Boxborough Select Board Sets March 17 Debt Exclusion Vote for New Fire Station

BOXBOROUGH — December 22, 2025 — Boxborough Select Board sets March 17 debt exclusion ballot for fire station, avoids override path, and accepts 7.5-acre water land donation. The board voted unanimously at its December 22 meeting to hold the debt exclusion vote one week after the March 9 Annual Town Meeting, citing roughly $4,000-per-day construction cost escalation that would add an estimated $340,000 if the vote were delayed to June — against a $5,000 election cost. Town Administrator Michael Guzinski and Finance Committee members also reached consensus to drop parallel A- and B-budget preparation in favor of a single "A-minus" municipal budget targeting approximately $300,000 in savings, with the goal of reaching roughly $1.2 million in excess levy capacity and avoiding a fiscal year 2027 operating override. The board accepted a deed of Assessor's Lot 15-083, a 7.5-acre parcel at 126 Massachusetts Avenue donated by the Voris family for municipal water and fire suppression purposes, with the Conservation Commission having voted to accept the land on December 17. Economic Development Committee Chair Abby Reap warned that Syncor — a Boxborough tenant since at least the 1980s — is leaving for New Hampshire, taking 250 jobs and vacating a 100,000-square-foot Swanson Road building, and said the town's commercial tax base has already dropped from 24 percent to 17 percent of total assessed value.