Billerica CPC Advances Vining Courts and Bennett Library to Application Stage

BILLERICA -- December 11, 2025, Billerica's Community Preservation Committee found three of four eligibility requests worthy at its December 11 meeting, sending the Vining Recreation Center phase two and the fire-damaged Bennett Public Library forward to the formal application stage. Dave and Mark, representing the Vining project, told the committee that CPC funds would go strictly toward basketball courts, pickleball courts, and pedestrian paths, not the drainage work already funded in the base project. Barry Andresen, speaking for the newly reconstituted Bennett Public Library Association, described an electrical fire that destroyed both panels, a failed boiler, and water-warped floors in the 1880 building, which has been winterized by volunteers pending contractor bids. NIMCOG's request to fund a regional housing services officer and a Habitat for Humanity housing unit were each found potentially eligible but continued to January so applicants could present in person. A request from the town's 250th anniversary committee to fund reenactments and fireworks was turned away as ineligible under state CPC statute, which limits spending to buildings, structures, real property, documents, artifacts, or vessels.