Belmont Select Board unanimously backs zoning, budget, and path articles for town meeting

BELMONT — May 27, 2026 — Belmont Select Board clears slate of town meeting positions, including $172 million budget and $525,000 union payment. The three-member board — Chair Matt Taylor, Vice Chair Taylor Yates, and Member Carol Barbarian — voted unanimously Wednesday on seven motions covering a new four-tier site plan review bylaw, a construction management framework, the reintroduction of veterinary clinics to Belmont zoning, an Alexander Avenue right-of-way title cleanup for the community path underpass, capital expenditures, $525,000 in free-cash funding for union contract settlements (including $500,000 for the School Committee and $25,000 for SEIU), and the FY27 operating budget at roughly $172 million, a 1.4 percent increase over the prior year. The board also approved updated billing rates from general legal counsel Anderson Kreiger — an increase of roughly two and a half percent — while directing Town Administrator Patrice Garvin to eventually issue an RFP, noting the firm has served the town for more than a decade without a competitive review. The Chenery Middle School roof project, the largest single capital item, now carries a cost range of $4 million to $6.5 million, with additional funding decisions deferred to a fall town meeting.