Concord Select Board Votes 4 to 1 for Rooftop Solar Policy at Town Meeting

CARLISLE — March 23, 2026 — Concord Select Board endorsed a rooftop solar policy for municipal buildings and advanced a suite of Town Meeting articles at its March 23 session. The board voted 4 to 1 to recommend that Town Meeting urge the Select Board to adopt a policy requiring rooftop solar on new municipal buildings, backing down from a binding bylaw after petitioner Dean Batefield of 73 Walden Terrace agreed to modify his citizen-petition Article 30 to seek an administrative policy instead; one member called the measure "excess bureaucracy" and cast the lone dissenting vote. The board unanimously approved a revised Article 11 capital improvement plan funded by approximately $4.628 million — drawn from the overlay surplus, free cash, and a third source — with no new bond debt, a change driven by the town's newly refined financial policy metrics. The $600,000 municipal facilities planning Article 12 was also endorsed unanimously after a Finance Committee vote of 13 to 1. Community Development Director Elisa Sandoval reported that Stantec, partnering with Spec Dempsey and Community Scale, has been selected as the MCI site master planning consultant, with a project kickoff expected in mid-April and a zoning package targeted for possible inclusion in next year's Town Meeting.