West Newbury Select Board Drops $427,000 Climate Grant Over Staffing Shortage

WEST NEWBURY — January 15, 2026 — West Newbury Select Board unanimously withdraws from a $427,000 state climate grant for flood-prone River Road, citing an inability to staff the project. Chair Wendy Reed told a packed meeting the town had already reduced the grant's scope to three high-risk segments and sought a six-month extension after its project manager resigned for family reasons, but the state declined both accommodations, leaving no workable path forward. The board also voted unanimously to create a new human resources manager position at a projected salary of $82,000 to $101,000 — repurposing a vacant project manager line — after Town Manager Angus Regan described personnel administration as consuming 10 to 15 hours of office bandwidth per week across four staff members. Climate Change Resiliency Committee Chair Liz urged the board not to lose the planning work already done, warning, "We don't want to be here five years from now talking about something that likely won't happen for 10 years." Reed committed to a joint public planning session with the climate committee by the start of fiscal year 2027, with a potential self-funded town meeting article to follow. A separate state-managed design study of the River Road corridor by firm Tighe & Bond, contracted through the Division of Ecological Restoration at no direct cost to the town, remains active.