West Newbury Closes Fall Town Meeting Warrant, Eyes November 3 Special Meeting Date

WEST NEWBURY — August 21, 2025 — West Newbury Select Board closes Fall Special Town Meeting warrant amid MBTA zoning deadline pressure. The board voted unanimously August 21 to close the warrant for the November 3 Special Town Meeting, with final decisions on which articles appear on the warrant deferred to the September 4 meeting. Town Manager Angus Jennings flagged a compressed MBTA zoning timeline — the board must refer a bylaw to the Planning Board by August 30, triggering a special meeting the following Thursday to act on site selection after the state is expected to deliver a written review of three potential locations. The board also grappled with a roughly $170,000 Church and Prospect Water Main cost overrun to be addressed at a September 18 meeting, and discussed a $15,000 consulting contract with Gienapp Associates to support Pentucket Regional School District's anticipated Statement of Interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The board unanimously nominated School Committee member Kevin Bowling to serve as West Newbury's representative to the Whittier Regional Vocational Technical School Building Committee for the duration of its work — a process Bowling estimated at eight years.