Boxborough Select Board closes FY27 warrant, approves veterans services agreement unanimously

BOXBOROUGH -- February 23, 2026, Boxborough Select Board closes FY27 warrant and formalizes AFSCME union recognition. Meeting virtually during a major nor'easter, the five-member board voted 5-0 Monday to close the Annual Town Meeting warrant, approve a three-year intermunicipal agreement for veterans services at a Boxborough share of 12 percent of costs, and adopt updated designer selection procedures under G.L. c.7C, §54(a). Town Administrator Mike Johns announced the board had voted in a prior executive session to voluntarily recognize AFSCME Council 93 as the exclusive representative of 17 municipal positions covering 19 employees, reducing an initial list of 27 proposed positions through negotiation; a required 20-day posting period is now underway at the Police Department, DPW, Fire Station, Town Hall, and Library. Fire Chief Brian Kivlan presented findings from a February 5 emergency management tabletop exercise revealing gaps in generator capacity, emergency operations center space, and communication redundancy, and noted only 174 Boxborough residents have enrolled in the RAVE alert system. School Committee member Adam Klein reported Boxborough's FY27 assessment to the Acton-Boxborough Regional District is $17.7 million, a 5.57 percent increase driven entirely by enrollment growth tied to the Paddock Estates development.