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8-03-2026 10:14pm
Westwood Select Board Places Fire Station 1 Debt-Exclusion Question on November Ballot
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Following a unanimous Westwood Select Board vote on Monday, August 3, Westwood voters will be asked on the Tuesday, November 3 state election ballot whether the Town of Westwood should be allowed to exempt the borrowing costs of a new Fire Station 1 from Proposition 2 1/2.
As read into the record by Clerk Erin Sibley, the question will state:
“Shall the Town of Westwood be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition 2-1/2 so called the amounts required to pay for the bonds issued in order to pay costs of designing, constructing, equipping, and furnishing a new fire station including the payment of all costs incidental and related thereto? Yes. [ ] No. [ ]"
In discussion, Select Board Chair Marianne LeBlanc Cummings, Clerk Erin Sibley, along with Town Administrator Connor Read emphasized that although the ballot question does not specify project costs or a final site for FS1, those matters will have the opportunity to be reviewed through a public process. They will also be vetted by the Finance and Warrant Commission, which will issue a recommendation ahead of an October Town Meeting on the subject.
At the October Town Meeting, voters will be asked to approve the site selection, budget, and funding sources for a new Fire Station 1.
The Select Board needed to vote on the debt exclusion question at its August 3 meeting in order to meet a August 4, 2026 state deadline for placing the question on the November ballot. However, the debt exclusion vote in November will only matter if Westwood voters first approve site selection, budget, and funding sources at the October Town Meeting that will be dedicated solely to FS1.
Town Administrator Read explained that even if a budget and final site selection for Fire Station 1 were known on August 3, the state ballot question would not have been changed to include that information. He described the state ballot language as "prescriptive.”
Chair Cummings noted that Select Board was motivated to place the FS1 debt exclusion question on the state ballot. She observed that doing so saves the town the cost of holding a separate election on the question. It also is an opportunity for greater voter participation. She cited past election data showing that Westwood voter turnout is greater for a state election than a town election.
