Stoneham Swears In Four Officers, Approves $1.09M Sewer Borrowing at Packed Meeting

STONEHAM -- August 12, 2025, Stoneham Select Board swears in four police officers and approves $1.09 million in sewer borrowing at a meeting dominated by a sober home expansion debate. Police Chief Jamie O'Connor introduced Officers Colin Strong, Victoria Lamoni, Aiden Slattery, and Jacob Engel, all June 2025 Boylston Police Academy graduates, each from a family with law enforcement roots, in a pinning ceremony before a packed Town Hall audience. Town Treasurer Paulette Gary secured board approval for a $1,090,000 MWRA Phase 14 sewer borrowing, of which $817,500 is a grant and $272,500 is an interest-free ten-year loan. The meeting's longest item was a public site plan hearing on a proposed 12-bedroom addition to an existing sober living home at 26 Broadway; more than a dozen neighbors cited dangerous sight-line and traffic conditions at the crest of the hill on Broadway rather than opposing the sober home use, while attorney Bill Heaney argued the accessory structure requires a ZBA variance that was already denied in 2023 and that a March 2025 SJC ruling does not excuse the applicant from standard zoning relief. Town Administrator Dennis Sheehan said town counsel will re-review the zoning questions; no vote was taken on that project.