Weston Select Board sets March 12 special town meeting on water tank petitions

WESTON -- January 28, 2025, Weston Select Board schedules March 12 water tank vote and backs May article on board expansion. The board voted 3-0 to call a special town meeting for March 12 to take up three citizen petitions on the long-disputed water storage tanks, after Town Moderator Rip Hastings withdrew a Saturday-meeting suggestion over calendar conflicts. Chair Tom Palmer said the warrant would lead with the Chapter 97 land swap and zoning bylaw, deferring the funding article that consumed the entire December meeting. Members signaled support for a May warrant article authorizing a home-rule petition to expand the board from three to five members, following the Town Government Study Committee's review of eight peer towns. Planning Board Chair Leslie Glynn told the board that 3A compliance work, under a Feb. 12 action plan deadline after the Milton ruling, should now be led by the executive branch, saying the town could "arguably support" 350-400 units rather than the state-mandated 750. Town Manager Leon Gomond opened the public hearing on a $102 million fiscal 2026 operating budget, a 4.7 percent increase driven by 8.8 percent growth in health insurance and pension costs.