WESTBOROUGH – Westborough's yearlong sewer moratorium will be lifted on May 1 following a unanimous vote by the Select Board on April 29. The removal of the moratorium was part of a vote that approved new sewer regulations developed by the Department of Public Works.
The moratorium was imposed last spring over concerns that the town was reaching its sewer capacity with the Wastewater Treatment Plant. A report, released months after the moratorium was enacted, showed the town was still under capacity, but had over-allocated sewer flow to residents and businesses for years.
Over the summer and fall, the DPW conducted a series of workshops with other town boards to determine the best approach to adjust this overallocation. With the adjustments, the total flow – including present and future allocations – is estimated at 2.53 million gallons per day (MGP), still under the town’s capacity of 2.89 MGP.
The Treatment Plant’s board has been discussing plans for a possible expansion.
SHREWSBURY – When Shrewsbury voters approved an override in 2021, they were told the town wouldn’t ask again for another four years.
Four years later, Shrewsbury has made good on that promise – the override is set to last for at least the next few fiscal years – but that doesn’t mean the town isn’t looking for solutions to upcoming budgetary challenges. In meetings during the fiscal 2026 budget process, Town Manager Kevin Mizikar outlined the town’s financial picture until the end of the decade, including projected deficits.
At the February 25 Select Board meeting, for instance, Mizikar’s financial projections indicated that by fiscal 2030, Shrewsbury would face an $11.3 million deficit. After contributing to the Override Stabilization Fund – a byproduct of the 2021 override – over the past couple years, the town is expected to stop making deposits in fiscal 2026. From there, Shrewsbury would withdraw $2.2 million and $5.1 million in fiscal 2027 and 2028, respectively, to balance the budget. However, by fiscal 2029, the town is expected to have a $6.4 million shortfall, despite withdrawing $1.6 million from the fund.
A general view of the town’s timeline was outlined at a joint meeting of the Select Board, Planning Board, and School Committee on April 15. At the meeting, Mizikar said that the town is targeting late-2026 for an override ask, placing the question on the state election ballot. If approved then, the override would go into effect to start fiscal 2028. If not approved, the town could potentially ask in Spring 2027.
SHREWSBURY – Do plastic water bottles have a future in Shrewsbury?
But the plan drew some pushback from David Remington, a member of the Finance Committee.
“I like the Override Stabilization Fund, but I don’t like how much we’re spending, the velocity of our spending. I think if we see an override coming, we spend, spend, spend – but we can keep the spending lower, rely less on the override, so we have that stability,” said Remington. “What we’re all saying here is that if the override doesn’t pass, we’re going to have a lot of problems, and will figure that out when that happens. But I think we should plan for that … so that if the override doesn’t pass, we can survive a year or two while we work on another one.”
For others, namely Superintendent of Schools Joe Sawyer, spending isn’t the problem whatsoever. The district spends in the bottom 15 percent in Massachusetts today, though that figure used to be around 5 percent at times of extreme budgetary pressure.
“My new podiatrist is a former student at Oak Middle School. The person who fills my prescription is a former student. The person who was in line – a former student who’s now a cancer researcher at UMass. I read an article in the Boston Globe written by a former student at Floral Street. To say that people just think we’re consuming and we’re not adding value, I think it’s not true,” said Sawyer.
“We have a range of socioeconomics, for sure. There are people who are struggling, no doubt,” he continued. “But we are an overall affluent community. To be spending less than 95 percent of districts in the state – that’s not a place where I want to go back to. … Some of the things we have cut have never come back. Yes, it’s simple to cut costs. Is it simple to cut costs and not damage the quality of what we’re trying to do? … People value what they get in this community. I’d respectfully disagree that people think we’re just consuming.”
SHREWSBURY — It's almost Election Day in Shrewsbury.
In the lead-up to the election, the Community Advocate sent questionnaires to all the Select Board and School Committee candidates. We've published the candidates' responses exactly as they were sent.
CANDIDATES FOR SELECT BOARD (Three-Year Term, Choose TWO)
For School Committee candidates, click here.
As another resource to the community, the Community Advocate teamed up with Shrewsbury Media Connection to host a Candidate Forum on April 16. Over the course of two hours, School Committee and Select Board candidates answered questions about development, the budget, and capital projects.
There will also be a question regarding the DPW facility on the ballot. To see the Community Advocate's continuing coverage of that topic, click here.
The Community Advocate's Letter to the Editor section has your neighbors' perspectives on the election. The section is updated every Thursday with the latest letters we receive.