SHELBURNE — During a two-night Annual Town Meeting, 189 voters backed a $6.7 million spending plan for fiscal year 2027, authorized financial transfers to preserve 220 acres of scenic farmland near High Ledges and opened the door to permitting alcohol to be served during special events at the Shelburne Falls Theater at Memorial Hall.

The town’s budget plan represents an overall 6.6% increase and includes a Mohawk Trail Regional School District operating assessment of $3.16 million. Currently, about 105 Shelburne students go to Mohawk Trail schools. Also, the town’s assessment to Franklin County Technical School rose 11%, totaling $218,593 for the coming school year.

The Finance Committee warned that the town is still below its tax levy limit, but that Shelburne may require an override to continue funding future budget requests.

Farmland preservation

In a paper-ballot vote, the town voted 188-1 to transfer $85,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) money to support the Wheel-View Farm agricultural preservation project. The money buys the development rights to 220 acres of the scenic Wheel-View Farm, ensuring it remains farmland.

Community Preservation Committee member T. Wilson Flanders said the Wheeler family could make much more money by selling the land to housing developers, but they regard their land “as part of the community.” In return, the fields will be open for winter snowmobiling and public hiking from November to May.

Carolyn Wheeler said the state now requires “a local match” to trigger larger Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) funds from state and federal programs.

Maya Winfrey of the Board of Assessors expressed concern that spending money to protect farmland might “set a precedent” at a time when the town faces a housing shortage. 

“Yes, houses are really important,” said Jennifer Hale, who serves on the Community Preservation Committee. “But we don’t need to have them on prime farmland.”

Other uses of CPA funding include:

  • $45,000 for Phase 2 of the Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School playground project.
  • $15,000 for the Arms Library elevator.
  • $30,000 for an evaluation of the 1909 Shelburne Fire Tower, which is still an active lookout for wildfires.

Affordable housing lot

For the second year in a row, a warrant article seeking to turn 49 Mechanic St., which was taken by the town for back taxes, into a lot for a single-family affordable home was defeated. However, the topic sparked a lot of discussion about how the town can create affordable homes for young families.

“Property values are going up,” Winfrey said. “We need new growth in town. The community is going to change. We’ve seen more people with second homes here and fewer people living here.”

Selectboard member Andrew Baker said giving the property to a program such as Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity would help the town meet the state’s requirement that municipalities have at least 10% affordable housing stock. Also, a house on that lot would generate town tax dollars for years to come.

The defeated article would have enabled the Selectboard to sell the lot for less than fair-market value, with the restriction that the property could only be used to develop a single-family home that could be rented for less than one-third of a tenant’s monthly income.

After the measure was defeated, town officials tabled two articles to spend about $23,000 for pre-development work and demolition of a deteriorated barn on the property. 

“I’m ready and willing to purchase the land at a public auction,” said Nick Doneilo, whose Church Street home abuts the land. “If this article passes, it will give the town a way to give away the property. You have a trusted buyer who will purchase the property as-is.”

“It’s not always about fiscal responsibility, but of what kind of community we want to create,” commented resident Diane Johnson.

Resident John Taylor said he favored the article, because “Shelburne doesn’t have big tracts of land for big affordable units.”

“I think we should encourage affordable housing,” he added. “This is a referendum on what the town wants to do.”

Alcohol at Memorial Hall

After the town failed to address all 39 warrant articles on Tuesday night, about 70 voters returned Wednesday night to take up the final articles. Among the remaining votes, residents approved a measure to allow some alcoholic beverages to be served on special occasions at the upstairs Memorial Hall stage.

Article 33 asked voters to consider amending Article 11, Section 11 of the town’s bylaws. If approved by voters, the change would have added the language: “Alcoholic beverages (as defined in Chapter 138, Section 1 of the Massachusetts General Laws) are strictly prohibited in all municipal buildings and on all municipal grounds, including those which may have been leased to other organizations.”

However, Floodwater Brewing Co. entrepreneur Zachary Livingston of Shelburne successfully proposed modifying Article 33 so that beer and wine could be made available during concerts, plays and other special evening events. Instead of prohibiting alcohol in all municipal buildings, Livingston proposed that organizations that lease space, like Pothole Pictures, be allowed to apply for one-day liquor licenses.

Livingston said offering alcohol has been shown to increase attendance at programs and benefit the community through sales revenue. He said the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls and the Academy of Music in Northampton both saw an increase in programming and an increase in programming quality after offering beer and wine.

Tamara Sloan, who is involved with organizing the Ashfield Film Festival, said the festival gets a one-day permit for serving alcohol and has never had a problem with it.

The measure, as amended, was approved by a vote of 56 to 10.

Amendments to the Floodplain Overlay District, to correspond to changes that will be made by the federal government in 2027 or 2028, were also approved.