Charlton Town Meeting Rejects Bid to Repeal 2016 Stretch Energy Code

CHARLTON — May 18, 2026 — Charlton Town Meeting voted 71 to 41 to keep the town's Stretch Energy Code, defeating a citizen petition to repeal the building efficiency standard adopted in 2016. Robert Lemansky of 157 Sunset Drive, the petitioner, argued that the state has amended the code three times since adoption without returning to local voters, adding costs of $20,000 to $25,000 per new home in insulation alone. Building Commissioner Curtis Meskis countered that the base code contains nearly identical requirements and that the "same people that write the stretch code are the same people that are writing the base energy code." Resident Nancy Tully cited six rounds of state Green Community grants since 2016, including a most recent award exceeding $219,000 directed to the elementary school, library, and sewer department, asking what benefit rescission would provide. Town Meeting also approved a $46,813,725 FY2027 general fund budget raised by taxation — passing 94 to 10 — and transferred $450,000 from free cash to cover a snow and ice overrun, the largest such transfer in recent memory.