West Newbury Select Board approves slimmer culvert plan, saving more than $200,000

WEST NEWBURY — February 27, 2025 — West Newbury Select Board votes to scrap a $300,000-plus culvert design in favor of a $100,000 in-house fix. The board unanimously authorized replacing a proposed five-by-eight-foot box culvert on Coffin Street with two 36-inch pipes installed largely by town crews, a shift that Public Works Superintendent Butch said could reduce road closure time from two to three weeks to a single day. Member Barry Fogel added a friendly amendment directing staff to pursue fish-passage options. The board also heard a clean FY2024 audit from Roselli Clark showing a $4.6 million unassigned general fund balance — roughly 25 percent of the town's $17.9 million in annual expenditures — and no findings on $885,000 in federal grant spending. Chair Wendy Reed and Member Christopher Wile reported that representatives from 10 of 11 Whittier Regional member communities expressed openness to a deeper partnership with Northern Essex Community College at a February 25 working group, with consensus leaning toward a more fully integrated institution. The board voted to remain in the West Newbury Community Choice Power Supply Program at the standard rate, covering 577,959 kilowatt hours across all town accounts, and agreed to split the annual and special town meetings across two non-consecutive nights — likely Monday and Wednesday — beginning at 6 p.m.