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.