Weston Select Board backs remote voting legislation, defers committee formation

WESTON — July 8, 2025 — Weston's Select Board backed state legislation to enable remote town meeting voting but left its own committee structure unresolved. At the July 8 meeting, all five members — Chair Lise N. Revers, Clerk John F. McDonald, and members Alfred L. Aydelott, Anupam Sachdev, and Rebecca J. Mercuri — expressed support for House Bill 2274, which would allow any Massachusetts town to adopt remote participation, with Sachdev volunteering to lobby state legislators directly. McDonald presented a draft charge for a five-member exploratory committee focused on remote voting technology, citing an 80 percent approval rate in a Concord survey and endorsements from the MMA and League of Women Voters of Massachusetts; Town Moderator Rip cautioned that implementation was being proposed before the community had fully deliberated the question, pointing to Concord's six-month study committee as a model. The board voted unanimously to tighten its appointment policy — requiring all incumbents and new applicants to formally reapply for open positions — and to set the Council on Aging board at 11 members, down from 13, at the request of COA Chair Joan Heilbrunner, who cited repeated quorum difficulties. A disputed $924 water bill from 47 Rolling Lane was sent back for administrative recalculation using a prior-period usage baseline, to return as a consent agenda item.