West Newbury Board Advances FY26 Budget and $635,200 River Road Grant Application

WEST NEWBURY -- April 3, 2025, West Newbury Select Board approves FY26 budget changes, authorizes $635,200 River Road climate grant application. At a lengthy joint session with the Finance Committee on April 3, the three-member Select Board, Chair Wendy Reed and members Barry Fogel and Christopher Wile, voted on dozens of FY26 budget items, including a $55,000 ceiling for the annual audit after two firms submitted proposals ranging from $39,500 to $55,000, well above prior years. The board approved a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for non-union employees, adding $25,859 to the operating budget and raising the year-over-year increase to 2.90 percent. Stabilization transfers approved Thursday include $301,467 from free cash to a capital stabilization fund and $200,000 back into school stabilization, which Angus Doig, town manager, described as "kind of a hold-harmless year" for school reserves. The board voted 2-1 to authorize a $635,200 MVP grant application for River Road climate resilience planning, with Reed dissenting, saying "the scope is being driven by what the grant wants rather than what we need." The MBTA Communities overlay zoning bylaw was unanimously advanced to Town Meeting in the form presented at the public hearing, explicitly excluding a post-hearing affordability waiver the Planning Board added at its April 1 meeting.