Stow Select Board Votes 3-2 to Send Certified Democracy Declaration to State

STOW — May 12, 2026 — Stow Select Board votes 3-2 to transmit a certified democracy declaration, passed 90-14 at the May 9 town meeting, to state officials ahead of a requested July 4 deadline. The board, meeting Tuesday under outgoing Chair Meghan Burch McMichael — who received a House citation from State Representative Kate Hogan on her final night — split on whether to accompany the certified vote with a cover letter, with the majority opting to send the article and certified vote alone. On Common Road, the board reached informal consensus to open the road as a one-way street and schedule a future agenda item for a professional traffic safety review, taking no formal vote. The board unanimously approved $247,329 to close a snow and ice deficit and $162,000 in fire department wage transfers, plus a $701,800 bond anticipation note for a long-delayed ambulance and DPW truck. Two affordable housing projects — a 20-unit Chapter 40B homeownership development proposed by Cain Belt on Bruin Road and a six-unit all-affordable project on Red Acre Road brought by developer Mark O'Hagan through the town's housing trust — each cleared early permitting hurdles, with the board signing an EOHLC application and an appraisal waiver letter for the Red Acre Road project.