West Newbury Select Board Approves Living Shoreline Grant, Hears Clean Financial Audit

WEST NEWBURY — March 12, 2026 — West Newbury Select Board receives clean audit opinion and advances living shoreline training grant. Jim Trowski of the town's new audit firm reported an unmodified opinion on fiscal year 2025 financials, with a general fund balance of roughly $7 million — including $2.5 million in the general stabilization fund — and a fund balance ratio of 23.3 percent, within bond agency guidelines. The audit flagged one material weakness: a roughly $440,000 Affordable Housing Trust Fund restatement tied to a longstanding misclassification. The board voted unanimously to approve a Climate Change Resiliency Committee application for a no-cost Living Shoreline Planning Series Training Program focused on River Road erosion and flood resilience, contingent on language noting potential participation by the town's conservation agent. The board also unanimously renewed the health insurance opt-out stipend at $1,500 for families and $750 for individuals for one year, and designated the town's special water counsel as a special municipal employee under state ethics law. Town Manager Angus disclosed that the Board of Water Commissioners is projecting a fiscal year 2027 deficit in the water enterprise fund, with a full budget review before the Select Board and Finance Committee set for March 26.