Weston CPC Advances $420,000 Ash Street Trail Ahead of Town Meeting Vote

WESTON -- September 18, 2023, Weston's Community Preservation Committee heard a $420,000 Ash Street Trail proposal and a $30,000 conservation endowment request at its September 18 meeting. Jay Doyle, chair of the Traffic and Sidewalk Committee, and Town Engineer Jason Lavoie presented a redesigned alignment for the Ash Street Trail and Walkway, the last project remaining from the town's 2010 sidewalk master plan, estimated at $350,000 in construction costs plus a $70,000 contingency, with a town meeting vote scheduled for October 28. The revised path moves off the roadway through a wooded section near the Weston Reservoir and would be built primarily of stone dust to match the existing Legacy Trail. Conservation Commission representative Emily Schrader separately sought $15,000 each for stewardship endowments on Case Estates and Wellington Farm conservation restrictions, describing the one-time payments as standard practice for land trusts. The committee voted 5-0-1 to approve its prior meeting minutes, with one member abstaining because she had not yet joined the committee at the time of the previous meeting.