North Reading Select Board Sets June 1 Town Meeting Date, Hears Budget Requests

NORTH READING — March 2, 2026 — North Reading Select Board sets town meeting dates and opens budget season with a projected $700,000 municipal shortfall. The board voted 4-0 Monday to schedule the spring annual town meeting for June 1 and the fall meeting for October 5, and heard fiscal year 2027 budget requests from six departments including Elder Services, Parks and Recreation, the Flint Memorial Library, and Veterans Services. Town Administrator Michael Gilberto warned the board that even a level-services budget — adding only four committed firefighter hires — cannot be balanced with current revenue, telling department heads and the public that "these are not approved budgets, these are simply requests." The board also voted 4-0 to change Thompson Country Club's alcohol license from seasonal to annual, accepted a $14,000-plus library pod donation from the Friends of the Flint Memorial Library, and reviewed three senior center lease proposals ranging from roughly $60,000 to more than $360,000 annually — costs not currently reflected in any budget. A 4-1 vote approved a response rejecting an open meeting law complaint related to the chair's February 9 comments about the Pledge of Allegiance, with Member Nicholas Masse casting the dissenting vote.