Weston Select Board denies road-cut fee waiver for Old Road generator project

WESTON — November 23, 2021 — Weston Select Board denies generator road-cut fee waiver and exempts school buses from Love Lane rule. The board voted 2-0 to reject a petition from Susan Schmick of 4 Old Road, who sought relief from a $15,000 fee to cut into her 2019-paved street for a natural-gas line feeding a standby generator and replacement furnace. Chair Harvey said the fee, drafted by absent member Chris Houston, was set high deliberately because "every time a road gets cut into, it compromises the integrity of the road," noting the town is spending roughly $2 million on paving this year. Schmick, who said the fee more than doubles the generator's $13,000 cost, told the board, "I feel more that you care more about a road than you care about residents during a pandemic." The board also appointed Shaheen Parks to the Board of Library Trustees in a joint vote with the trustees, amended the Oct. 12 Love Lane traffic restriction to exempt school buses, and set the 2022 annual town meeting to begin May 9.