Concord Select Board Unanimously Recommends $600,000 Municipal Facilities Study to Town Meeting

CONCORD — March 16, 2026 — Concord Select Board unanimously recommends $600,000 for municipal facilities planning and takes positions on dozens of Annual Town Meeting warrant articles. At its March 16 meeting, the board voted to recommend that Town Meeting transfer $600,000 from free cash "to be expended under the direction of the Town Manager" for site evaluations, feasibility studies, and consulting work tied to public safety, public works, and municipal office consolidation — the next step after the Land Use Working Group's seven-month review of facilities described as beyond their intended life cycle. Chair Mark Howell said the work should be "coordinated by this board and the Town Manager and her staff" rather than a new committee. The board also heard that the Concord Middle School Building Committee has delivered the Ellison Garrison building at just over $102 million in total tracked expenditures, with healthy contingency reserves intact and a partial debt rescission expected. Jason Bulger, director of the Concord Municipal Light Plant, reported a $1.4 million MassEC Green School Works grant application is pending for rooftop solar at the school, with an announcement expected in May. Town Manager Kerry Lafleur announced that Carlisle has joined Concord and Lincoln in a hosted-dispatch feasibility study, and the board voted unanimously to accept a reset timetable for the town's Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, refocusing outreach on private schools and the hospital with a goal of initial agreements by fall.