Freetown town meeting Nov. 9 will vote on a data center district, a $250,000 water line match and $1.5 million in savings
Voters meet Monday, Nov. 9, at 6:30 p.m. at Apponequet Regional High School. The town holds a review of the warrant articles Wednesday, Nov. 4, in person and on Zoom.
FREETOWN Freetown voters will decide Monday, Nov. 9, whether to allow data centers in one new district along Howland Road, whether to put $250,000 toward a federal grant to bring public water to the Transfer Station area, and whether to put $1.5 million into savings for school repairs and other capital needs. The final warrant the Board of Selectmen signed Oct. 19 lists 15 articles that together ask for about $2.54 million, by our math.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Robert C. Falcon Auditorium at Apponequet Regional High School, 100 Howland Road, Lakeville. Freetown holds an open town meeting, so any registered Freetown voter can attend and vote. The Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee recommend every spending article on the warrant.
A district for data centers
Article 11, from the Planning Board, would create a Data Center Overlay District on two parcels, Assessors Map 210 Lot 13 and Map 209 Lot 1, which a map in the article shows on land along Howland Road. Data centers of any size would need a Planning Board special permit and site plan review there, and they would be banned in every other zoning district. The bylaw sorts them by power use: up to 2 megawatts, more than 2 and up to 10, and more than 10, which it links to hyperscale or campus-scale operations.
Applicants would have to show there is enough electric capacity and water, estimate the cost of any utility upgrades and who pays, and use cooling that limits drinking water, with systems that depend on evaporating it "strongly discouraged." Steady equipment noise could not top 50 decibels from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. or 45 decibels overnight at the nearest home, school or similar building. A permit would last five years, with renewal before the Planning Board and regular operating reports. The warrant says the purpose is to "protect public health, ensure compatibility within the community" and review impacts on energy, water, noise and emissions.
Middleborough votes the same night on a bylaw that would ban data centers in every district. Read SC360's Middleborough warrant story.
Article 10, also from the Planning Board, would add a Craftsman/Tradesman Bay use for electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other trades that work off site and need storage and office space. Bays could be no larger than 1,000 square feet, with no showroom or outside storage, one truck and trailer each, and hours of 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, by special permit in four of the nine districts in the town's use table. Both zoning articles need a two-thirds vote. The selectmen recommend them, and the Finance Committee takes no position.
Water at the Transfer Station
Article 5 asks for $250,000 from available funds as the town's match for a $1 million EPA grant to engineer and permit an extension of the public water line to the Transfer Station area on Howland Road. The grant requires a 20% match, or $250,000, and the two together would make $1.25 million, the warrant says. "PFAS chemicals have been detected in one of the monitoring wells at the Transfer Station," its explanation adds.
Savings for the school and capital needs
Article 13 would add $500,000 to the Freetown Elementary School Maintenance Stabilization Fund. The school needs more roof repairs and new doors and windows, the warrant says, and it puts future roof repairs at about $2 million. Article 15 would add $1 million to the Capital Stabilization Fund for buying capital assets or paying debt on them. Spending from either fund would take another town meeting vote.
Trucks and other money articles
Article 1 asks $100,000 for a Fire Department command vehicle to replace the 2018 Tahoe assigned to the deputy chief, and Article 2 asks $325,000 for a Freightliner 114SD truck to replace the Highway Department's 1999 Chevy dump truck. Article 8 puts $250,000 into the Other Post-Employment Benefits fund, which the warrant says will help meet future costs of retirees' benefits. Article 6 adds $25,000 to a $20,000 economic development grant the town received so the town can finish an economic development plan, and Article 3 gives the tree warden $5,000 more for a hired tree service.
The Water and Sewer Commission asks $33,000 from its own retained earnings to outfit a second truck, and $12,630.78 from the same account to pay four bills from an earlier fiscal year. The Highway Department has $2,442 in old bills. Each prior-year bill article needs a nine-tenths vote. Article 9 would let the Board of Health spend $39,356.34 in opioid settlement money, plus interest, on prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery, and would close the separate settlement fund so later payments can be spent without another town meeting vote. Article 12 adds library assistant and public administration intern positions to the town's pay plan.
How to take part
The town is holding a review of the warrant articles for residents at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in the Police Station Community Room, 15 Memorial Drive, East Freetown, and on Zoom, meeting ID 831 3411 5996, passcode 721306. The full warrant and the Planning Board's bylaw texts are posted on the town website. Town offices are at 3 N. Main St., Assonet, 508-644-2201.
SC360 first reported on the draft warrant in October. Read the earlier story.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every article, amount, fund source, sponsor, vote threshold, recommendation and quoted line comes from Freetown's Nov. 9 Special Town Meeting warrant as the town posted it, signed Oct. 19, and from the Planning Board's full texts of Articles 10 and 11, revised Oct. 20. The review session details come from the town's own flyer and the meeting place from its calendar. We read them on Nov. 2. The $2.54 million total is our sum of the 12 money articles, and we added up the itemized bills in Articles 7 and 14. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar: Nov. 9, 2026, is a Monday and Nov. 4 a Wednesday.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (9)
- Town of Freetown, Warrant for the Special Town Meeting, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, attested copy as posted (8 pages)Town of Freetown Board of Selectmen. Given under the selectmen's hands Oct. 19, 2026; Articles 1 to 15 with amounts, fund sources, sponsors, vote thresholds, recommendations and explanations quoted here. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Town of Freetown, STM Final Warrant 11/9/2026 (7 pages), linked from the town page "11/9/26 Special Town Meeting Warrant"Town of Freetown. Meeting date, time and place. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Town of Freetown, Article 11: Amend Zoning Bylaw to Create Overlay District and Regulations (revised Oct. 20, 2026)Freetown Planning Board, on file with the town clerk. Definitions, tiers, overlay parcels, performance standards, noise limits, five-year permit term and the district map. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Town of Freetown, Article 10: Amend Zoning Bylaw to Recognize Craftsman/Tradesman Bay District Use (revised Oct. 20, 2026)Freetown Planning Board, on file with the town clerk. Use table, definition, bay size, hours and conditions. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Town of Freetown, Review of Special Town Meeting Warrant Articles, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, 6:30 p.m. (flyer)Town of Freetown. In person at the Police Station Community Room, 15 Memorial Drive, East Freetown, and on Zoom. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Town of Freetown calendar: Special Town Meeting, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6:30 p.m.Town of Freetown. Robert C. Falcon Auditorium, Apponequet Regional High School, 100 Howland Road, Lakeville. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- Freetown Board of Selectmen agenda, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 (amended)Town of Freetown. Item 3: vote to finalize and close the Special Town Meeting warrant for Nov. 9. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- South Coast 360: Freetown selectmen to vote on the Nov. 9 Town Meeting warrant (Oct. 18, 2026)SC360 News, earlier story. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
- South Coast 360: Middleborough town meeting Nov. 9 will vote on a data center ban (Nov. 1, 2026)SC360 News, earlier story. Read Nov. 2, 2026.