The Winchester Town Meeting Members Association (TMMA) supports informed discussion and decision-making for Town Meeting members. Its monthly Bulletin shares brief updates from town boards and commissions about their current work. Winchester News will publish each Bulletin as it’s released so all residents can stay informed. Winchester News has not edited this content.

Select Board
The Acting Town Manager, Steve Delaney, started on September 10 and the search for a permanent Town Manager is getting into gear. The State of the Town Committee continues to meet on most Fridays, residents can attend in person or join on Zoom. Fall Town Meeting begins on Monday, November 3, and the Town Manager’s office, Town Clerk’s office, Moderator, and Select Board are in the process of building the warrant. —Michelle Prior, Chair

School Committee
On August 25, the WPS administration and the School Committee celebrated the Lynch Elementary School ribbon-cutting with the community and local/state leaders prior to the school’s reopening for the 2025-26 school year. Over the summer, the School Committee refined its vision for the district and examined its building assets and needs, including surplussing the Mystic Building to the Select Board. See 9/16 SC Meeting, beginning at 20:37, on WinCam for vision discussion. See 9/11 SC Meeting, beginning at 26:00, for discussion of Mystic Building. —Karen Maruyama Bolognese, Chair

Planning Board
The Planning Board will ask Town Meeting to approve two minor changes to the MBTA Overlay District zoning bylaw concerning affordability requirements to align it with the Center Business District and Main Street Mixed-Use District bylaws. The first change will subject all residential developments with six or more units (rather than the current 10) to the requirement to include at least 10% affordable units. The second change calls for rounding up when the number of required affordable units contains a decimal of 0.50 or greater. These changes will bring all three district bylaws into agreement. The Attorney General’s Office has preapproved both modifications as compliant. —Jack LeMenager, Clerk

State of the Town
The State of the Town (SotT) has made significant progress over the last several months in crafting a comprehensive financial plan. This includes:  

• Developing a financial model for the Town and Schools
• Creating different packages to address the Town's capital needs
• Strengthening the Town's financial policies, on everything from reserves/free cash to managing long-term liabilities
• Finding ways to minimize the burden on low-income and senior populations

The SotT will present updates near Fall Town Meeting before concluding its work this winter with the comprehensive plan, one piece of which will likely be an override in March 2026. —Paras Bhayani, Chair

Finance Committee
The Finance Committee is collaborating with the Select Board and other committees on the State of the Town initiative to identify operational and capital needs, as well as potential new revenue sources, for the next three to five years. The town’s revenue currently falls short of covering its needs, resulting in ongoing use of reserves. We are also assisting the Town Manager and Controller in closing the fiscal year and preparing Fall Town Meeting articles. Finance representatives on the Capital Planning Committee are finalizing the 2026 capital prioritization proposal for review by the Select Board and Town Meeting. —Derek Ross, Chair

Winchester Committee on Community Preservation
The Winchester Committee on Community Preservation (WCCP) has completed its first pilot round of funding under the Community Preservation Act. Following a public hearing, and after working with applicants over the summer to refine and improve applications, the WCCP has voted to advance nine projects, for a total of $1,036,000 from the Community Preservation Fund, for consideration by Town Meeting. We look forward to sharing more information with you all about these projects as we approach November. —Christina Marshall, Chair

Committee on Government Regulations
The Committee on Government Regulations (COGR) had some work left over from Spring Town Meeting and approved bylaw changes that will appear as articles for Fall Town Meeting:

• Chapter 1 (General Provisions). Changes include adding language to clarify the relationship between the Town Charter and the bylaws; deleting duplicative terms; adding new terms like “town website”; clarifying the computation of time; and giving the Town Clerk authority to make non-substantive alphanumeric changes to the bylaws.
• Chapter 2 (Town Meetings). Changes include new background requirements for articles that request an appropriation; when such motions must be published on the town website; clarification on the COGR appointment process; and deleting two defunct/dormant committees (Human Services, Equal Opportunity).
• Chapter 11 (Anti-Litter). The proposed text changes were developed with the cooperation and full support of the Board of Health. While we chose to strike and replace the chapter, changes include new terms; re-ordering terms and section numbers; clarifying the definition of litter; and making the language around prohibitions consistent. —Stephen A. Boksanski, Chair