Weston FinCom reviews FY23 budgets pointing to full return to pre-pandemic operations

WESTON — February 3, 2022 — Weston Finance Committee previews FY23 budgets as departments plan return to pre-pandemic operations. Recreation Director Chris Fitzgerald presented a $1.965 million enterprise budget — slightly below FY20's $1.98 million and well above the pandemic-suppressed $1.117 million spent in FY21 — and said he would draw a 2004 rack body truck replacement and a $60,000-to-$150,000 tennis court resurfacing study from roughly $500,000 in retained earnings. Fitzgerald asked to restore the town contribution to 30 percent after a temporary bump to 40 percent in FY22. Land Use Coordinator John Field said permit fees ran about $460,000 last year and projected 20 to 30 replacement houses annually, plus a six-lot North Avenue subdivision and the $10 million-plus Riverside redevelopment of the former Liberty Mutual site. New Conservation Administrator Jordan McCarron announced a Feb. 28 public forum on a draft local wetlands bylaw, and new Board of Health Director Kelly Plusneck requested a $5,000 increase to the $25,000 Human Relations Service line for school-based mental health support.