Stoneham Select Board Dissolves Farmers Market Committee, Defers Trash Fee Vote

STONEHAM -- June 10, 2025, Stoneham Select Board unanimously dissolved the town's Farmers Market Committee Tuesday, setting a December 31, 2025, deadline for transferring the 10-year-old market to the Stoneham Community Action Network, a local 501(c)(3). Lila Pascal, an eight-year committee member, told the board that municipal finance rules blocked the committee from accepting SNAP, HIP, and WIC food-assistance payments, running fundraisers, or accepting Venmo and PayPal, and that SCAN's nonprofit structure would remove those barriers; the market's roughly $7,000 revolving fund will be drawn down to zero during this season with no monetary assets transferring to SCAN. Town Administrator Dennis Sheehan called the move "an opportunity for a change" and said SCAN would execute a memorandum of understanding modeled on the town's existing arrangement with Stoneham Youth Soccer. The board also approved $1.3 million in routine FY25 end-of-year interfund transfers and deferred a vote on raising the annual per-household trash fee by $21.47, which would replace a $125,000 general fund subsidy cut from the FY26 budget after April's failed override, to a future meeting with explicit public notice, after members said the item needed broader community discussion.