Billerica Select Board Approves Special Town Meeting Warrant, Splits on Gazebo

BILLERICA — May 4, 2026 — Billerica Select Board approves May 19 special town meeting warrant while stripping largest Cider Mill parcel from open-space protection article. On a 3-2 vote, the board reaffirmed its earlier direction to bring a specific gazebo redesign — a platform lowered to 30 inches with a wrap-around accessibility ramp — to the Historic District Commission as a formal application, after Planning and Community Development Director Catherine Maljury presented survey results showing about 62 percent of respondents favored modifying the structure for ADA compliance. Select Board Member Kerry Favreau, who prevailed on the gazebo vote, argued that "further delay is not caution, it's negligence," while Building Commissioner Mark Lalumiere said he now preferred lowering the structure fully to grade. On the warrant, Select Board Member Darris O'Connor moved to strip Parcel 60-27 — the largest of four Cider Mill parcels — from Article 3, saying too many public questions remain unanswered; the board then voted 4-1 to attach more restrictive open-space language as a substitute main motion for town meeting. The board also voted 3-2 to add a Shawshin Valley Technical High School feasibility study article to the warrant over charter-authority objections, and unanimously recommended a new contractor accountability bylaw that received a 10-0 Finance Committee endorsement.