Weston CPC approves all four proposals unanimously for November town meeting

WESTON -- October 16, 2023, Weston's Community Preservation Committee voted unanimously on four proposals totaling $611,000 at its October 16 meeting, sending all items to the November town meeting. Chair Glenn Butcher led the panel through presentations on high school tennis court design fees ($111,000, down from an original $165,000 ask after competitive bidding), a $30,000 one-time stewardship endowment for conservation restrictions on the Case Estates and Wellington Farm parcels, $50,000 in preliminary design and cost-estimating funds for two new Brooks School Apartments units, and $420,000 in construction funds for a new 1,500-linear-foot Ash Street trail segment connecting the Legacy Trail to the Case Estates trail. A Finance Committee representative warned the full panel that a follow-on tennis court construction ask of up to $2.4 million, expected at the spring 2024 town meeting, should be financed with cash rather than bonds, citing anticipated borrowing pressure from a new fire station and water tank projects that could threaten the town's AAA bond rating.