Winchester Fall Town Meeting Session 2- 11-9-26

Winchester Fall Town Meeting, Session 2, convened November 9, 2026. Town Meeting approved an amendment reducing the proposed FY27 OPEB trust contribution from $350,000 to $175,000 from free cash. It also unanimously approved the police superior officers’ compensation schedule and related funding motions, including a $60,500 transfer from free cash for FY27 personal-services costs; the package included retroactive and current COLAs, later-year compensation changes, and adjustments to stipends and longevity pay. A motion to create a budget director position was approved, with no funding provided for the position in that motion. The meeting also considered transferring $400,000 from free cash to the special education reserve; an amendment to reduce that amount was rejected, but the transcript does not capture the final vote result on the main motion.

Town Meeting approved all eight Community Preservation Committee project motions, including $300,000 for the Leonard Field pavilion/restroom project, $35,000 for Lincoln Elementary shade structures, $50,000 for a New Town Field master plan, and $400,000 for design and permitting work to prepare the Packer Ellis tennis-court restoration for construction. Other approved projects included tennis-court resurfacing, tree-canopy improvements, Town Hall auditorium seating restoration, and community-greenway work; some amounts are garbled or missing in the transcript. Members also debated a proposed CPA-funded acquisition of Forest Ridge by eminent domain, with a stated appraisal cap of $2.85 million and discussion of a $250,000 state earmark, possible federal funding, litigation exposure, and a potential conservation-and-housing alternative. The supplied transcript does not show the outcome of the Forest Ridge vote. No vendor award or procurement contract selection is recorded; the actions primarily authorize funding for municipal projects and planning.