Winchester Board of Selectmen: Budget Referendum Vote Controversy, Eversource Gas Line Disruptions on Main Street, Blighted Property Development

6/16/2025

Present were Mayor Todd Arcelaschi, Town Manager Paul Harrington, Selectmen Troy Lamere, Paul Marino, William Pozzo, and William Hester, Selectwomen Linda Groppo and Candy Perez, and Town Clerk Glenn Albanesius.

Issues from the budget referendum took center stage during the meeting, with Marino sparring with Perez for comments she had made during the June 2 meeting. In that meeting, Perez had taken exception to the surprise Saturday morning opening of town hall ahead of the budget referendum a couple days later. There was no public notice on the opening, and was shared only from “a political RTC Facebook” page, Perez said, emphasizing her issue was not with the increased opportunity to vote, but rather that only some received the message.

That came against the backdrop of confusion as to why paper ballots were used at the budget referendum. The town charter says to use voting machines, but the Registrar of Voters – which does not report to the Board of Selectmen – opted to use the paper ballots.

Perez’ comments from the June 2 meeting got considerable attention over a week later when a video of it was posted in a Facebook group. Marino challenged Perez on what he believed was an implication that the board had something improper to do with the paper ballots and the Saturday town hall opening.

“These items came off in a way that made it sound in some ways nefarious – that there were shenanigans going on that this board was a part of,” Marino said. “And that couldn't be further from the truth.”

Perez, one of two Democrats on the seven-member board, reiterated that her issue was centered on the lack of public notice. As for the ballots, there was disagreement on what power the board even had in the situation. Though the registrar doesn’t report to the board, the board is responsible for the town charter – which is what says that voting machines needed to be used.

Ultimately, Marino posited the most constructive thing would be to send a note to the registrar notifying them of the error and the board’s position on using voting machines. “I don't apologize for one thing I said that night,” Perez ultimately said about her June 2 remarks. “So, until I hear who made the decision, I'm still gonna keep wondering.”

In terms of other business, with the fiscal year 2025-26 budget reaching approval Harrington said that attention now gets to turn towards economic development as Winchester looks to address needed growth in the tax base.

However, the state of the Eversource gas line project is creating unforeseen headaches. The long-anticipated project to install a gas line down the middle of Main Street was initially supposed to be done through the median in an effort to keep traffic and business disruptions to a minimum. However, Eversource pivoted and opted to put the line down the middle of the westbound traffic lane.

Harrington said that was without consent from the town. “They made a major change and didn’t tell us,” Harrington said, while also acknowledging that the town had previously promised residents and business owners there would be no such disruptions.

Harrington also said that the long-blighted 108 East Lake Street property owned by the town has been sold. The new owner is planning to build 20-30 condominiums on the site, and a design and architectural firm have been hired.

The town manager expressed encouragement about the future of the site. “He made a commitment to me and to our land use office that they will keep current on their taxes and that the property will never appear on the blight list,” Harrington said.