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Planning Board continues several hearings to Nov. 4 and endorses budget article; passes over rail-trail matching funds
Summary
The Planning Board voted to continue hearings for multiple development applications to Nov. 4, recommended Town Meeting Article 3 (FY26 budget adjustments to restore administrative staffing) and voted to pass over Article 6 after learning the matching grant for the Boston–Worcester rail-trail was not awarded.
The Westborough Planning Board agreed to continue several hearings to Nov. 4, recommended a fiscal-year 2026 budget-adjustment article to Town Meeting, and voted to pass over a trail matching-funds article after the town learned it did not receive the grant.
Chair Hazel Nurse announced continuance requests for hearings at 50 Flanders Road, 210 Turnpike Road and 165 Flanders Road; staff explained peer-review comments and the need for additional applicant responses. The board voted to continue each hearing to the Nov. 4 meeting date to give applicants time to respond and, in some cases, to address conservation-commission review schedules.
On warrant articles, Town Planner Jenny Gingrich described Article 3 (FY26 budget adjustments) as moving funding to support two positions including restoring a full-time planning administrative assistant and adding a health-department administrative assistant, noting that the current shared 20-hour arrangement had hampered operations. The Planning Board moved to recommend that Town Meeting approve Article 3 and the motion carried.
Gingrich also reported the town did not receive a matching grant for section 2 of the Boston–Worcester Rail Trail (the Boston–Worcester Airline Trail). Because the grant application was unsuccessful, the board moved to recommend that Town Meeting pass over Article 6, and the board approved that recommendation.
The continuances and the board’s recommendations will be reflected in the packet for the Nov. 4 meeting and in advisory committee reviews as appropriate.
