Oakham Select Board Sends Wetlands Bylaw to Town Counsel for Legal Review

OAKHAM — April 13, 2026 — Oakham Select Board advances wetlands bylaw to town counsel and confronts a dangerous barn, a police staffing gap, and a tight budget. The board Monday directed Conservation Commission member Sean Seeley to submit his draft local wetlands bylaw — designed to give Oakham protections beyond state minimums against large-scale energy developers — to town counsel KP Law for legal review, after members raised concerns about open-ended language allowing the commission to define "large-scale projects" at its own discretion and questioned whether preexisting town drainage infrastructure would be grandfathered. The board unanimously raised the municipal lien certificate fee from $25 to $50, the statutory maximum, at the recommendation of the town's treasurer, and voted to send the highway department to Oakham Center School to remove concrete posts with exposed rebar from a playground area. Building Inspector Duffy warned that the barn at 21 Colebrook Road has "lost a lot of roof" and shows bulging walls, and the board directed town counsel to send a formal inquiry letter to Worcester Probate Court. During public comment, the board confirmed preliminary talks with Barre on a regional police arrangement estimated at $249,456 annually — compared to Oakham's current $315,000 expenditure for 16-hour coverage — but cautioned all figures depend on the outcome of Barre's ongoing union contract negotiations, with the town's own Proposition 2 1/2 capacity capped at $93,000 in new revenue.