Newbury Select Board Debates Splitting Capital Requests Before Annual Town Meeting Vote

NEWBURY -- March 24, 2026, Newbury Select Board reviews balanced but strained $26 million FY27 budget ahead of annual town meeting. Meeting jointly with the Finance Committee on Tuesday, the board heard Town Administrator Tracy present a budget proposal up 4.6 percent overall, bridged by $250,000 in one-time free cash after new growth revenue came in at roughly $70,000 and total new revenues reached only about $950,000 against nearly $1.9 million in departmental requests. The sharpest debate concerned Article 11, which bundles capital requests including $611,000 in Morgan Avenue fire station repairs, $134,000 for hydraulic extrication tools, and a $250,000 senior center feasibility study into a single consent-warrant item. Select Board member Frank Biscount argued the structure puts essential public safety items at risk by pairing them with a study skeptics are likely to reject: "Who the hell votes against the jaws of life?" Capital Planning Committee Chair Marshall Jesperson recommended the Select Board expand the committee's mandate to develop a comprehensive, long-term building plan covering the fire station, senior center, and town offices, the last of which costs nearly $350,000 per year in rent after a decade in leased space. The board also voted 3-1 to initiate formal demolition review of the old town hall at 25 High Road under the town's demolition delay bylaw, and unanimously approved a liquor license transfer from Wyatt's Market, LLC to Rusty Can, LLC at 6D Fruit Street.