Your Top 5 in Town News

An easy to digest digest of Town News, served monthly.

1. Updated Housing Production Plan: Public Review Period Extended

The Select Board and the Planning Board asked to extend the public review period for the updated Housing Production Plan (HPP) to allow for additional comments before the plan is submitted to the state for review and approval. The period is open until September 8th. Visit WestonMA.gov/HPP to find the draft plan, previously submitted comments, and how to submit comments. 

The draft plan is ambitious. While reviewing it, it may be helpful to keep in that it is a tool that provides a menu of actionable choices for the town but is not an all or nothing outline.

2. Changes to the Transfer Station:
Pay As You Throw Begins October 1st

Visit WestonMA.gov/PAYT to find information on this new household trash program, known as PAYT. The program works similarly to other resources - you pay for what you use. It is a more equitable operation for all users of the Transfer Station and is an excellent opportunity to be more proactive in reducing household consumption, reusing what can be reused, and recycling as much as possible.

Abbreviated points of PAYT:

• access to the Transfer Station will be free - all households will be eligible for two free permit stickers
• all household trash will need to go into the specific PAYT trash bag that will be available for purchase at local retailers
• recycling, yard waste, and composting remains free and should no go into the special trash bag - find more of what you can keep out of the trash bag at WestonMA.gov/RSW
• the PAYT bags will be available in two sizes - 15-gallon ($2) and 30-gallon ($4) - in rolls of 10

Tips to reduce what goes in the trash bag:

Food waste - approximately 30% of what gets thrown away can be composted. A small trash can that fits under the sink and lined with a compostable bag (if desired) can hold food scraps, coffee grounds, bones, shells, meat, cheese, wine corks, napkins, chopsticks, and more. The bags can be placed in the freezer if you're limiting trips to the Transfer Station and want to prevent smells.

Textiles - old sneakers, socks with holes, ratty towels, old sheets, stuffed animals, throw rugs...if they're not wet or moldy, put them in a bag and toss them in the textile recycling bins. The average person throws away 70 lbs. of unwanted textiles annually and yet 95% of it can be recycled.

3. Advanced Metering Interface: Upgrading the Town's Water Metering System

Please watch your postal mail for a letter from Weston's Public Works and its contractor, Baystate Winsupply, regarding a request for an installation appointment to upgrade home and business water meters as a part of the Town's new water metering system. 

The new system will allow Weston's Water Division to collect meter reads in near real time, as well as allow public water consumers to see and manage household use in near real time. Specifically, the upgrade will:

• Replace approximately 3,700 of Weston's existing water meters to increase meter accuracy 
• significantly enhance service to water customers, including faster response and more efficient customer service, as well as on-demand move-in / move-out remote meter reads
• allow DPW personnel to monitor individual and town-wide water usage and configures alerts to potential infrastructure or residential issues (i.e. leaks)
• simplify the billing process

For more detailed information, please visit WestonMA.gov/WaterMeters

4. Sustainable Resource Consumption

One of the key goals outlined in Weston's Climate Action and Resilience Plan is Sustainable Resource Consumption. This will be done through promoting processes that reduce the amount of waste sent to the incinerator and encourage reduced water usage, as well as support locally sourced products. Both PAYT and the Advanced Metering Interface for the water meters are programs that will help move Weston toward its goal of being more resilient in the face of climate change.

To help residents adopt more sustainable practices at home, a Climate Action Toolkit is available online and it outlines small changes residents can make to everyday life. To further support residents, Weston's Sustainability Coordinator, Kortni Wroten, has started a Sustainability Blog. Her first post is about taking the Plastic Free July challenge where people are encouraged to eliminate single-use plastic from their lives during the month of July so they can see how easy it is to adopt new practices. She provided a list of single-use plastic items to help kick-start the challenge. Last year, one month of eliminating single-use plastic helped reduce landfill waste by 4.2 million tons.

5. Volunteer Opportunities

The Select Board is looking for residents interested in serving Weston's Town Government in one of the following public bodies:

• Affordable Housing Trust
• Historical Commission
• Registrar of Voters - Republican Representative

Interested residents may submit an online Volunteer Application or a letter of interest to selectboard@westonma.gov

BONUS NEWS

Weston Olympians - did you know Weston is represented in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics?

• Julimar Avila - Women's Swimming (Team Honduras)
• Conor Harrity - Men's Eight Rowing
• Cicely Madden - Women's Quadruple Sculls Rowing
• Kristi Wagner - Women's Double Sculls Rowing
• Contagious - a horse from Beechwood Stables

Town Meeting Schedule - the following dates have been proposed for the upcoming Special Town Meeting and upcoming fiscal year 2023 town government events. Mark your calendars, now:

• Financial Summit - October 25, 2021 (morning)
• Special Town Meeting - November 30, 2021, 7 p.m. at Weston High School Auditorium
• Annual Caucus - March 7, 2022, 7 p.m., Weston Library Community Room
• Annual Election - May 7, 2022, 8 to 6 p.m., all precincts report to Town Hall Auditorium
• Annual Town Meeting - May 9, 2022, 7 p.m., Weston High School Auditorium