Stoneham Select Board accepts override study report, sets October 21 deadline for ballot question

STONEHAM -- September 30, 2025, Stoneham Select Board accepts Override Study Committee report and sets October 21 as the deadline to finalize a Proposition 2½ ballot question. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to accept the report from the eight-member volunteer panel, which logged more than 30 hours of televised meetings over the summer, and formally discharge the committee. A tri-board meeting with the School Committee and Finance Committee is scheduled for October 7, with public engagement sessions planned around Special Town Meeting on October 20. The board also voted to recommend favorable action on nine of the 12 warrant articles for the October 20 Special Town Meeting, including a $1.242 million MWRA low-interest loan for water main rehabilitation on Maple to Marble streets, a $772,694 capital package covering a fire station generator, police vehicle, and 35 portable radios, and a $158,249 server upgrade for Stoneham TV funded entirely from cable franchise fees. A new development impact assessment bylaw requiring a 3 percent mitigation fee on qualifying commercial projects was presented by DPW Director Brett Lemos, who cited a 20-year Woburn precedent; consistent with its practice on planning board articles, the Select Board took no formal vote on that article.