Billerica Select Board Unanimously Appoints Brooks & DeRensis as New Town Counsel

BILLERICA -- June 17, 2024, Billerica Select Board selects Brooks & DeRensis as new town counsel and approves a 3.2 percent water rate increase paired with the full elimination of a $1.7 million water subsidy. The board interviewed two finalists, Brooks & DeRensis and Harrington Heep, before voting 4-1 to select Brooks & DeRensis, then immediately reconsidered and made the appointment unanimous; Acting Town Manager John Clancy said the new firm could begin work the following morning. The water and sewer rate package, approved 4-1 over Selectman Michael Rosa's objection, eliminates the $1.7 million general-fund water subsidy while raising the average water bill by roughly $6.44 annually, producing a projected net savings of about $62.77 per household when the tax-levy reduction is factored in. The board also voted unanimously to approve an eagle scout refurbishment project at Vietnam Veterans Park and endorsed Design Scheme 3 for the town common gazebo, a plan to lower the deck to three feet, one inch and conceal a single wrap-around accessibility ramp behind vertical batten boards, a proposal Building Inspector Mark LuMiere has been developing for 14 years. The Billerica Youth Advisory Committee, inactive since July 2023, was disbanded on a 4-1 vote.