West Newbury Boards Approve Nine Capital Articles Totaling More Than $700,000

WEST NEWBURY — March 6, 2025 — West Newbury's Select Board and Finance Committee jointly approved nine capital articles and six department budgets at a March 6 joint session running nearly six hours. The boards cleared spending totaling more than $700,000 across projects including a $222,300 public safety complex roof and flooring overhaul, a $126,162 Page School telecommunications and E-911 upgrade, and a $85,687 Copper Street culvert replacement reduced from an earlier estimate near $500,000 after engineers substituted high-density plastic pipe for box culverts. The Library HVAC replacement article was amended upward from $25,800 to $30,000 after Select Board member Barry Fogel pressed for an independent engineering review, saying the town should have "somebody who doesn't have a vested interest in the equipment that's being sold." A $41,500 DPW solar-readiness roofing article was removed from the warrant after members concluded the project needed coordination with a broader solar feasibility process. Department budgets for DPW ($1,650,031), Board of Health ($700,594), Assessing ($176,000), Council on Aging ($133,605), Veterans Services ($34,043), and Parks and Recreation ($17,480) all passed unanimously, with the DPW budget drawing praise for coming in at less than one percent growth. Three tax-exemption warrant articles from the Board of Assessors also advanced unanimously, including a reaffirmation of a 20-year-old local option exemption that was never formally recorded with the state.