Updated (4/15/25 3:27 pm): A technology glitch impacted the legally required posting of agendas. As a result, all of the meetings scheduled for today through Thursday morning were cancelled.
It is currently unclear if any meetings will take place later this week.
This afternoon, Town Clerk Jim Hegarty emailed an “Urgent Notice”:
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but because the town’s website has been down all day, all town AND Regional School Committee meetings scheduled for Tuesday 4/15 and Wednesday 4/16 , and one scheduled for 9:00am on Thursday are canceled.
The Open Meeting Law requires that meeting notices be posted on the town’s designated official posting location (Southborough’s town website and the hallway bulletin board) at least 48 business hours in advance of a meeting. The vendor who maintains our website experienced a problem early this morning when they were doing an upgrade to their system which unfortunately has prevented anyone from accessing the Southborough website all day. Since the public was prevented from accessing the town’s website for more than 6 hours, per the Attorney General, under these circumstances all meetings scheduled to be held within the next 48 business hours must be canceled. . .
When the website is accessible again, I will update the website to mark each meeting as cancelled.
That impacts all of the meetings that I had shared information about below, except for Monday’s.
However, the Wastewater Study Committee had posted an agenda for a meeting this Thursday at 6:30 pm (in the Public Safety Training Room and over zoom).
That meeting wasn’t on Hegarty’s list of cancelled meetings. Whether it takes place or not may depend on how much longer the website remains down.
As of updating this post, the Town’s website was still down. So, it looks like there may not be time to reschedule meetings for this Friday either.
As for rescheduling meetings to next week, Hegarty’s message reminds Town officials that meetings on Tuesday will need to have agendas posted by tomorrow, since Monday is Patriot’s Day. And for meetings next Wednesday, agendas must be submitted by 11:00 am on Friday (since Town offices close at noon).
Here are the posted open, public Southborough committee and board meetings for this week* along with my selected highlights from the agendas.
As always, be aware that changes to the meeting schedule (and agendas) are known to happen throughout the week. For an updated list of meetings, visit the Town website.
These days, most (but not all) meetings, can be participated in, watched live, and replayed from home.)**
Monday, April 14th, 2025
- Library Board of Trustees Meeting, 11:00 am @ zoom only (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Library Director Contract & Evaluation; Staff Appreciation Week; plans for Candidates’ Night
- Housing Authority Meeting, 5:30 pm @ Colonial Gardens (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Meeting schedule; Potential vote on establishing a development arm for the Authority
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
- Board of Assessors Meeting, 4:15 pm @ DPW Meeting Room (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Approving excise tax abatements; Recertification / FY26 valuation update
- Select Board Meeting, 6:30 pm @ Town House Hearing Room and zoom (agenda with packet) Agenda Highlights: Appoint Probationary Officer; Capital Improvement and Planning Committee appointment; Fiscal Year 2024 & OPEB Audit; Review interim report from 21 Highland Future Use Committee; Close Warrant for Special Town Meeting on funding Neary Building Project; Appoint Interim Building Commissioner; Discuss plan to determine use of Finn School if Neary Building Project is approved; PERC test for Pinecone Lane parcel
- Cultural Arts Council Meeting, 7:00 pm @ Cordaville Hall (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Artist Spotlight – Southborough Gardeners; Grant Reception Planning; Office Hours/Artist Spotlight Discussion
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
- Scholarship Advisory Committee Meeting, 6:00 pm @ Senior Center (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Fundraising; video of thanks
- Regional School Committee Meeting, 6:30 pm @ Algonquin Regional High School (agenda with packet) Agenda Highlights: Public Hearing and vote on School Choice; Math Dept Presentation; Tech Update; Review ’25-26 Student Handbook Updates; Approve ’25-26 Program of Studies;
- Neary Building Committee Meeting, 7:00 pm @ Trottier Middle School auditorium (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Public forum focused on Neary Building Project site selection and consideration of adjacent landfill; Q&A may include other aspects of project
- Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting, 7:00 pm @ Public Safety Building and zoom (agenda with packet, 250 Turnpike Rd hearing materials) Agenda Highlights: Public Hearings on 6 Lorenzo Dr (extra garage bays), 153 Cordaville Rd (wall signs height & size), 26 Granuaile Road (garage setback), and 250 Turnpike Rd (40B development of 32 town homes)
Thursday, April 17, 2025
- Golf Course Committee Meeting, 9:00 am @ Public Safety Training Room (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Irrigation project; minimizing wayward balls (3rd green and 4th tee; 3rd green fencing quotes; 7th fairway); 1st hole cart path; Tee refurbishment; Audubon certification
*I don’t list meetings that are only closed Executive Sessions unless the agenda indicates the possibility of some action in an open public session at the opening or closing of the meeting.
**Details on watching meetings remotely:
- Town Committee/Board Meetings:
- If in-person meetings don’t also advertise a zoom option, assume that it won’t be broadcast or captured on video.
- To remotely participate in meetings that allow zoom, click here.
- To live stream (or view later) remote or hybrid meetings (even those covered by Southborough Access Media) over the internet, use the Town’s YouTube Channel for Remote Meetings. (The meetings covered by SAM can also be streamed on their website here, and eventually on SAM’s YouTube Channel.)
- Cable Access — Southborough Access Media broadcasts the regular evening meetings for the Select Board, Planning Board, and Zoning Board of Appeals that take place in the Town House Hearing Room. (Those meetings will still allow zoom participation.) View SAM’s live and replayed broadcasts via their Government cable access channel (Verizon-37 and Charter-194).
- School Committee Meetings:
- Subcommittee meetings and some special meetings are only available to attend/view live (in person or by “webinar”) with no later rebroadcast.
- Regular Regional School Committee meetings (or Combined meetings based at Algonquin) are live broadcast by Northborough Cable Access here and on Southborough’s Education Channel (Verizon-29 and Charter-194). The meetings are also eventually rebroadcast and available through NCAT’s VideoOnDemand player and YouTube channel (though that can take several days).
