West Newbury Select Board Approves Easements, Riding Permits, and New Town Clerk Hire

WEST NEWBURY -- June 12, 2025, West Newbury Select Board approves housing appointment, riding club permits, road easements, and a new town clerk in busy June session. The board voted unanimously on more than a dozen items at its June 12 meeting, including the appointment of Lisa Evans to the Housing Authority through June 30, 2028, approval of six special event permits for the West Newbury Riding and Driving Club covering events from June through October, and authorization of easements for the Fountain Street culvert replacement project. Town Manager Angus Matheson announced that Amanda Hagstrom, currently Town Clerk of Lynnfield, will join as West Newbury's town clerk on June 30 at Grade D, Step 9, funded from unspent personnel budget, after a competitive search yielded four finalists from existing regional clerks. The board renewed a one-year animal control agreement with Newburyport and approved a 3 percent wage increase across the FY26 salary schedule. Matheson reported that MassDOT District 4 engineers acknowledged the Rocks Village Bridge vehicle-detection project had "slid off their list," but said a close call the previous Saturday, when the bridge's overhead warning bar was found lying in the road, had elevated the issue within the district; interim static signage on both sides of the river is expected as a near-term step. The board agreed to await a July 2 Affordable Housing Trust recommendation before deciding whether to co-sign a potential friendly Chapter 40B application with developer Sarkis, who told the trust his primary development motive is profitability.