Voters Pack School, Turn Down Pirie Purchase

The largest turnout of Hamilton voters at a Hamilton Town Meeting in five years packed Winthrop Elementary School on Tuesday night, turning down a proposal for the town government to purchase the 86-acre Pirie property.

The measure didn’t get the support of two-thirds of voters, as needed, and also came up 90 votes short of a majority with 481 voters opposing the purchase and 391 voters supporting it.

The town of Hamilton had a right of first refusal on the Bay Road property under the state Chapter 61 law that gives town’s the right to match offers on properties that go up for sale after receiving tax breaks for preserving agricultural and forestry uses.

In addition to filling the cafeteria, where Moderator Bruce Ramsay and the Board of Selectmen were located, voters also filled the gymnasium where the meeting was broadcast.

Diedre Pirie has a purchase and sales agreement to sell the property to UpperCross Development, which plans six house lots on the property. The town had planned to put some housing on the property and also use it for an athletic field and walking and equestrian trails.

After hearing a presentation from town officials, including Selectman Scott Maddern and Town Manager Michael Lombardo, resident Jack Lawrence made a motion to “postpone indefinitely” the vote.

“I’m not going to accept that at this time,” said Ramsay, noting the town was facing a Friday deadline to act on its right of first refusal.

Voters spent about 85 minutes listening to both sides of the issue before ballot voting began just before 9 p.m. The final tally was announced at about 10 p.m.

There were 872 voters in two rooms that had a fire capacity for 991 people. The last time there were that many voters at a Hamilton Town Meeting was May 2008 when 915 voters turned out.