Your Top 5 in Town News

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

1 - Town Center Improvement Project

Voters chose to pass over articles 5 and 6 at Special Town Meeting on November 27th in favor of rebidding the Town Center Improvement Project and holding another Special Town Meeting possibly in March of 2019. The date for the new Special Town Meeting has not yet been selected, but watch for Latest Town News announcements for the date.

2 - Open Space and Recreation Forum

On October 25th, a special meeting was held for members of various Town committees and organizations to discuss upcoming land- and recreation-related projects. This was an outlined goal in the 2017 Open Space and Recreation Master Plan in order to improve coordination among these groups. Members from the Conservation and Recreation commissions, Weston Forest & Trail Association, Traffic & Sidewalk Committee, and several others introduced their work and summarized upcoming projects.

Notes summarizing the evening are available on the Town's website. Highlights include a Weston Walks network, an updated Recreation Master Plan, rail trail amenities and Friends group, and a potential Wellington Farms preservation.

3 - Case Estates Update

The project page on the Town's website for the Case Estates has been updated and includes work that has been done so far and work that is currently underway or is planned for the near future. The project page can be found at Weston.org/CaseEstates.

While there, look for the web page containing information on the Legacy Trail and Connector. This project is connected with the Ash Street sidewalk that is proposed to connect the reservoir to the Case Campus. A series of public meetings will be held during December and January and that schedule can be found on the web page.

4 - Newton Street Drainage
Improvements

Drainage work is nearly complete on the northernmost section of Newton Street.  The Department of Public Works has been working on negotiating property easements associated with a section of the road near the Congregational Church and another section just north of Doublet Hill Road that has no drainage infrastructure, causing this section of the road to flood during and after rainfall events.  Due to the wetter than average weather we have been having, DPW crews have mobilized on two occasions to pump away the accumulated water to maintain a safe travel condition on the road. DPW expects to have resolution on these easements this winter, which will be followed by permitting the project through the Conservation Commission, and finally, construction in the summer of 2019.

5 - Land's Sake Forest Walk:
The Pine Woods

In partnership with the Conservation Commission, for the last 20 years Land’s Sake Inc. has been selectively cutting firewood on Weston Conservation Land to maintain the forests and keep them healthy. Previous cutting areas include Highland Forest, Jericho Town Forest, Sears Land, and Ogilvie Town Forest.

Last winter, Land’s Sake began managing the forest on a portion of the municipal purposes land at the Case Estates (parcel 7 - The Pine Woods), abutting the Woodland Elementary School. This winter, Land’s Sake will resume forest management work on this land. Trees have been marked for cutting, and Land’s Sake expects to cut approximately 50 cords of firewood by the end of the two-year project. This will remove about 1/4 to 1/3 of the trees, cutting the lowest quality trees to allow the rest to grow. The firewood will be sold to residents and the pine timber may be used in the future at Land’s Sake or in the community.

Residents interested in learning more can attend this Forest Walk on January 5th at 10:00 a.m. Meet up at in the parking lot of the Case Barn at 133 Wellesley Street. Park on Alphabet Lane.

BONUS NEWS!

Winter Festival - the first-ever, community-wide event hosted by the Women's Community League will be held on the Town Green and Town Hall on December 9th from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. An afternoon of food, games, music, singing, gingerbread houses, and more will conclude with a tree-lighting at 5:00 p.m. Be on your good behavior, because rumor has it Santa will be there sometime around 2:30 - 3:30.

The new Sustainability Committee has been charged by the Selectmen and it just had its first meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for December 12th. Subscribe to receive email/text notification of when meeting agendas and minutes are posted online.

The Annual Santa Ride is December 19th and 20th. Santa will be making visits around town on Weston Fire Department trucks. The schedules can be found the Community Events calendar on the Town's website.

Town Hall Holiday Hours - Town Hall will be closing at 1:00 p.m. on December 24th and 31st.