BOS Recap for August 2025: Highlights from the Selectmen’s Meeting

At its August regular meeting, the Woodbridge Board of Selectmen addressed a streamlined set of topics on its agenda in order to devote the majority of its meeting to a Public Hearing and discussion about the draft Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). The draft plan can be viewed on the Town website.

To begin the meeting, the Board received updates on several matters of town business. Ron Smith, formerly Deputy Chief, was sworn in by the Police Commission as the Town’s new Police Chief on July 21.

An update on ongoing negotiations regarding the William Warner Village housing on Lucy Street was provided and lead to some discussion regarding next steps that may include future consideration by the Board of an ordinance to allow for a tax abatement.

Progress on the renovation of the former Old Firehouse into the new Community Center was reported as “on track,” with optimism that the project will be completed by late fall or year’s end. Later in the meeting, the Board approved a bid waiver to allow the Town to use a state contractor to complete the building’s IT cabling. The work, to be overseen by the Town’s IT consultant, falls within the approved project budget.

In addition, it was noted that temporary barriers are in place at the front of Town Hall during sidewalk and curb replacement work, a project funded with the help of both a State Community Connectivity grant and Federal ARP (American Rescue Plan) money.

Public Hearing on the Draft POCD

At 6:00 PM the Board opened a public hearing on the draft POCD. Several residents voiced frustration over the process itself — noting a lack of adequate notice and limited time to review the lengthy document. Speakers said they felt the hearing offered little opportunity for meaningful input.

The Selectmen voted to keep the hearing open and directed that advance email communication go out to residents. A special meeting of the BOS was scheduled for Wednesday, September 3 at 6:00 PM to continue this Public Hearing.

Board Discussion on the Draft POCD

Following the Public Hearing, the Selectmen turned to their own discussion of the plan. Some of the concerns raised included:

• A desire to place the environment and climate resilience more visibly at the center of the POCD, with stronger attention to the impacts Woodbridge may face over the next decade.
• Language framing senior services too narrowly as only those provided by the Town as part of the Woodbridge Center operations.
• Housing targets focused on a 20-year horizon within what is intended to be a 10-year plan.
• Lack of supporting data behind affordability goals.
• Omissions in water/sewer planning and aquifer studies — potentially reflecting missing input from the Board’s own Strategic Plan.
• Consideration of the prioritization and overall costs of Capital Improvement projects included in the draft document.
• Limited treatment of natural resources, with no explicit mention of core forest.

After their discussion, the Selectmen agreed to individually submit written comments to staff to be compiled into one consolidated draft response that could then be discussed at one or more of their upcoming meetings.

After the continued Public Hearing on September 3 to gather further community input, the Board aims to finalize its formal submission to the Town Plan & Zoning Commission at its Regular meeting on September 10 — a date that marks the end of the statutory 65-day review period.

You can review the agenda and minutes of this meeting on the Town website, and watch the full meeting recording by visiting the WGATV YouTube channel or below.

Editor’s note: This recap is written by Sheila McCreven in her role as editor of the Chronicle. Sheila is also an elected member of the Board of Selectmen (term ends Dec. 31, 2025). See the Editorial Note on Government Coverage on our About page to learn more.