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Westford voters keep pay-as-you-throw startup funding after heated debate

Town of Westford Town Meeting · March 28, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Town Meeting approved $1.165 million in supplemental appropriations, including $150,000 for pay-as-you-throw start-up costs, after residents and board members sharply debated equity and procurement concerns; an amendment to delete the $150,000 failed 268-130, and the underlying motion passed 296-106.

Town Meeting in Westford voted to approve a package of supplemental FY26 appropriations Friday that included $150,000 to cover start-up costs for a planned pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) hybrid trash program.

The $150,000 line item was the focus of the most contested exchange of the morning, with Dennis Galvin, a finance committee member, moving to delete the waste-disposal appropriation on the grounds that the 35-gallon cart model "is overly burdensome on larger families," and that pay-as-you-throw could prompt unlawful dumping. "That is going to accumulate over…

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