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Warrant Articles for Special Town Meeting 2025

Strategic Spending: Funding Requests for Public Safety, Street Improvements, and Technology
Posted on: November 12, 2025 - 7:00am
special town meeting

At the upcoming Special Town Meeting, there are several warrant articles requesting funds for a variety of projects.

ARTICLE 1 UNPAID BILLS OF PRIOR FISCAL YEARS

This article is a standard article requesting approval for payment of unpaid bills from prior fiscal years. This is typically needed when the Town receives an invoice after the books have been closed for the previous fiscal year. When this happens, under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 44, Section 64, the Town is unable to pay it without Town meeting approval. For this Town Meeting, the Town has one prior year bil in the amount of $488 from DS Graphics to cover the cost of printing the Select Board’s quarterly newsletter mailed to residents. This article requires a 4/5ths vote for approval.

ARTICLE 8 FIRE DEPARTMENT FORESTRY TRUCK GRANT MATCH

The Town has been awarded a $285,000 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant to replace the Fire Department’s 1986 forestry truck with a modern vehicle designed for brush fires and off- road emergencies. To accept the grant, the Town is required to provide a local match of $15,000. This article requests these matching funds through a free cash appropriation in this amount. The new forestry truck will improve the Fire Department’s ability to respond to forest and off- road incidents, enhance firefighter safety, and strengthen  mutual  aid  capabilities  with surrounding communities.

ARTICLE 10 ROUTE 113 COMPLETE STREETS REDESIGN ONE STOP FOR GROWTH (HOUSING WORKS) GRANT MATCH      

The Town was awarded a One Stop HousingWorks Grant to complete engineering and design for a Complete Streets redesign of Route 113, extending from the intersection of Main and Pleasant Streets south to 160–164 Pleasant Street, the site of the Town’s first affordable housing development near the post office. The proposed redesign will create a safer way for all to travel along Route 113 connecting the new housing and post office to Dunstable’s civic, historic, and commercial center. Currently, this section of Route 113 lacks continuous sidewalks, crosswalks, or traffic calming, posing safety risks for pedestrians, including students walking to Swallow Union Elementary. The Town is requesting a free cash appropriation of $28,000 in local matching funds to leverage the awarded $475,000 HousingWorks grant.

ARTICLE 11 TOWN WEBSITE UPDATE

This article requests transfer of $17,000 from free cash to support the redesign and modernization of the Town of Dunstable’s official Town website. The updated site will be ADA- compliant, mobile-friendly, and easy for staff to update, with improved navigation, document access, notifications, and online service features. The redesign will enhance communication, accessibility, and transparency for residents while streamlining  internal  operations  across departments.