Weston Finance Committee Opposes $4.5 Million Fire Station Design Request

WESTON — October 26, 2023 — Weston Finance Committee votes 7-1 to oppose $4.5 million fire station design appropriation. The committee declined to back the preliminary design funding for a proposed $50 million to $60 million overhaul of both town fire stations, with Chair Bharath Venkataraman and members including Zachary Sadek, Michael Wilberton, and Maija Cirulis-Gooch citing inadequate documentation, no alternatives analysis, and insufficient public outreach — though member Jonathan Harris cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing the liability and inflation risks of delay are real. Select Board liaison Chris Houston and Fire Chief Justin Woodside told the committee that a 2023 state cancer presumption law exposes the town to $1 million to $2 million per firefighter cancer case, and that construction inflation has already escalated a comparable police station project by 45 percent since 2020. The committee also voted unanimously to support a $420,000 CPC-funded Ash Street sidewalk project and a $50,000 Brook School affordable housing design study, and voted 6-2 to support a $100,000 affordable housing home-repair grant after an initial 4-4 deadlock; it took no position on a proposed net-zero stretch code bylaw.