Dover Select Board unanimously hires climate planning firm, adopts native planting policy

Select Board · Meeting of July 23, 2026

Dover Select Board approves climate planning contract, native planting policy, and tightens drought enforcement at July 23 meeting. The board voted 3-0 to hire Kim Lundgren Associates to lead both the town's MVP 2.0 equity-focused planning grant and a new technical Climate Action Plan, following a competitive RFP that drew five strong proposals scored by a Sustainability Committee panel chaired by Anna Nagy. The board also voted 3-0 to adopt a native species planting policy requiring all municipal plantings to follow Mass Audubon and state native-plant guides, banning invasive species from town properties, and designating the Sustainability Committee as the implementing advisory body.

Town Administrator Mike briefed the board on Dover's Level 2 drought enforcement posture, confirming that the town's violation notice process is now legally validated with fines of $50 for a first offense and $200 for subsequent violations, and that an anonymous online complaint portal is active. In a 2-0 vote (member Robin Hunter briefly absent), the board reappointed eight residents to town boards including Geraldine Wise and Maureen Dilg to the Council on Aging and Kate Canney and Paul Caponi to the Board of Fire Engineers. The board entered executive session to discuss strategy on Dover Police Association negotiations and threatened litigation over the community center building project.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,270 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of July 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.