Swampscott Select Board approves Hawthorne lease, advances sewer inspection bylaw

SWAMPSCOTT -- April 27, 2026, Swampscott Select Board unanimously approves Hawthorne property lease in departing members' final session. The board voted 5-0 at its April 27 meeting to approve a 26-month lease of the Hawthorne property to a private hospitality operator at $10,000 per month, with the lessee responsible for roughly $150,000 in annual property taxes, producing an estimated $622,000 in direct monetary benefit to the town. The board also voted 5-0 to recommend Article 10, a sewer-lateral inspection bylaw modeled on Danvers's ordinance, to town meeting voters on May 18, a proposal the Water and Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Committee first attempted last year before an incomplete warrant copy derailed it. On the capital budget, the board amended its Article 9 recommendation to restore $300,000 for a high school solar canopy design while stripping a $3.5 million sewer main rehabilitation line, citing unresolved questions about whether future private lateral repairs would be funded with public dollars without a betterment cost-recovery policy. The FY2027 operating budget passed 3-1-1, with Member Mary Ellen Fletcher voting no over school reserve balances and Member Katie Duffy abstaining due to a family conflict. The session was the final meeting for Chair Doug Thompson and Vice Chair David Grishman, both of whose terms end following Tuesday's town election.