What was said, meeting by meeting

The Lunenburg Select Board approved a permit for the Eagle House supporters' fall fundraiser, welcomed a new Principal Assessor, and spent most of the meeting preparing for Thursday's special town meeting: it recommended a lower, "net" figure than the school committee requested for the article supplementing the FY27 school budget with additional state aid, and worked through how to fund a separate citizen petition article restoring cut middle school and some high school sports. The board voted to create a special revenue fund from one-time Winter Recovery Assistance Program money to serve as that sports article's funding source after using most of the RAP funds to close the FY26 snow and ice deficit. It also voted to send an amended letter to state legislative leaders supporting the voter-approved audit of the Massachusetts legislature.

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The Lunenburg Select Board held a public hearing under MGL c.140 §157 on a nuisance-dog complaint filed by George and Jennifer Burden against neighbors Charles and Stacy Cordmash. The complainant declined to testify, while the investigating detective, the animal control officer, the dog owner, and a neighboring HOA trustee all testified that they found no evidence of excessive barking or other nuisance behavior; after deliberation the board voted unanimously that the dog is not a nuisance dog, and town counsel was asked to draft the written decision and to consider changing the hearing process going forward.

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The Lunenburg Select Board held a brief executive session on the assistant town manager, then in open session ratified Jessica Jack Miller's appointment as assistant town manager, closed a public utility pole hearing and approved it, granted the food pantry permission to use temporary trailers at 30 School Street, set the November 17, 2026 special town meeting warrant dates, assigned committee liaison roles and policy-review tasks among members, and declared a 1998 ambulance surplus. The board also reviewed but did not vote on how to handle new Winter Recovery Assistance Program (WRAP) state funds against the FY26 snow and ice deficit, deferring that decision to a future meeting, and heard extended public comment including complaints about a recessed dog hearing.

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The Select Board, joined by the Facilities Director and members of the Lunenburg Municipal Building Design Committee, conducted an on-site walking tour of Brooks House and the former TCP school building to observe their physical condition ahead of any future public deliberation on the properties. The tour covered ADA access, structural, electrical, HVAC/boiler, roofing, asbestos and mold issues at both buildings, plus the food pantry's and town departments' current use of TCP space; no substantive votes were taken, and the meeting ended with a vote to adjourn.

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The Select Board voted to place the school committee's article on the warrant for the September 3rd special town meeting and then voted to approve the full warrant, which includes three articles addressing the FY27 school operating budget shortfall and reinstating middle school athletics/transportation. The town manager clarified that no certified free cash currently exists for one citizen-petition article and that town counsel was still reviewing which fund types are legally in scope; the board also set its meeting schedule through early September, including a September 1st session likely for petitioner presentations.

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The Lunenburg Select Board met August 4, 2026, opening with an executive session on the incoming principal assessor's employment terms, then ratified two staff appointments (principal assessor, part-time principal clerk) and appointed a new Green Communities associate member. Most of the meeting concerned the deteriorating TC Pacios building (active roof leaks reported) and Brooks House, with the board directing the facilities director to develop cost estimates for repair versus demolition ahead of eventual town meeting articles, and scheduling a building tour; the board also voted the Revolutionary War Memorial's location, a beach house dedication certificate for the late Genevieve Nass, its FY27 goals, six sets of minutes, and discussed the September 3rd special town meeting warrant and an opioid-settlement-funds spending plan.

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A joint Select Board / Lunenburg Municipal Building Design Committee meeting opened with a presentation on Mass Save energy-summit incentives for building electrification, then shifted to a long workshop on the deteriorating TC Pacios (TCP) building — its failing systems, a history of a double-appropriated roof-repair fund later corrected at town meeting, and whether to repair or demolish it. No formal vote was taken on TCP or the Brooks House, but the group leaned toward not investing further in TCP, tasked the Facilities Director with cost estimates, and agreed the committee will bring formal recommendations on both buildings to a future meeting, with its next meeting set for August 3rd.

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The Select Board set the schedule for a citizen-petition special town meeting for September 3, 2026, working through a tight statutory timeline for the warrant, legal ad, FinCom public hearing and mailed notices, complicated by town moderator Tim Murphy's unavailability that date. The board also approved the September 1 state primary election warrant and ratified the DPW collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 170, then adjourned to meet again the next evening in a joint workshop with the Municipal Building Design Committee.

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The Lunenburg Select Board approved an Eagle Scout loafing shed project at the DPW, appointed Richard Howard to the Trust Fund Commission, ratified two town manager appointments, and granted the historical society permission to place a war memorial on the lower common. Most of the meeting was devoted to the school committee's request for a warrant article appropriating roughly $350,000 in additional state aid to the FY27 school budget, including a walkthrough of the state and town budget timelines, a recap of contentious school committee meetings, and next steps now that a citizens' petition has forced an earlier special town meeting; no vote on the state-aid article itself was taken by the select board.

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A joint Finance Committee/Select Board session opened with FY2026 year-end transfers (legal, sealer of weights and measures, and town report printing, funded from a vacant planning board salary line), which passed, after which the Finance Committee adjourned. The Select Board then accepted a gift for a Beach House dedication sign and spent most of the meeting drafting FY27 select board and town manager goals, dominated by what to do with the deteriorating TCP building's roof (demolition vs. renovation) and an overdue town-meeting-directed report on the Brooks House, plus public engagement, financial policy, and state-funding advocacy; the meeting closed with a vote approving the Town Manager's FY27 goals as presented.

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The Lunenburg Select Board ratified a police detective promotion and several routine appointments, heard a lengthy planning-director update and a historical society pitch for a Revolutionary War memorial, and got tangled in a dispute over a stalled Trust Fund Commission appointment. It also acted on several money and process items — adopting the IRS mileage rate, taking an eminent-domain easement for the Flatill Road bridge, designating the Cable Advisory Committee as special municipal employees, choosing police over a constable for three upcoming elections, and approving minutes including newly released executive-session employment agreements — while tabling the DPW union contract, the special election warrant, and the trust fund appointment, and deferring a decision on a special town meeting for additional state education funding.

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The Select Board (chair, Glenn, and Brian) held a short meeting largely devoted to annual appointments. They passed over discontinuing electronic voting machines for the August 2026 special election after learning from the state it isn't optional, then voted by roll call to make the Select Board's own annual appointments and to ratify the Town Manager's lengthy list of annual town appointments, including the full police department roster, before adjourning.

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The Lunenburg Select Board ratified two seasonal appointments, adopted an updated environmentally preferable purchasing policy, and voted to support a legislative letter urging retention of the Foundation Budget Review Commission and higher school aid levels in the FY27 state budget. The town manager reported progress on a temporary food pantry site at the former School Street school, the awarded Flat Hill Road Bridge contract, and a dangerous/nuisance dog complaint headed to a standalone hearing; the board also scheduled a July 14 goals workshop, approved several sets of prior minutes, heard numerous committee reports, and voted to enter executive session on non-union personnel matters.

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This Select Board meeting was devoted entirely to annual appointments and reappointments to town boards, committees and commissions, with the board interviewing each applicant briefly before voting. By the end of the meeting the board had filled seats on the APDC, Council on Aging, Americans with Disabilities Committee, Conservation Committee, Cultural Council, Green Communities and a newly reconstituted five-member Personnel Committee, leaving remaining vacancies only on Conservation, Cultural Council, Historical Commission and PAC.

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The Finance Committee held a public hearing on three warrant articles for a citizen-petitioned special town meeting, driven by new state aid the town received after the legislature's final budget exceeded the governor's January figure. The committee voted to recommend approval of article 1 (a school spending plan funded by that new state aid, including a second grade teacher, reading specialist, assistant principal, music teacher, literacy support, and reduced athletic transportation costs) and voted to defer articles 2 and 3 to town meeting itself, since article 2's petitioner plans to move to pass it over and article 3's funding source (a possible new special-purpose fund drawn from RAP money) had not yet been established by the Select Board or ratified by the School Committee. The committee also approved prior minutes, heard committee reports, and decided to caucus informally at town meeting rather than hold a separate pre-town-meeting session.

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The Finance Committee heard a resident-led cost model for a citizens petition warrant article to restore cut school sports and transportation, reviewed free cash and the new state WRAP snow-and-ice reimbursement as possible funding sources (with no free cash currently available), and received the town manager's first capital/outstanding-articles report. The superintendent presented a research-based plan for spending anticipated additional state aid on literacy staffing and behavioral support rather than general class-size reduction, prompting extended debate about messaging versus prior budget cuts; the meeting closed with a Q3 FY26 financial report, a special revenue funds review, and the appointment of Tom Gray to the capital planning committee.

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The Lunenburg Finance Committee reorganized (re-electing Chris Manard as chair, electing Peter Beardmore vice chair and Tom Gray clerk), heard a presentation from the Green Communities Committee on Mass Save incentive programs for municipal and school buildings, and reviewed the FY27 state aid ("cherry sheet") changes and the superintendent's proposed use of the resulting funds plus health insurance savings. The committee also worked through committee and liaison assignments for the coming year, deferring a decision on the capital planning committee seat, and set a schedule leading up to an additional special town meeting expected before September 3.

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With the chairman (Chris) away, the Lunenburg Finance Committee met mainly to compile a list of fiscal policies (free cash, revenue projections, stabilization accounts, capital committee, OPEB/retirement contributions) to review in future meetings and discuss whether to revive a tri-board committee with the Select Board and School Committee. No votes were taken except the procedural adjournment; year-end transfers and department reports were deferred to the next meeting.

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The School Committee heard extended public comment on district turnover, reading scores, and school funding, then reviewed three alternative spending scenarios (financial audit, second-grade class-size reduction, or a second BCBA) for $418,000 in additional state aid to be requested at a special town meeting, alongside restoring athletic transportation. The committee voted to pursue the class-size/literacy scenario plus athletic transportation, and separately voted to commit to spending citizens'-petition warrant article 3 funds (if appropriated) on restoring middle school sports.

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The Lunenburg School Committee reviewed FY26 end-of-year line item transfers and several donations (LEAF grants, band boosters, football boosters), heard the superintendent's summer report on hiring and grants, approved a 300th-anniversary fireworks display, and — the meeting's central business — amended and voted to submit its own warrant article requesting the full additional FY27 state education aid figure for a September 3rd special ("extra special") town meeting triggered by a citizen petition. The committee also ratified a new custodians' union contract, tabled a further FY26 budget update, and heard public comment urging both an MSBA application for Turkey Hill Elementary and full use of the additional state aid for schools rather than other town needs.

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The Lunenburg School Committee met to consider a warrant article seeking an additional $350,000 for the FY27 school budget, funded from new state education receipts, and a related spending plan (reading specialists, an expanded assistant principal position, tutoring seats, and a music teacher increase). After extended, often heated debate about whether to push for a special town meeting sooner versus accepting the town manager/Select Board's proposed timeline, the committee approved the spending plan and voted on the warrant article (outcome of that final roll call not fully audible in the captions), while transfers and a custodial union MOU were deferred to future meetings.

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The Lunenburg School Committee heard extensive public comment on middle school athletics funding, booster fundraising, and academic performance following the failed override, then reviewed routine business (minutes, a donation, four line-item transfers, warrants, and encumbrances). The superintendent reported on transportation vans, a facilities earmark, staffing changes, and Title IX/booster-donation guidance; the committee also approved an adult meal price increase, relocated the T-ball program to accommodate the food pantry, accepted a curriculum report describing the loss of all reading interventionists and larger class sizes, accepted a strong FY26 quarterly budget report, accepted a personnel report with numerous departures attributed to budget uncertainty, and voted unanimously to ask the select board to convene a special town meeting to direct additional state chapter 70 and other cherry sheet funds into the school budget.

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