Town Meeting Rejects $3 Million Land Purchase
Winchester Town Meeting rejected a $3 million bond to buy 13.66 acres of conservation land at Forest Ridge, falling short of a two-thirds majority on a 59-105 vote, while unanimously approving $598,540 for a new K-5 literacy curriculum.
Town Meeting · Meeting of May 4, 2026
Winchester Town Meeting rejected a $3 million bond to buy 13.66 acres of conservation land at Forest Ridge, falling short of a two-thirds majority on a 59-105 vote, while unanimously approving $598,540 for a new K-5 literacy curriculum. Conservation Commission Chair Tracy Olson and Community Preservation Committee Chair Christina Marshall pitched the land deal, but the Select Board (3-0) and Finance Committee (0-for, 2 abstentions, 7 against) opposed it, warning of inflated pricing and lost tax revenue. Finance Committee member Jerry Sheehan called it "uncomfortable... to be at odds with the Lorax, but we are." School Committee Chair Dr.
Timothy Matthews said the literacy program, Arts and Letters, will reach 1,821 students after a two-year pilot. Town Meeting also created a transfer station data committee, 84-65, and banned anticoagulant rodenticides on town land unanimously.
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Source: the Town Meeting meeting of May 4, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.
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