Billerica Shifts Annual Town Meeting to May 19 After Warrant Posting Error

BILLERICA — April 30, 2026 — Billerica Select Board moves annual town meeting to May 19 and strips key Cider Mill parcel from conservation article. The board voted 4-1 Thursday to reschedule the annual town meeting from May 7 after town counsel warned that a public vote taken at a procedurally flawed Monday session — where the agenda had been incorrectly posted — created legal risk for the validity of the final official warrant. In a separate 3-2 vote, the board authorized inserting an article in the upcoming special town meeting warrant to restrict more than 41 acres of the Cider Mill property to passive recreation, open space, and conservation uses, while deliberately excluding parcel 51-75-0 — a 4.39-acre lot that senior center supporters, including Friends of the Council on Aging Vice President John Bartlett, called the only viable site for a new facility serving Billerica's more than 11,000 seniors. Selectman Darius O'Connor, who filed the original conservation article, said he accepted the compromise: "I would much rather preserve 41 acres and leave four acres aside than preserve none." Selectmen Rosa and Favreau voted no, with Rosa arguing the board should not act until wetland delineations and a formal site study determine what acreage is actually buildable.