Winchester Board of Selectmen

9/8/26 7 p.m.

Present: Mayor Todd Arcelaschi. Selectmen Kevin Bishop, Paul Marino, Bill Hester, Troy Lamere, and Bill Pozzo. Absent, Excused: Selectman Cheryl Heffernan-McGlynn.

The Selectman (BOS) made several changes to the meeting agenda format, including moving Selectman comments earlier in the meeting to ensure residents receive timely responses.

“So, one of the things that we look at from time to time is our agenda format.,” Arcelaschi said. “This is more so to get the Board's opinion on if we should make some of these changes.”

Selectmen also emphasized enforcing consistent three-minute time limits for public speakers. Marino suggested the BOS replicate the Board of Education (BOE) policy of reading a statement that the Board will not make comments during the citizen comment period.

The Board approved changes to mirror the BOE policy, emphasizing the three-minute citizen comment limit, and that no dialogue with Board members will come during citizen comments. The vote was unanimous after a motion by Marino and second by Bishop.

In other business, Town Manager Paul Harrington gave an update before the Board approved pursuit of a $750,000 Brownfield Round 24 grant related to environmental contamination at two properties on Meadow Street. Hester moved to approve the resolution on the matter. Following a second by Bishop, the Board unanimously passed the measure. Selectmen also unanimously approved a Letter of Support separately after a motion by Hester and second by Lamere.

Harrington noted the Town has worked with the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG) to assess potential contamination at 41 Meadow Street and the Town-owned 3 Meadow Street parking lot.

“We now received a draft Phase One, Phase Two, and Phase Three assessment for 3 Meadow Street along with the Remedial Action Plan,” Harrington said. “Their work identified contamination concerns that require state reporting and will need to be addressed.”

Harrington said the Town acquired 3 Meadow Street in 2018 and later cleaned the site, which has a long history of industrial and commercial use and contaminations that came with it. The property has since been used as a gravel municipal parking lot.

In 2025, the town partnered with NHCOG and 41 Meadow Street Commons to pursue funding to determine any issues with both locations related to the former industrial mill that is now partially back in use.

“The partnership secured $200,000 through (the) DCED Brownfield Round 20 assessment grant with no local match to complete the environmental assessment work at both properties,” Harrington said.

The environmental assessment confirmed several areas of contamination tied to the site's historic industrial use; primarily lead, petroleum, metals, and PAHs in the soil, he said.

The remediation plan is to remove the areas with the most significant contamination, properly dispose of those materials, and cap the remaining site with a newly paved municipal parking lot.

“The town is also voluntarily committing $42,000 of its own funding towards the project, split evenly between capital grant match funding and blight funds to show the state that we do have skin in the game,” Harrington said. “The end result is simple: Take a contaminated, unattractive town-owned gravel lot and turn it into a clean, environmental compliant paved municipal parking lot that supports nearby businesses and future downtown development.”

The meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m. after a motion by Lamere and second by Pozzo, which drew unanimous agreement.

The Selectmen also were scheduled to meet Oct. 5, at 7 p.m.