Boxborough Select Board schedules three town meetings, launches ICE response coordination

BOXBOROUGH -- June 9, 2025, Boxborough Select Board unanimously sets three town meeting dates and begins organizing a coordinated response to a May 30 ICE operation that resulted in two detentions on Mass Ave. The board voted to hold a fall special town meeting October 14 at the Boxborough Regency Hotel, focused on MBTA Communities Act overlay zoning, which must pass before a state December 31 deadline, and a second special meeting December 15 for fire station design funding, the first phase of what officials described as a $30 million to $36 million project. The 2026 annual town meeting was set for May 18 through 21, also at the Regency, pending a bylaw amendment to shift elections to June 2. On the ICE response, Police Chief told the board that agents gave advance courtesy notifications on April 19 and May 26 but not on May 30, and that Boxborough officers "do not provide any assistance" with civil detainers under the 2018 Lunn decision. Well-Being Committee member Mary Pavlik presented a draft response framework covering bystander guidance, support for residents left behind, town facility protocols, and community education; Select Board member Bob volunteered as the board's liaison to a new ad hoc coordinating group that will include police, fire, schools, the AB United Way, and area churches.