Recommendations on Key Issues
Attend the Weston Annual Town Meeting
7:00 pm Monday, May 8
Weston High School Auditorium
Important issues will be voted at Weston’s Annual Town Meeting on Monday, determining the size of our property taxes in the coming year, how Weston property owners can develop their properties, the availability and cost of our drinking water, and priorities for Community Preservation spending. Usually only 3-5% of residents attend, so a few voters make big decisions for all of us. YOU can make a big difference. Please familiarize yourself with the Warrant Articles, attend, and cast your vote.
Below is a brief summary of the Focus on Weston position on all of the Warrant articles that will be voted at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting. We hope you find this to be informative and helpful.
Vote YES: Article 2 – Fiscal Year 2024 Operating Budget
The Town Manager, Select Board, and School Committee have done a creditable job of keeping budget increases to a reasonable level in the current inflationary environment. The School Committee has been working on a deeper reexamination of the cost of education, acknowledging that Weston’s per-pupil expenditures are now 30% higher than comparable towns, with roughly equal academic outcomes.
CAUTION: The Select Board and Town Management should follow the School Committee’s lead by reexamining the rest of our town services. This year’s budget increase will result in an estimated 2.2% property tax increase, not unreasonable in this inflationary environment, but still much higher than neighboring comparable towns.
Vote YES: Articles 3-16 – Consent Agenda
There’s nothing in these Articles that is extraordinary or objectionable. However…
CAUTION: Buried in Article 12 is $100,000 for Master Plan Consulting expenses related to the soon-to-begin Unified Planning Committee effort. We are strong supporters of longer-range planning and applaud this effort. However, we should all be paying closer attention to the financial dimensions of any of the topics that will be explored – spending priorities, affordability, and the effect of future expenditures on future property taxes, future debt levels, and real estate appreciation.
CAUTION: Conducting a Master Plan should NOT become an excuse to hold up any of the next steps related to expanding the size of the Select Board from 3 members to 5 members as was approved by 72% of the voters in attendance at the May 2022 Annual Town Meeting. For more information, read this Focus on Weston article.
Position Not Taken: Article 17 – Wetlands Protection By-Law
We are not taking a position on this important proposal. However, the pros and cons of this article are likely to be debated fiercely at Town Meeting. Fundamentally, this long, complex and highly technical Article is about instituting much more stringent protections for Weston’s wetlands.
This expanded by-law is intended to provide greater protection for environmentally sensitive and important areas, in line with many other comparable Massachusetts towns.
Critics contend that it will make new real estate development and major construction on many existing homes much more difficult, and in some cases impossible. It will also provide Weston planning authorities and committees greater control over such future development.
Vote YES: Article 18 – Community Preservation Committee Operating Budget
This relatively small amount of money is voted every year to pay the staff and operating expenses of Weston’s CPC. For some perspective on Weston’s Community Preservation activities, please read the recent Focus on Weston article.
Vote NO: Article 19 – Rhododendron Garden Design
The CPC is proposing a $20,000 feasibility study to plan rejuvenating a roughly half-acre garden, located back in the woods near the Weston Community Center, at an estimated eventual total cost of $375,000. This is a questionable and extremely expensive proposal. CPA funds are not “free money” just because they have already been collected. This project, especially given its cost, is not a high-priority project in the context of a CPC longer-term plan that needs to be developed. Why spend $20,000 exploring something we should never do? For further information, read the recent Focus on Weston article.
Vote NO: Article 20 – Pickleball, Tennis and Basketball
This Article presents three separate motions, or options: 1) everything being considered, 2) pickleball only (if #1 fails), and 3) tennis and basketball only (if both #1 and #2 fail). We agree with the Weston Finance Committee, which recently voted to oppose all three proposals because the CPC does not have an overall plan and priorities for future projects. It is imprudent to commit these significant sums for expensive, nice-to-have ideas without an overall Community Preservation plan. Just as important, all three options are designed in a way that makes them unrealistically expensive. For further information, read the recent Focus on Weston article.
Vote NO on Motion 1: Construction of Pickleball Courts, Complete Reconstruction of Tennis Courts, Reconstruction and Expansion of Basketball Court at Burchard Park, priced at $1,900,000. This proposal includes 6 new Pickleball courts within fenced enclosures, rebuilding two existing tennis courts and their fenced enclosures, and expanding the size of the existing basketball court. VOTE NO because (i) there is not a good case for the likely usage of these facilities, (ii) none of these facilities will be restricted to resident use only, nor will there be any charge for non-resident use, and (iii) they represent a very high-cost use of CPA funds on the belief that “if we build it, they will come”.
Vote NO on Motion 2: Construction of Pickleball Courts only, formerly priced at $750,000 and now priced at $1,240,000. VOTE NO because (i) again, the forecast usage by residents is unknown, and (ii) independent estimates of the cost of installing 6 concrete courts range from $150,000 to $350,000, compared to the $1.2 million being proposed.
Vote NO on Motion 3: Complete Reconstruction of Tennis Courts, and Reconstruction and Expansion of Basketball Court only, priced at $920,000. VOTE NO because, again, independent estimates for refurbishing the courts are significantly lower (under $150,000 for crack repair and resurfacing) and were not satisfactorily reconciled to the proposed cost.
Article 21 – Siting, Design, Engineering and Permitting for Water Storage Tank Replacements and Related Distribution System Modifications
Vote YES: ONLY IF the wording of the Article is amended as planned at the Meeting, to read as follows: “That the Town transfer from Certified Free Cash the amount of $1,000,000 to pay costs of siting, design, engineering, and permitting of water storage tanks and related water infrastructure, and any incidental and related costs, to be spent at the direction of the Town Manager.”
There is no question that our system needs attention, and authorization of these funds begins a phased process to develop and build town-wide consensus around a plan to reconstruct our entire water system, which we have not been maintaining adequately. This is a much better approach than last year’s proposal, so kudos to town management and the Select Board for taking this more measured approach. For more information, read the recent Focus on Weston article.
CAUTION: Our water management challenges are incredibly complex, highly technical, and likely to be very expensive. The total investment required to remediate the system has been estimated at $90 million. The six highest priority pieces of the solution will likely cost $20-30 million. We get one chance to make sure that, before construction is authorized, we have a deep understanding of the design, the timing, the sequencing and the cost of each element, i.e., a comprehensive picture of the solution. The phased approach called for in this Article represents our best chance.
Vote NO: Article 22 – Authorize Liquor License for Weston Provisions
The FinCom voted to oppose this proposal because it was, essentially, a petition by a commercial enterprise, trying to circumvent the standard process for requests like this one.
An Important Reminder
The Annual Town Meeting is the forum at which all of the most pressing financial and operating issues facing the Town are decided. Over the five years 2018-2022, voter turnout for the Town Meetings has averaged 5%... but only 5%. That relatively small percentage of town residents has determined budgets, major projects, related expenditures and, by extension, the effect of those future expenditures on future property taxes, future debt levels, and real estate appreciation.
Annual Town Meeting will be held at the Weston High School at 7.00pm on Monday, May 8th.
Your presence and your vote are important.