Concord Select Board Unanimously Backs Capital Plan, Conservation Fund for Town Meeting

CONCORD — March 23, 2026 — Concord Select Board cleared seven Annual Town Meeting articles and moved to launch the MCI Concord Master Plan Committee at its March 23 meeting. The board voted unanimously to recommend affirmative action on Article 11, the $4,628,420 capital improvement plan to be funded through overlay surplus and free cash transfers with no new borrowing, and on Article 12, a $600,000 municipal facilities planning appropriation that the Finance Committee endorsed 13 to 1. The board also unanimously backed Articles 25 and 26, which establish a conservation fund bylaw for the Natural Resources Commission and a $500,000 Community Preservation Committee appropriation to seed it, though member Cameron McKennitt said he remained "not thoroughly convinced" of the NRC's statutory authority. A 4 to 1 vote recommended affirmative action on Article 30, urging the Select Board to adopt a rooftop solar policy for new municipal buildings after petitioner Dean Banfield modified his proposal from a binding bylaw; member Paul Boehm dissented, calling a mandating policy "unnecessary." Article 42, a citizen-petition composting rate plan, was unanimously recommended no action, with the Public Works Commission citing staff impact concerns. Community Development Director Alyssa Sandoval confirmed Stantec, partnering with Speck Dempsey, was selected as master planning consultant for MCI, with a kickoff targeted for mid-April and a draft plan expected by late September.