Dunstable Select Board Requests $25,000 Overlay Draw to Narrow FY27 Budget Deficit

DUNSTABLE -- February 18, 2026, Dunstable Select Board unanimously approved seven items in roughly 15 minutes at its February 18 meeting, including a request to draw $25,000 from overlay reserves to help close a projected $43,000 fiscal year 2027 operating budget deficit. Town Administrator Jason Silver told the board the overlay balance appeared adequate to cover ongoing abatement requests and that assessor Vicki had indicated the Board of Assessors might be open to the transfer, the same mechanism used to help balance the FY2026 budget. The board also opened the warrant for the 2026 Annual Town Meeting, set for May 11, with a March 30 closing deadline; appointed Mark Terry of Stoneman Chandler and Miller as town labor counsel at his existing rate; named a three-person evaluation committee, Silver, Select Board Chair Leah Bassman, and NEMCOG Deputy Executive Director Kelly Linema, to rank 10 proposals received for the Town Center Trail Loop design project; endorsed the updated 2026-2036 Open Space and Recreation Plan; and signed a perpetual conservation restriction on the McLoon property at 389 Thorndike Street and 60 Main Street, recorded at the Middlesex North District Registry of Deeds at Book 33494, Page 91.