Select Board Approves $39.98M Fire Station Budget
Select Board · Meeting of September 28, 2026
Westwood Select Board approves $39.98 million fire station budget, suspends license-plate cameras. The board voted 3-0 to accept a $39,981,157 project scope and budget for a new Fire Station 1 at the former Deerfield School site, about $1.6 million less than a 2025 bid for an earlier design, with financing that offsets $5.1 million through free cash and other non-tax funds to hold the projected tax impact near $295 a year for the median household. Two more votes are required: an October 26 special town meeting and a November 3 debt-exclusion ballot question.
Separately, the board voted 3-0 to immediately suspend all five of the town's Flock license-plate reader cameras after residents said they learned of the cameras only through an August Boston Globe story; member Aaron Sibley said "I don't have confidence that flock is the right vendor for our town." Police Chief Russ O'Neill, four weeks into the job, said he had already cut data retention from 30 to seven days and cut off nationwide search access. The board separately approved a fiscal 2027-29 police union contract, 2-0 with one abstention, and honored retiring 31-year Town Accountant Marie O'Leary.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 3,754 words
Source: the Select Board meeting of September 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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