Billerica COA Subcommittee Urges Seniors to Fight Article 97 Protection on Cider Mill Land

BILLERICA — April 28, 2026 — Billerica COA forum turns into a Town Meeting mobilization over Cider Mill Road senior center site. The second session of the Council on Aging's "Our Center Your Voice" series on April 28 quickly moved beyond its stated question about future programming to focus on Article 41 on the upcoming Town Meeting warrant, which would place Article 97 conservation protections on four town-owned Cider Mill Road parcels totaling roughly 45 acres — the site Select Board members Mike Rosa and Kina Favaró identified as the only centrally located, town-owned land large enough for a purpose-built COA. Rosa cited a 2014 peer review that found the site suitable for a high school as evidence the 4.39-acre Lot 75 could support a senior center, and disclosed that a motion by fellow Select Board member Daniel Darius O'Connor at Monday's meeting to submit an additional Article 97 warrant article may have violated the Open Meeting Law. Favaró said the town "does know that we need a new COA" but cautioned that affordability remains unresolved. A self-identified Cider Mill preservation proponent who gave his first name as Treg attended, offered to negotiate a compromise, and was invited to return for the May 4 session; a Town Meeting vacancy caucus is set for April 30 at 7 p.m., with openings in every precinct except one and nine.