Weston Planning Board defers water tank siting as abutters dispute Wright Pierce analysis

WESTON — January 3, 2024 — Weston Planning Board hears abutter challenges to water tank siting analysis, defers MBTA zoning memo. At the January 3 meeting, Select Board Chair Laurie Bent and Wright Pierce engineers Rob Williamson and Amy Coppers presented a 13-criteria weighted matrix recommending siting for three replacement water tanks at Paines Hill, Cat Rock, and Doublet Hill — all requiring an Article 97 conservation land swap before the MEPA permitting process can begin. Abutter Michael Chasen, whose Bradford Road home sits adjacent to the preferred Cat Rock alternative, disputed the abutter-weighting methodology and said his own hired engineer would produce a competing analysis by the following week, prompting Bent to confirm the Select Board would postpone its siting vote past January 9. On the MBTA Communities front, the board reviewed a draft memo — led by member Timothy Shawn Lanier — requesting the Select Board form a joint oversight committee to meet a November 2024 bylaw deadline, with a pending Mass Housing Partnership grant of up to $25,000 to fund early consultant work; Vice Chair Alex Selvig objected that he had not seen the full memo text and the board scheduled a follow-up Zoom session for January 8 before submitting the memo to the Select Board.