Billerica Select Board Votes 3-2 to Approve Town Meeting Warrant in Chaotic Session

BILLERICA -- March 30, 2026, Billerica Select Board approves spring town meeting warrant 3-2 amid procedural chaos and charter dispute. The board voted Monday to place all articles on the preliminary warrant for the May 7 annual town meeting, but the session descended into disorder over whether the board had violated the town charter by failing to vote on the warrant's compilation before the March 18 deadline. Town Counsel, present at the meeting, offered three options ranging from a simple confirmatory vote to delaying town meeting until May 19, telling the board a judge would be "hard-pressed" to overturn actions of a town meeting that had 40 days' notice on the warrant, but declined to guarantee it. Secretary Darris O'Connor, who argued the board's process was "a grave mistake" and that a confirmatory vote was legally insufficient given that the version presented March 16 contained 13 fewer articles than the one ultimately distributed, voted no and said she would not support any subsequent votes. The meeting ended without a confirmed roll call, with members audibly disputing whether the session had already been adjourned when the final motion passed; the warrant includes seven employee contracts, the full municipal and school budgets, and a regional technical school funding article.