Groton Voters Approve Cow Pond, Golf Course Funding

Town Meeting · Meeting of October 3, 2026

Groton Town Meeting approved $3.9 million for a Cow Pond Brook Fields overhaul and a new senior property tax break while rejecting a rival senior tax-freeze petition. Voters backed the Community Preservation Act-funded Cow Pond project after Park Commission Chair Mary Jennings said the plan, cut from $4.8 million in the spring, fixes parking, stormwater and a turtle-habitat access road the town left in violation since 2009. A $1.7 million Country Club irrigation bond passed 195-74.

Article 12, a means-tested senior tax exemption from Nick DeGatis, passed 131-91 despite Finance Committee Chairman David Manoogian warning of a "shift of tax burden from one taxpayer group to another." Sam Palmer's competing senior tax-freeze petition failed. Voters backed, 78-65, Russ Harris's call to study housing's effect on town finances.

In the full story:

• Warrant Overview and Procedural Notes
• Article 1 — Prior Fiscal Year Highway Bill
• Articles 2 Through 9 — Consent Agenda
• Article 10 — Cow Pond Brook Fields Improvement Project
• Article 11 — Groton Country Club Irrigation System
• Article 12 — Senior Means-Tested Property Tax Exemption
• Articles 13 and 14 — Clean Energy and Solar Zoning Amendments
• Article 15 — Senior Property Tax Freeze Petition
• Article 16 — Housing Opportunities and Municipal Finance Study
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 3,596 words

Source: the Town Meeting meeting of October 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

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