Weston Select Board sends Route 20 intersection design to MassDOT

WESTON — January 21, 2020 — Weston Select Board advances Route 20 redesign and prices $30.6M in debt. The board unanimously approved submission of the 25 percent design for the Route 20 / Wellesley Street / Wendover Way intersection to MassDOT, capping a neighborhood process that narrowed five conceptual options to one consensus scheme. Finance Director Susan Kelley and Treasurer Zoe Morrison reported the Jan. 15 sale of $26.905 million in bonds at a 1.769 percent true interest cost — drawing 14 bidders against a typical five to seven — and a $3.747 million BAN awarded to TD Securities at 1.134 percent. Town Manager Leon Gaumond previewed a fiscal 2021 budget growing 5.4 percent overall and 4.7 percent on operations, including the final $250,000 step-up to a $2 million annual roadway program, two new firefighters and a sustainability coordinator. Finance Committee member Justin Salisbury warned the trajectory pushes Weston toward "a vicious cycle" of unaffordability, citing a residential mill rate that has climbed from $9.95 in 2005 to $12.83 last year.