Residents urge more senior tax relief, Forest Road sidewalks; condominium owner raises shared water-meter dispute

Several residents used the public-comment period to raise separate local concerns: tax bills for older residents after a recent reassessment; a Forest Road petition pressing for sidewalks tied to the proposed DPW project; and a condominium representative who described a long-running shared water meter issue at a 268–269 Main Street building.

A senior resident said her quarterly tax bill rose after a 21% assessed-value increase and asked the Select Board to "consider adding additional exemptions or tax breaks for seniors to keep them in town." She said she teaches swimming and could not afford the higher taxes on her downsized home.

Eric Hills, a Forest Road resident and organizer of a petition, asked that Forest Road sidewalks be added to the Select Board agenda for consideration in connection with the DPW project. He reported a change.org petition with 184 signatures and said local safety voters would oppose the DPW project at election and town meeting without sidewalks. "An excellent precedent was set when sidewalks were included for the safety of the North Acton Fire Station neighbors," he said.

A representative for the Redstone (referred to in the transcript as Redstone/Ariston) Condominium — identified in the meeting as Vishlo Estebanka — described a long-standing water-meter arrangement with an adjacent building (268 Main Street) that left the condominium subsidizing water use for a law office tied to shared plumbing. He said a suspected leak in the law-office building was repaired in September and that the condominium owner sought reimbursement for leak-finding costs but had not received it. He asked the town to require the commercial property to separate meters and establish its own water account with the district.

Town staff told the speakers they would follow up offline. Town Manager John Mandurite said sidewalk requests are a recognized priority and that staff would talk with him and the DPW director about next steps. The Select Board also encouraged seniors to attend a Finance Committee listening session and noted that the Assessors’ Office runs exemptions, abatements and deferral programs.

No formal board action was taken during public comment; staff said they would follow up with the residents and with the town’s departments on the items raised.