Resident urges caution on lowering voting age and flags infrastructure strain from new developments

Kevin Barry, a resident of 8 Indian Pond Road, used the committee's public‑comment slot to urge the Advisory Finance Committee to lean on peer towns' experience before commissioning repeated third‑party studies and to scrutinize the infrastructure impacts of several pending developments.

"Where is the equilibrium? Where is what's gonna be the impact to our infrastructure?" Barry asked, naming the Post Road development and parcels at Route 9 and 135 as examples he believes will be isolated from downtown and could place additional burden on roads, water and emergency services. He said MassDOT timing for road improvements — projects applied for in 2023 and scheduled as far out as 2029 and 2030 — means traffic and safety fixes may lag years behind occupancy.

Barry also addressed a citizen petition to reduce the town voting age to 16–17, saying he found a national playbook (vote16usa.org) that, he said, contained prepared talking points used by petitioners. He noted the petition's language appeared to limit the measure to voting rather than allowing 16–17 year olds to hold town positions, and questioned why petitioners did not pursue both changes.

He praised the high school presenters who brought the petition to the planning board and AFC for a professional presentation but said he did not see high school students attending meetings otherwise. Barry closed by urging committee members to use available municipal associations and neighboring towns' experiences to reduce redundant studies and to consider broader infrastructure consequences before approving additional development.