Board Votes 5-0 to Adopt Mitigation Plan

Select Board · Meeting of October 19, 2026

Lexington's Select Board voted 5-0 to adopt an updated hazard mitigation plan and leaned 4-1 toward a 48-gallon baseline trash cart as it kept working on a long-delayed curbside collection overhaul. Consultant Jamie Kaplan said the plan catalogs 43 mitigation actions and keeps the town eligible for FEMA grants. Resident Mark Lang told the board the trash recommendation "addresses neither" waste reduction nor cost control, the goals voters cited in rejecting Article 31 by 60 percent in June.

Member Mark D. Sandeen said he wanted hard numbers before committing to a bin size, recalling a possible $200,000 to $300,000 annual difference staff could not yet confirm. Town Engineer John Livesey separately told the board PCB and lead contamination at the Morgan Hill water tank site will cost roughly $3.5 million to remediate, paid through the Water Enterprise Fund, and does not affect drinking water.

Staff also recommended putting $2.06 million in surplus fiscal 2027 revenue into the Capital Stabilization Fund.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,877 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 19, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.