Boxborough Select Board Recommends More Than 20 Warrant Articles, Defers Planning Board Appointment

BOXBOROUGH -- March 3, 2026, Boxborough Select Board advances more than 20 Annual Town Meeting warrant articles and defers a contested Planning Board appointment. The board unanimously recommended a slate of capital and Community Preservation Act items at its March 3 meeting, including a $300,000 ADA upgrade to the Flerra playground, a $69,000 contribution to the Boxborough Rental Assistance Program, and a $25,000 Conservation Trust Fund deposit, amending it upward from a Finance Committee-recommended $10,000 after board member Sam Anderson argued the higher figure was appropriate for both the upcoming Open Space and Recreation Plan and potential land acquisitions. A separate $20,093 CPC award for historic window restoration at Schoolhouse No. 2, with a $5,000 Historic Society match, was also recommended unanimously. The board deferred a joint appointment of a Planning Board associate member, the seat has been vacant for roughly a year after Janet Keating Connelly's resignation, after Anderson raised open-meeting-law concerns about proceeding without proper notice for a two-candidate deliberation. The meeting's most extended exchange centered on a town hall Friday-hours trial that Chair Kristen said cannot be formally deliberated while union negotiations are active; the board agreed to seek Town Counsel's opinion and return to the topic March 23. The board closed in executive session to prepare for contract negotiations with the land use and permitting director.