Weston Finance Committee backs tree plan, rejects septic loan program at budget review

WESTON -- March 10, 2022, Weston Finance Committee unanimously opposes septic repair loan program, backs $60,000 tree plan. The nine-member panel voted 9-0 at its March 10 meeting to oppose a Board of Health-sponsored warrant article that would have created a town-administered septic repair loan program, with members citing unclear implementation, administrative burden, and the backstopping of private debt as key concerns. The committee also voted 6-3 to take no position on a $206,000 Community Preservation Act historic preservation restriction for 669 Boston Post Road, a property whose demolition delay expires in June. A $60,000 public tree maintenance planning warrant article passed unanimously, building on a 2017 inventory. DPW Director Tom Cullen told the committee that a $4.6 million Payne's Hill water tank replacement, to be borrowed through the water enterprise fund, faces zoning, conservation land, and Article 97 permitting hurdles that push construction years out, drawing sharp concern from members who said they were only recently aware the town faces roughly $15 million in aging tank replacements and relies on a single MWRA connection. The Finance Committee's report is due March 28.