[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6364609,"mediaKeyId","2164294-0098c518321d1563bf8341d6b1c4c12a","parentId",2164294,"title","Select Board approves continuance of liquor hearing, traffic regulation updates and recommends FY2026 budget; other items moved on consent","audioSeconds",4739,"startMs",316000,"endMs",5055000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2164294-0098c518321d1563bf8341d6b1c4c12a&start=316&end=5055","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2164294-0098c518321d1563bf8341d6b1c4c12a/thumbnail_316000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6364609/Town-of-Needham/Norfolk-County/Massachusetts/Select-Board-approves-continuance-of-liquor-hearing-traffic-regulation-updates-and-recommends-FY2026-budget-other-items-moved-on-consent","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6364609-60e8b20f51a2caf537901164a5ae6163/orig.mp4?Expires=1771178412&Signature=PZ6QsNdZOriob581VrEjbFdR1mKME~hTZXj4dWXX4QP8vT6Nt22dtWw2iMQx3innC19Q6Ot-UkL1yz8QhSjdFtsHAfk-x8m2U1staYuF7aGlDVNCjhhT0nQwLNgHRiHSJD1yClVG62cBbl6rRNe9SKINioIxABnMIzvQuqvHqpMs~DY9zYXUiMKXIFUSH145Ohy8By3jIKP5aK7ca-its-vfgyVa6A93s-lks1wKLpyinqLnqjdaW5zxesNgZofCJCtJ05Pz-tRm18TnZ~BlHhr~Q5Hlra-Aw6RVBqsuZeD4TWwmv4d3LK80vTeoWhb1BIQKIw96aGYB7ijypQQMaw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Town of Needham, MA","date","2025-01-29T00:00:00Z","article","The Town of Needham Select Board met Jan. 20 and handled several procedural and policy items. Major formal actions included continuing a liquor‑license public hearing, approving a traffic regulation amendment related to parking meters, accepting Planning Board zoning articles for referral and forwarding the town manager’s FY2026 budget recommendation to the Finance Committee.

Key votes and outcomes (at a glance)
- Continued public hearing on a new all‑alcohol license for North Hill Needham Inc., doing business as North Hill, to Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at 6:20 p.m. Motion moved and seconded during the meeting; Select Board recorded the continuance as unanimous.
- Approved and signed Notice of Traffic Regulation P250128 to amend Town of Needham traffic rules and regulations (Article 5: stopping/standing/parking sections 5–7) to update meter language (to accommodate electronic payment) and to standardize Friday evening parking rules. Motion to approve was moved and seconded and passed unanimously. Kara Sostak, Director of Public Works, presented the change as clarifying language and aligning practice with current electronic payment options.
- Accepted and referred two Planning Board zoning articles to the Planning Board for review and report for the May 2025 Annual Town Meeting: Article 1 (amend Zoning Bylaw — Multifamily Overlay District / Basic Compliance Plan) and Article 2 (map change for the Multifamily Overlay District / Basic Compliance Plan). Select Board voted to accept and refer the two articles; vote recorded with one dissent.
- Voted to recommend approval of the town manager’s proposed FY2026 annual budget to the Finance Committee. The motion carried with one board member opposed; the budget now moves to the Finance Committee for detailed review and public hearings.
- Consent agenda: The board moved and approved the consent agenda (appointments and “baby gift” items) unanimously. Paul Good, chair of the Needham Community Revitalization Trust Fund, presented two celebration‑bench dedications (Avery Common and a site near the reservoir/amity path) that were approved under the consent agenda; the fund will manage fabrication and installation and coordinate with town maintenance staff.

What the votes mean
- The North Hill license hearing continuance keeps the public‑hearing process open for additional review and comment on the all‑alcohol application.
- The traffic regulation amendments update meter language to permit electronic payments and align Friday parking regulation text with current practice; the change was presented as a housekeeping update to existing regulations.
- Referral of the two zoning articles launches the Planning Board’s public hearing and reporting process ahead of the May Annual Town Meeting; these are the required procedural steps under state statute for zoning amendments.
- The Select Board’s recommendation of the FY2026 budget moves the town manager’s proposal to the Finance Committee for hearings and deliberation; the Finance Committee may propose changes before the final town meeting warrants are set.

Attribution and process notes
Several motions in the meeting were made from the dais without a consistently recorded speaker name in the transcript; where a motion’s mover or seconder was not named in the audio transcript, the board recorded the motion, second and the resulting vote without identifying individual members in the minutes. When full roll‑call votes were not read aloud, the meeting recorded votes as unanimous or by voice.

Follow-ups
- The continued North Hill liquor hearing will reconvene Feb. 11, 2025, at 6:20 p.m. for additional consideration.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Town of Needham: Select Board 01/28/2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Needham Select Board on Jan. 20 continued a liquor‑license public hearing, approved a traffic regulation amendment to parking meter rules, referred two Planning Board zoning articles to the Planning Board for hearing and recommended the town manager’s FY2026 budget to the Finance Committee.","taxTitle","Town of Needham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts","taxId",54445,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6364613,"MWRA updates Needham on 15-mile deep-rock Metropolitan Water Tunnel; Needham to host shafts and early work",1957,364000,2321000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2164294-0098c518321d1563bf8341d6b1c4c12a&start=364&end=2321","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2164294-0098c518321d1563bf8341d6b1c4c12a/thumbnail_364000.jpg","/articles/6364613/Town-of-Needham/Norfolk-County/Massachusetts/MWRA-updates-Needham-on-15-mile-deep-rock-Metropolitan-Water-Tunnel-Needham-to-host-shafts-and-early-work","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6364613-0571178987f4a3a000f3b367c5814dae/orig.mp4?Expires=1771178412&Signature=jrjpnR27pD9tQGs3rhkrM2~HqSQ8KXQiFJNHYjpfvU0A9H2SfhGlctwwn7hl29Zzl81B-eD5zPJBJjNNLP7e67OSEh4VPJNNArPqYP9u0gQRxy38FaFqtULIaoPb0aRT6XuWNgeDiSfiIvjXdRHpNsBwjRtA~GBYQBlPFJZLgnMQw5T0tb6XPUkJsR3B7mYFmkQPdDBpBY4RlAqLnlaaB-uBfApNdneJKwIcTnSTNG1xzGSlgaoDg-08a6Adz~5DYLR0f2gpkkQPEpwQc9IXHxvs9Cj7tSSlAuFVT6hrS0xlQh4uUsCy~AATsu6DFNeDUMFY~FhfLzHmwJK1qxz4Kg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Representatives from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) told the Town of Needham Select Board on Jan. 20 that the authority has completed preliminary design and environmental review for a 15-mile deep-rock pressure tunnel intended to provide redundancy for the region’s aging Metropolitan tunnel system.

MWRA representatives said the program will include three tunnel segments totaling about 15 miles, shafts and connections. About 1.7 miles of the south segment will run under Needham and the authority has identified three shaft sites within town — two at the Highland Avenue/I‑95 cloverleaf and one near the St. Mary Street pump station. MWRA said the authority expects to begin major construction work in Needham in 2028 and target full program operation around 2040.

The tunnel program is intended to create a redundant supply that would allow MWRA to take the existing mid‑20th‑century tunnels offline for repair without interrupting service to the Boston metro area. “We’ve completed the environmental review process and the preliminary design for the program, which are major milestones,” MWRA representative Kathy Mertone said. She added the program “will provide full redundancy for the existing tunnel system” so maintenance or an emergency on the older tunnels will not force prolonged outages.

Why it matters: the existing Dorchester and related deep tunnels were built in the 1950s–1970s and have no full redundancy west of Weston, MWRA staff said. Recent events — a 2010 major water main break in Weston and an incident last fall when a contractor drilling a geothermal well breached the Dorchester tunnel — demonstrated how a single failure can force difficult operational measures and short-term public-health orders. MWRA says the deep-rock tunnel is intended to avoid that risk.

Construction and local impacts
MWRA described the construction sequence that contractors will use: excavate a deep launch shaft (several hundred feet), assemble and launch a tunnel-boring machine (TBM), advance at roughly 50 feet per day through hard bedrock, complete receiving shafts and install the final concrete liner. For intermediate connections the authority plans raised-bore shafts and other low-footprint techniques to reduce surface impacts.

For Needham specifically, MWRA said three shaft sites were under consideration: two within the I‑95 Highland Avenue cloverleaf area and one on MWRA property across from the St. Mary Street pump station (part of the Sudbury Aqueduct property). The St. Mary Street shaft is intended to create a redundant connection to the pump station and allow rehabilitation of the near-surface Section 80 pipeline that currently supplies that station.

MWRA told the board it has completed 14 deep borings in Needham to characterize rock types and fault zones for TBM and shaft design. Paul Savard, an MWRA design representative, said the borings show mostly hard rock in a mix of formations, and the authority is designing TBM and lining details to match the ground conditions.

Trucking, water and noise
MWRA staff said the environmental documents estimate on the order of 156 truck trips on average for rock removal at peak activity for a shaft site, and that material disposal locations are not yet finalized. “The location where the rock will get disposed of is not determined yet,” Paul Savard said, noting the authority will select disposal sites during final design and that routing will be planned to minimize neighborhood impacts.

MWRA also described the need for a roughly 30‑inch treated discharge pipeline from the northeast cloverleaf area to the Charles River to carry tunnel seepage to permitted outfalls; that work would require surface trenching along town streets but MWRA said trenchless crossings would be used beneath highway ramps where possible. The discharge will require NPDES and state permit compliance and will be treated to meet permit limits before entering the Charles River.

Residents asked about noise, vibration and blasting for shafts. MWRA said the contractor will take baseline noise readings, include noise and vibration limits in contract documents, and offer pre-construction surveys for buildings near controlled blasting locations. MWRA described controlled drill-and-blast lifts through rock for shaft excavation and said typical shaft mobilization and preparation could take on the order of a year from mobilization to TBM launch — though active construction at any single site is likely to happen in phases and not be continuously disruptive. The authority noted the raised-bore technique for many connection shafts keeps most spoil inside the tunnel and reduces truck traffic at surface locations.

Permitting, outreach and schedule
MWRA said it submitted a final environmental impact report in February 2024 and received the secretary’s certificate in April 2024. The authority said it held more than 150 outreach meetings during preliminary design and will continue public information sessions; MWRA scheduled a Needham public information session for Feb. 5, 2025 (doors open 6:30 p.m., presentation 7 p.m., Powers Hall). MWRA also noted Eversource will install dedicated 13 kV power conduits to support TBM operations, and that early enabling work (power and a treated discharge pipeline) needs to be finished before shaft work begins.

MWRA said it plans to begin final design in late 2024 and expects the south tunnel work that affects Needham to go to construction bidding in 2028. The authority’s stated program goal is to have the full new dual‑tunnel redundancy in operation by about 2040, with the possibility of earlier sections entering service if schedules permit.

Board and resident questions during the update focused on truck routing and hours, construction noise and vibration monitoring, emergency-response coordination, and whether residents will have a single local contact for construction communications. MWRA said it will maintain a local outreach point of contact and use subscription notices (including Everbridge) and the project website to share updates. MWRA also said it is coordinating emergency response training with local responders in all seven affected communities, including Needham’s Chief Conroy.

What’s next
MWRA will continue final design, environmental permitting, land acquisition for shafts and subterranean easements under private property, and outreach during 2025–2027. Officials said early enabling projects (Eversource power conduit and the treated discharge pipeline) will proceed ahead of the tunnel contractor to avoid delays when TBMs arrive on site.

MWRA representatives on Jan. 20 also encouraged residents to attend the Feb. 5 public information session at Powers Hall for more detail and one‑on‑one questions.

Ending note: MWRA emphasized the program’s purpose is to allow the existing mid‑20th‑century tunnels to be taken offline for repair without causing widespread water outages. As Kathy Mertone said, the authority’s goal is that if operators need to make repairs in the old tunnel system, “you won’t know it” because the new tunnel system will carry supply uninterrupted.","Representatives from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority updated the Town of Needham on Jan. 20 that MWRA has completed preliminary design and environmental review for a 15‑mile deep‑rock Metropolitan Water Tunnel intended to add redundancy to aging regional tunnels, and that three shaft sites and roughly 1.7 miles of the south tunnel lie within Needham.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6364605,"Resident urges Select Board to review referendum episode, committee appointments and decision processes",227,65000,292000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2164294-0098c518321d1563bf8341d6b1c4c12a&start=65&end=292","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2164294-0098c518321d1563bf8341d6b1c4c12a/thumbnail_65000.jpg","/articles/6364605/Town-of-Needham/Norfolk-County/Massachusetts/Resident-urges-Select-Board-to-review-referendum-episode-committee-appointments-and-decision-processes","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6364605-ebbc67c6652ddbe7cfe7e084c65cf5cd/orig.mp4?Expires=1771178412&Signature=ARFwi0mz9jSpPfELbHCOl~2WD0KI3ekLr6M5uOIqRqS7CvglJNsQg0cnR71eJQyrAI4J-ovuqMFX8oZkD5p~05xP9PqKwU2G-YRcgQheRUgim50ow96-GRZ8Spb-R1SBrv8qrA8Hauksb-CxnJQcQcDGyQY6KazYhUqrGpN~QZG6oOPExdmyULnWDwi0Kw-zxIV7hTDVmhgPi7A3HpQsDr0ydCnytNlyopaT-nhjDRF9SO9t-zZVzvd3L2JdYNe~h9mt1Tm8A6ng47tyORqMoeoXNHNjGDgGHFWsZIa0NNJZCFea4R5azXphYW13Kne0bwE7WO-URH-Gjjm0Q4j0BA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Margaret Abruzzi of 30 Bridle Trail used the Select Board’s public‑comment period on Jan. 20 to urge town leaders to treat the recent referendum as a signal to examine governance processes, committee formation and conflicts of interest.

Abruzzi said the referendum — exercised by thousands of residents — was a rare and extraordinary tool under the charter and that relying only on the fact the charter process was followed is not sufficient. “Just because the referendum process is prescribed by our charter does not mean that there is no cause for concern that thousands of residents thought it was necessary to use that process,” she said, noting the mechanism “is not normal for it to be used” and that it had been more than four decades since Needham last saw a referendum.

Abruzzi asked the board to “take the experiences over the last few months regarding referendum as valuable information” and to conduct a post‑mortem to learn why a significant number of voters believed the town’s actions did not reflect the public will. She urged the board to examine how committees are formed and whether people with strong personal or professional beliefs on an issue should be appointed to boards charged with making policy on that issue. Abruzzi also recommended eliminating even the appearance of conflict of interest from decision‑making “even if the letter of the law would allow otherwise.”

Why it matters: Abruzzi framed her remarks as a call for the Select Board and town leaders to reflect on process and public trust. She referenced the Holmes survey and other public participation she said supported a “compliance only” approach that she believes was not reflected in the final plan. Abruzzi asked the board to consider whether town government gave more weight to vocal minorities than to the majority of the voting public.

Transcript and procedural note: Abruzzi provided her name and full address on the record at the start of her comment period and cited the referendum experience and the Holmes survey results as context for her request.

Ending: Abruzzi closed by urging the board to “come together to work toward a town government that does not require the use of extraordinary measures to have the will of the people reflected in its policies.”","During public comment at the Jan. 20 Select Board meeting, resident Margaret Abruzzi urged the board to study why Needham voters used the referendum process and to examine committee appointments, conflicts of interest and how policy is made.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Select Board approves continuance of liquor hearing, traffic regulation updates and recommends FY2026 budget; other items moved on consent

MWRA updates Needham on 15-mile deep-rock Metropolitan Water Tunnel; Needham to host shafts and early work

Resident urges Select Board to review referendum episode, committee appointments and decision processes