Marijuana Law, Senior Tax Breaks Among Selectmen's Goals for 2017

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The passing of Question 4 has left many towns wondering about the impact the new law will have on their communities, Foxborough included.

During a discussion of the selectmen's goals for 2017, legalized marijuana was mentioned as something the selectmen should focus on.

"We haven’t had a discussion about it because we’re trying to figure out what we can do. We’ll have options we can layout in the next month," Town Manager Bill Keegan told the selectmen Tuesday night.

Keegan added that Town Planner Paige Duncan recently attended a seminar on the new law.

Foxborough was one of the few towns where Question 4, a proposal to make marijuana legal in Massachusetts for adults over 21, failed to gain support, with 5,226 residents voting no and 5,011 voting yes.

The town's most notable brush with marijuana came in 2015, went the selectmen took no action on a proposed medical marijuana dispensary at the intersection of Route 1 and North Street.

Also discussed was a possible expansion of the senior tax abatement program. Selectman Ginny Coppola said the state legislature is about to pass a bill that will give seniors in Reading a tax break. She recommended contacting state Rep. Jay Barrows about possibly filing the same bill for Foxborough.

"The easiest things is to take that Reading legislation and plug in Foxborough. It’s been vetted and it’s legislation," Coppola said.

The wide-range discussion also included the possibility of holding a budget summit, the state of the former fire station, downtown sewer, the regional dispatch project, and the old laundry building.

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