Select Board OKs Eminent Domain for Fire Sites

Select Board · Meeting of September 22, 2026

North Reading Select Board seizes fire station land access, backs $3.5 million school debt question. The board voted unanimously to take temporary eminent domain rights over four Main Street properties for a proposed west-side fire station and endorsed a $3.5 million debt exclusion, headed to a Nov. 3 ballot question, to replace 25-year-old modular classrooms at the Hood and Little elementary schools. The board also adopted a demolition-delay bylaw covering roughly 180 historic properties and a one-year moratorium on data center development.

Town Administrator Michael told members North Reading has gotten a favorable early signal on a federal SAFER grant that could offset four new firefighter positions the board already committed to funding. Members Nicholas Masse and Stephen O'Leary clashed sharply over a citizen's petition, organized by Masse and his neighbors, to remove 9 Patley Road from the town's affordable housing overlay district; the board declined to recommend it, 4-1.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,910 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of September 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.