Stoneham Select Board accepts May 5 town meeting warrant with $570,200 capital package

STONEHAM — March 11, 2025 — Stoneham Select Board accepts trimmed $570,200 capital package for May 5 town meeting. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to accept and sign the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting, approving a capital slate that includes $288,000 for a DPW dump truck, $132,000 for middle school bridge repairs, $50,000 for fire station roof engineering, and $100,000 for streets and sidewalks — a deliberate pullback from the town's typical spring target of roughly $1 million while an April 1 Proposition 2½ override ballot question remains unresolved. Town Administrator Dennis Sheehan said staff would produce a one-to-two page neutral information document on the override "the next few days" after the board settled on a dollar amount and phased approach at a prior session. The board also unanimously reappointed Town Counsel Bob Galvin, who reported that two major lawsuits — a Spot Pond 40B challenge and the Rockville Park subdivision remand — were fully resolved in 2024, leaving the town's comprehensive permit for the Spot Pond project final. Town Moderator Jean Craigie advised against moving town meeting to the high school gymnasium, citing four consecutive years of attendance below 200 against Town Hall's 603-person floor capacity; the board confirmed the meeting will remain at 35 Central Street at 7 p.m.