HANOVER — May 4 and 5, 2026 — In a marathon two-night Town Meeting, Hanover residents charted a high-stakes course for the town’s future, authorizing a massive $32 million borrowing plan to scrub “forever chemicals” from the public water supply and approving an $81.1 million operating budget. While voters embraced aggressive environmental protections—including a new ban on single-use plastic bags—they soundly rejected radical shifts in town governance, defeating proposals to implement a recall process for elected officials and to strip the Moderator of committee appointment powers.
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The defining moment of the 2026 Annual Town Meeting arrived late Monday night during a tense debate over Article 24, a $32 million request to upgrade the town’s three water treatment plants to combat PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Town officials and consultants from Apex Companies warned that while Hanover currently meets the state standard of 20 parts per trillion, it fails the pending federal limit of just four parts per trillion.
