Your Top 5 in Town News

An easy to digest digest of Town Government news to help Weston residents stay informed more easily.

1 - Special Town Meeting: Nov. 27th

The meeting will be called to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Weston High School Auditorium. The warrant is being mailed to each residence and is also available online. The special Know the Issues web page has been set up at Weston.org/TownMeeting and provides additional information for voters regarding Town Meeting and the warrant articles up for discussion and vote. 

The Know the Issues web page will be updated with more information on the Case House project and the Town Center Improvement Project, so be sure to check back. Also check for upcoming information meetings including the Case House Open House and the Town Center Improvement Project information meeting, both on November 17th.

There are nine articles on the warrant (the meeting agenda). Articles 1-4 have been placed in a consent agenda, which means all four will be voted on in a single vote, unless there is a request to remove an article for separate consideration. 

Handheld electronic voting devices will be in use. Be sure to arrive to Town Meeting with enough time to receive your device and have it sync up with the system. Only registered voters of Weston may participate in Town Meeting. The deadline to register is Friday, November 16th. The Town Clerk's Office will be open until 8:00 p.m. that night or registration can be done online at www.registertovotema.com.

2 - DPW Annual Programs

Annual Crack Sealing Program – Year 2 of the Crack Sealing Program was completed over the last month.  This program has an annual appropriation of $25,000 for the sole purpose of pavement preservation and protecting the Town’s investment

Annual Pavement Marking Program – Although pavement markings have been done in the past, this year’s program launched an organized approach to conducting the epoxy pavement marking, which has an expected service life of approximately four (4) years  

Tree Inventory, Assessment, and Recommendation - Phase II of a multi-year project was completed over August to October in which over 5,000 public right-of-way trees were inventoried and assessed and provided with recommended actions.  It is anticipated that there will be one more year left in order to complete the inventory process. To date, over 10,000 trees have been inventoried

Annual Catch Basin Cleaning Program – This will begin over the next couple of days and will take approximately one month to complete

To learn more about all projects that are currently overseen by Weston's Department of Public Works, subscribe to receive the weekly work update email. 

3 - Budget Season

The Fiscal Year 2020 budget development began on October 29th with the Financial Summit, where the Selectmen, School Committee, Finance Committee, Town Manager, School Superintendent, and Finance Director met to review the Town's fiscal analysis and budget projections for the fiscal year 2020. This presentation is available online. 

Currently, the Town Manager and the Superintendent are working on their recommended budgets for the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee to review. Then the Finance Committee will be meeting weekly to thoroughly review those budgets before the recommended operating budget for FY20 is presented at the Annual Budget Hearing in April and Annual Town Meeting in May. Expect the recommended budgets to be presented in January. To follow the FY20 budget process, subscribe to receive agenda notifications for the Selectmen, School Committee, and Finance Committee meetings.

A lot of Weston's financial information is available online at Weston.org/FinancialInfo. On this web page, you'll find links to the Annual Budget cycle, a Financial Primer, and the annual budgets for the last several fiscal years.

4 - Weston Police Department News

Weston Police Department was one of 77 Massachusetts communities to be awarded with a Justice Assistance Grant by the state, which is set up to provide law enforcement officers with updated equipment and technology. Priority was given to municipalities seeking funds that would further enhance overall protection of officers or for items that would provide additional safeguards to protect schools and students from random acts of violence. Weston was awarded just over $12,000 for ballistic vests.

Shredding Day - the Weston Police Department has arranged for a commercial shredding service to come to the station on Nov. 16th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. so residents can safely destroy their sensitive documents.

5 - Building & Land Use Department Online Guide

Starting a small renovation or large construction project? We know the building permit process is a difficult one to navigate and there are several town departments and committees that intersect these projects, which is why a new online guide has been developed to help homeowners better understand the process. Visit Weston.org/Building to get started.  

A recently added requirement to new construction and additions projects is a scheduled appointment with the Town's Permit Administrator, Margy Cohen. This meeting is required prior to the start of the building application process and is intended to make the project move as smoothly as possible through the various departments and committees. Call 781-786-5066 or email cohen.m[at]westonmass.org for more information or to schedule time.

BONUS NEWS!

WFD Home Safety Checks

The Weston Fire Department, in partnership with the Council on Aging, is offering home safety checks for Weston seniors. The checks include:

• smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
• cooking, smoking, heating and electrical safety
• escape plans
• and more

Like what you see? Maybe you don't?

Questions/Comments about this newsletter can be sent to webmaster@westonmass.org

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