town administrator, not to vote to have the town and memory serve means correctly, not to vote to have the town administrator initiate the the HCA boards her to sign it.

3:37

Right with um candidates.

3:41

Okay, in a nutshell.

3:42

Um so the resolution is so i I guess it's two-fold then, right?

3:55

So do we have a motion to authorize the town administrator to issue the HCA?

4:03

To born candidates to born cannabis.

4:07

Or is there another motion?

4:08

I don't see.

4:09

I mean, I yeah, I think I think that's the motion, right?

4:12

And that is that is what we're here for from the original vote of the board.

4:17

So that's the motion that uh was a good one.

4:30

Or is there another motion?

4:32

Well, I I'm in favor of authorizing the town administrator to sign the HA for more cannabis.

4:39

But my recollection, and perhaps Brian Bertram can clarify this, was that his recommendation was that the town that the select board agree on the narrative before they voted that authorization.

4:55

I my impression is that's where it was left, and that's why we've been kind of we don't have a narrative, so maybe Brian could speak.

5:03

Brian did do.

5:04

Were you able to hear all that?

5:06

Well uh and then I also rec I think that what if I remember correctly too in the last meeting where this was on the agenda that that wasn't necessary.

5:18

Right to vote the narrative prior to authorizing the town administrator.

5:28

No, it's not it's not strictly necessary.

5:30

I mean, the reason we want the narrative is we have a defendance decision.

5:34

Um you know, we agreed upon reasons, or at least we have the reasons of the board, um, as we've learned through other licensing processes, lots of things are said and discussed, and um, you know, we just want to make sure that it's clear to any reviewer the reasons we selected the applicant that we selected.

5:54

But I'm I'm perfectly fine if the board wants to entertain a motion and vote to execute the HCA to do it that way.

6:03

And if we're really struggling with the narrative, I would suggest that what we can really do is just have um, you know, presuming that the vote follows the lines of the original voters and it's three who vote to execute the HCA, the same ones that voted to select announcing that applicant if that's what we do.

6:23

We just have them state their individual reasons, and then we can include those as a narrative and then move on from this at this point because we really do need to figure out what we're doing here and not belabor this any longer.

6:39

Can I ask a little question?

6:42

I believe at the last meeting it was suggested um, I think um Jean suggested that if select board members had specific changes for the narrative that they'd bring those changes to this meeting.

6:56

And she seemed to be want more deliberation before the decision, so I'm hesitant.

7:03

I think we should hear from them maybe if you know if there's anyone who has any changes to the draft narrative that was that maybe they could be proposed.

7:14

So Peter and um uh Jean, I know you're both here virtually.

7:18

Do you want to speak to that?

7:20

G maybe first, and then maybe Peter could offer his thoughts here.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Capital Planning██████████████████████22%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████12%
Capital Budget Planning███████████11%
Public Safety██████████10%
Cannabis Regulation████████8%
Waste Management████████8%
Fiscal Sustainability████████8%
Technology and Innovation██████6%
Procedural█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Bourne Select Board Meeting - January 13, 2026

The Bourne Select Board met on January 13, 2026, starting at 6:00 PM (agenda posted time) to address a resolution of the outstanding social equity host community agreement (HCA) for cannabis, a petition for road work on private ways, and extensive discussion of the FY27 operating and capital budgets. The meeting also included debates on debt service funding, capital project deferrals, and the role of the Finance Committee at Town Meeting. A procedural issue arose regarding the Terra Terrace road petition, as residents were informed the item would be heard at 7:00 PM, but the board voted on it earlier. The board acknowledged the issue and indicated they may need to revisit the vote.

Discussion Items

  • Cannabis Host Community Agreement (HCA) Resolution: The board revisited the HCA for Bourne Cannabis. After discussion, a motion to authorize the town administrator to sign the HCA with Bourne Cannabis was made and seconded. The vote was 3-2 (same as the original selection vote on December 17, 2025: Anne Marie no, Jean yes, Peter yes, MJ yes, Melissa no). The board then voted 3-2 to accept the draft narrative for the HCA applicants as the November 4, 2025 draft presented, with no changes proposed by some members. The narrative was approved with the same vote tally.
  • Petition for Road Work on Private Ways (Terra Terrace and Eldridge Ave Extension): The board considered a petition for temporary repairs and resurfacing. The total cost is $1,038,373.70. The board voted unanimously to place an article on the annual town meeting warrant to appropriate that sum, to be borrowed and repaid through betterment assessments. Residents later expressed concern that the vote occurred before 7:00 PM, contrary to a notice sent to them. The board acknowledged the issue and will consult town counsel; the vote may need to be reconsidered.
  • FY27 Capital Projects Discussion: The board reviewed capital projects recommended by the Capital Outlay Committee. Items included:
    • Sagamore Ramp Project ($200,000 CPA funding)
    • GIS upgrade (digital assessing maps)
    • Police vehicle replacement (3 vehicles: two Dodge Durangos and one Tahoe, total $275,000)
    • Police record management system replacement ($163,000)
    • Fire structural PPE ($275,000)
    • Fire car number 4 (Ford F150, $85,000)
    • DPW Shore Road over Picassett River Bridge design ($594,000, split 50/50 between free cash and Chapter 90)
    • School safety and security upgrades ($150,000 for cameras/servers, $70,000 for window security)
    • Icewim loader ($634,350 from retained earnings)
    • Icewim transfer station ($13.516 million from borrowing)
  • FY27 Operating Budget Presentations: Department heads presented their operating budget proposals. Key points:
    • Police: Overtime budget increased by $52,500 to better reflect actual spending; other increases tied to collective bargaining agreements.
    • Fire: Dispatch costs remain uncertain; fire chief noted no definitive numbers from the sheriff's office yet.
    • DPW: Increased contracted services and parts budgets; two promotional opportunities for laborers to skilled laborers.
    • Facilities: Modest increase of $42,074, mainly personnel costs.
    • Icewim: Operating budget of $15,082,711, a 1.3% increase; host community fee discussion on revenue budgeting.
    • Finance: Increase of $91,162, primarily due to reclassification of an administrative assistant to assistant town accountant.
    • Town Administrator's Office: Decrease of $3,000 from removing funding for the assistant town administrator position for FY27.
    • IT: Increases to maintain service contracts and prioritize electronic mooring renewal process.
  • Debt Service and Capital Stabilization Funding: The finance director presented a memo on using capital stabilization funds to offset new debt service costs. The board expressed concerns about the sustainability of using reserves and the need for clear revenue streams. Discussion included the impact of the South Side Fire Station land purchase on capital stabilization.
  • ESCO M&V Services: The board voted to terminate the Measurement and Verification (M&V) services contract for the ESCO energy project, citing unrealistic energy savings expectations and operational conflicts. The vote was 5-0.
  • Process for Deferring Capital Requests: The board voted to move unfunded capital projects to a "FY27 Phase Two" (fall 2026 Town Meeting) rather than automatically deferring to FY28. The motion passed 5-0.
  • Finance Committee Role at Town Meeting: The board discussed the expectation that the Finance Committee should make motions and recommendations at Town Meeting, as the Select Board has carried this burden in recent years. The board agreed to schedule a joint meeting with the Finance Committee on February 2, 2026, to discuss the matter.

Key Outcomes

  • Cannabis HCA: Authorized the town administrator to sign the HCA with Bourne Cannabis (3-2 vote). Approved the narrative for the HCA decision (3-2 vote).
  • Terra Terrace/Eldridge Ave Road Petition: Approved placement of a warrant article for $1,038,373.70 for repairs and resurfacing, funded by borrowing with betterments (unanimous). However, due to procedural notice issues, the vote may be revisited.
  • ESCO M&V Termination: Unanimously voted to terminate the M&V services contract.
  • Capital Project Deferrals: Approved moving unfunded FY27 capital projects to a fall 2026 Town Meeting phase, with the five-year plan to be updated accordingly.
  • Joint Meeting: Scheduled with Finance Committee on February 2, 2026, to discuss their role at Town Meeting.
  • Next Meetings: January 20, 2026 (Select Board at 6:00 PM, with Wayne Sampson on luxury transfer fee; Sewer Commissioners at 7:00 PM); January 27, 2026 (Select Board).

Meeting Transcript

If anyone from the public wishes to access the meeting, they can do so by calling the following conference line. 1929-205-6099. Zoom meeting ID 897 1229-3538 password born all caps. The Zoom chat will not be monitored. Participants who wish to speak must raise the hand icon until the chair asks them to unmute. All items within this meeting agenda are subject to deliberation and votes. Underground individual. Thank you. Okay. So public comments on non-agenda items. I'm not sure if anyone is signed up for public comment, but public comments are allowed for a total of 12 minutes at the beginning of each meeting. Each speaker is limited to three minutes for comment. Board members are unable to respond due to the post and requirements of the open meeting law. Do we have anyone here for public comment outside of the agenda items? All right. This is really a resolution of the outstanding social equity host community agreement. So the select board had met on 1217 and we had decided some had felt necessary to just hold one more meeting to maybe either gather some more information or find any new information, which is included in the select board's packet. And at this point, I would really like to see if we could entertain someone to make a motion here regarding this HCA. So are we targeted? Are we gonna discuss the narrative? And the narrative seems to be the outstanding issue. Well, I think the narrative, I think we can't really discuss the narrative until we've chosen our our host community agreement person, correct? I mean, I think you know, I'd like to see if somebody wants to put the motion on the the floor and and get this done. I think we've we've had a plenty of meetings here. Um we did have a uh decision of the board um that we had, and then we had to get to this narrative decision, and here we are. So yeah. So the decision, the vote was 3-2 for born cannabis. Yep. The narrative could not be decided upon or HCA applicants, the narrative discussion that's and the recommendation at that time was to not initiate the town administrator, not to vote to have the town and memory serve means correctly, not to vote to have the town administrator initiate the the HCA boards her to sign it. Right with um candidates. Okay, in a nutshell. Um so the resolution is so i I guess it's two-fold then, right? So do we have a motion to authorize the town administrator to issue the HCA? To born candidates to born cannabis. Or is there another motion? I don't see. I mean, I yeah, I think I think that's the motion, right? And that is that is what we're here for from the original vote of the board. So that's the motion that uh was a good one. Or is there another motion? Well, I I'm in favor of authorizing the town administrator to sign the HA for more cannabis. But my recollection, and perhaps Brian Bertram can clarify this, was that his recommendation was that the town that the select board agree on the narrative before they voted that authorization. I my impression is that's where it was left, and that's why we've been kind of we don't have a narrative, so maybe Brian could speak. Brian did do. Were you able to hear all that? Well uh and then I also rec I think that what if I remember correctly too in the last meeting where this was on the agenda that that wasn't necessary. Right to vote the narrative prior to authorizing the town administrator. No, it's not it's not strictly necessary. I mean, the reason we want the narrative is we have a defendance decision. Um you know, we agreed upon reasons, or at least we have the reasons of the board, um, as we've learned through other licensing processes, lots of things are said and discussed, and um, you know, we just want to make sure that it's clear to any reviewer the reasons we selected the applicant that we selected.

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