Billerica Town Meeting rejects some charter changes

BILLERICA — Fall Town Meeting is a wrap in Billerica and after three nights the representatives rejected some proposed changes to the town charter, approved funding for a renovation to the Billerica Police headquarters and rejected a tree preservation bylaw proposed by a committee the representative body voted to create last year.

The representative Town Meeting considered multiple proposed changes to the town charter throughout its fall session, one of which, Article 37, was considered on the second night on Oct. 8. The article clarified language in the charter surrounding the town’s process for recall elections, while also making three major changes. One change is to add a requirement that when collecting signatures for a recall petition, more than 25% of the signatures cannot be represented by a single precinct.

The second change is if a regularly scheduled election is taking place within 90 days of the recall petition signatures being certified, the recall will be postponed until after the regular election. A recall election requires 150 valid signatures.

The third change drew the most discussion among Town Meeting representatives, as it barred anyone who has been the subject of a successful recall election and removed from office from being appointed to a town position for two years. Some Town Meeting representatives appeared to interpret it as meaning that a person who had been recalled could not run for elected office for two years, but Charter Review Committee member John Griffin clarified.

“If a person is recalled they can still stand to be elected again, we are just saying in this section they cannot be appointed to a board,” said Griffin. “Say a member of the Planning Board is recalled, does the town want the Board of Selectmen to appoint that recalled [person] to the Board of Appeals?”

Despite the clarification some representatives still questioned the need for the two-year prohibition.

“Anyone can be recalled for any reason, which is fine, that is the right that we have, but if the person hasn’t committed a crime, hasn’t done something, why can’t they be appointed to serve in some other way? It just feels really random and punitive to me,” said Precinct 3 Rep. Mary Leach.

Fellow Precinct 3 Rep. Lawrence Norman disagreed.

“If somebody is recalled they really had to do something very severe and wrong to be recalled, especially in Billerica. … If they were recalled, do you really want them, because they had friends on an appointing board, to get put into another position that would affect the town,” said Norman.

Precinct 2 Rep. Darlene Torre made a motion to amend the article by striking the appointment prohibition for recalled elected officials, which passed, 78 to 64.

Article 37 on charter changes passed as amended, 99 to 46.

On the third night Tuesday, Article 38 drew a lengthy discussion. It was submitted by Select Board member Dina Favreau and aimed to provide a definition for “day to day administration” in the town charter.

The Finance Committee voted not to recommend the article, but committee member and Precinct 5 Rep. Brian Dorrington gave a minority report in defense of the article, noting that day to day administration is only mentioned in the charter once, and has no definition.

“Defining it clarifies the limit on the Select Board, it does not change the section on the town manager or any power the charter gives the town manager. The article’s own explanation says it neither expands nor diminishes anyone’s power, it is meant to clarify roles that already exist,” said Dorrington.

Favreau noted that the charter prohibits the Select Board from becoming involved in the day to day administration of the town, but because the term is undefined “reasonable disagreements can become arguments about who has authority.”

“Policy sets the direction. Administration carries that direction into operation. The charter assigns both functions and the article is intended to clarify the boundary between them,” said Favreau.

Precinct 2 Rep. Dawn McDowell opposed the article saying it is “unnecessary and could make a division of responsibilities in our charter less clear.”

“A definition is useful when it makes an unclear term clearer, however our existing charter already clearly establishes that our town manager is responsible for the day to day administration of the town government,” said Dawn McDowell.

The article was ultimately rejected, 41 to 104.

In the Spring Town Meeting in 2025, the body voted to approve the creation of what would be known as the Local Ordinance for Resilient Arboreal Xenodochy (LORAX) Committee, aimed at creating a tree preservation bylaw and named for the Dr. Seuss character famous for protecting trees.

In the year and a half since the committee has developed such a bylaw, and on Tuesday it was presented to Town Meeting through Article 41.

LORAX Committee Chair Chris Tribou said the article would not apply to trees that are invasive, diseased, within 25 feet of a structure of more than 100 square feet and those that are clearly a safety concern, but other trees a property owner or the town would want to take down would be under the discretion of the tree warden. If a protected tree, meaning a native tree with a trunk wider than 18 inches in diameter, is allowed to be taken down, the bylaw would have then required a replacement tree to be planted.

People who willfully remove trees without notifying the tree warden would have been faced with a $300 fine per tree under this bylaw. That fine would apply to a contractor if one was hired to cut the trees.

“We know there are very responsible subcontractors … who actually know individual towns’ bylaws and even help guiding through the permitting process, so I know that is something a contractor can actually do and be able to know and respect our laws in Billerica,” said Tribou in his presentation Tuesday.

Precinct 3 Rep. Mark Komarinski, who disclosed first that his wife is on the LORAX Committee, asked Tribou about a number of hypothetical situations, like a branch hanging over his house, a tree splitting in half or falling over entirely. In all those cases Tribou said the bylaw would not prevent the trees from being cut.

“None of these are actually restrictions on what you can do on your own property. There are a lot of things you can do. This is the one to two percent of trees, a big tree sitting in the middle of the property, an oak tree, a maple tree, a tree that for all intents and purposes belongs there,” said Komarinski. “You just have to replace it, it is not that onerous a task to do.”

Precinct 2 Rep. Eric McDowell opposed the bylaw. He spoke to the benefits trees provide, like shade, erosion reduction and contributing to the town’s character, but that the bylaw brings other concerns.

“Supporting those goals does not mean we should approve every regulation proposed in their name. Good intentions do not automatically make good bylaws,” Eric McDowell said. “We are being asked to regulate what residents can do with trees on their properties without adequately defining the rules, the costs or the protections for those property owners.”

After a lengthy debate, Article 41 failed, 47 to 99.

Police headquarters

Article 30 was considered on Town Meeting’s second night on Oct. 8, to pay $1.2 million for an improvement project for the Billerica Police Department headquarters at 6 Good St., attached to Town Hall.

The article was a follow-up to one from the Fall Town Meeting in 2025, where the Town Meeting representatives voted to provide $640,000 for design work in anticipation of a project for the station, which Town Manager Chris Dillon said at the time was in need of a renovation if the department is to remain in that building.

“Unfortunately financially, we are not in a position to move forward with the full project, however the building does need those renovations,” said Dillon during the second night of the Fall 2026 Town Meeting Thursday. “So what we are doing at this point in time is looking at more of a phased approach to tackling some of those challenges with the police department.”

Dillon said this means Town Meeting will have to consider different articles in future years to cover different parts of the overall renovation.

The phase in question this time around, for the $1.2 million that was just approved, will cover the department’s lobby, the records room and the patrol room. Town Meeting approved the funding, 140 to 6. The funds are scheduled to be taken from the town’s free cash account.