Dover Board of Selectmen Places Three Debt Exclusion Questions on May Ballot

DOVER -- April 11, 2026, Dover's Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to put three separate debt exclusion questions on the May 18, 2026 annual town election ballot, covering the town fuel island, the Dover-Sherborn Regional High School roof restoration and skylight replacement project, and Carroll Park parking lot and pickleball court improvements. Chair Robin Hunter, joining the Zoom session from Munich, argued the exclusion approach was essential to prevent the town from consuming its Proposition 2 1/2 levy capacity and being forced into a standard override. The board debated and rejected adding a dump truck with plow and town center intersection improvements to the ballot package, with the town administrator warning that a failed vote on the intersection project could jeopardize a grant and eliminate the option for decorative streetlights. Each project will appear as its own question, a "menu" structure intended to ensure that defeat of one does not kill the others. All five votes, including adjournment, passed 3-0.