Stoneham Select Board Takes Up Easements and Licenses After Historic Override Win

STONEHAM — December 16, 2025 — Stoneham Select Board approves easements, renews 2026 licenses, and opens post-override budget planning six days after historic vote. Meeting on December 16, the board unanimously accepted a donated painted portrait of the late Fire Chief Raymond Sorensen from artist Laurie DeGenis, approved a new drainage easement and abandonment of an old one at 95 Maple Street, and OK'd a sewer easement at 134 Elm Street with a $20,000 developer payment to the general fund. All 2026 business and liquor license renewals passed, with Liberty Bell excluded pending a new ownership application. Town Administrator Dennis Sheehan disclosed that the town has received a $5.9 million IRS check — a reimbursement under the Inflation Reduction Act for the geothermal HVAC system in the Stoneham High School project — which will be used to close out the project without additional borrowing. Board members and two residents, Lisa Mashburn and Bobby Cafazo, called for a formal external strategic plan estimated at roughly $100,000, improved public communications, and a civic engagement series for residents new to Stoneham's town meeting form of government.