Weston defers Paynes Hill access road vote, schedules December 17 showdown

WESTON — November 19, 2025 — Weston's Water Tank Working Group deferred a decision on the Paynes Hill tank access road alignment and agreed to take under advisement a formal challenge to the Cat Rock tank site, scheduling both matters for a December 17 meeting. Select Board Chair Lisa Rivers said the group should not resolve the access road dispute — which pits a north-of-tank alignment favored by engineers and the DPW against a center-of-footprint route preferred by all four abutters — without those residents formally noticed and present. Engineers from Wright-Pierce told the board that evaluating the alternative alignment would cost roughly $20,000 to $25,000 and push the critical 60 percent design submission back a month to a month and a half into early 2026, potentially complicating a State Revolving Fund financing deadline in October 2026. During public comment, attorney Dan Hill, representing abutter Michael Chason of 111 Bradford Road, and civil engineer Sean Reardon of Tetra Tech argued that recent design changes — including elimination of the proposed Bradford Road water main and a reduction in tank height — have invalidated the 2023 alternatives analysis supporting the Cat Rock location, adding roughly 200 feet of new water main and removing previously cited objections to an in-place tank replacement. The board asked Wright-Pierce to review the Tetra Tech letter at a high level and report back December 17.