Select Board adds patrol, skips street closure

Select Board · Meeting of October 23, 2026

HAMILTON — The Hamilton Select Board decided against closing Union Street for Halloween trick-or-treating, opting for an extra police patrol instead, and declined to authorize a League of Women Voters banner at Patton Park. Chair William Olson said he was "not comfortable putting myself in a situation where I have to vote for a road that's not closed but half closed," after board member Lee McCoy presented traffic data showing 60 percent of Union Street traffic was cut-through based on 107 resident signatures supporting the closure. Police Chief Edward J.

Guy III proposed stationing a third officer with a lit cruiser on Union Street for trick-or-treating instead of closing roads. On the banner request, Olson said staff could not confirm eight years of prior Select Board votes authorizing similar signage and objected to a group that "takes a position on something" posting on town property; the board committed to reviewing its temporary sign policy. No formal votes were taken on either item; the board adjourned on a 3-0 roll call.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of October 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.