Wellesley Appoints Hall to Public Works Board, Advances North 40 Conservation Plan

WELLESLEY — June 16, 2026 — Wellesley Select Board unanimously fills a Board of Public Works vacancy and moves to revive a decade-delayed conservation restriction process for the town's 46-acre North 40 property. Meeting jointly with the Board of Public Works, the board voted to appoint Edward "Ned" Hall to the BPW effective July 1, filling the seat vacated by Scott Bender's resignation; BPW Chair Jeffrey Wechsler said Hall was chosen from three candidates for his engineering background, enterprise-fund experience with the Municipal Light Plant, and familiarity with town operations. In a joint discussion with Community Preservation Committee Chair Stephen Murphy and members Michael Mastriani and Alan Port, the board heard that a conservation restriction required by the town's use of CPA funds in its $35 million 2015 purchase remains unfiled; Murphy said the CPC's unanimous proposal covers 12.61 acres in two zones — a vernal pool habitat area and an aqueduct buffer — and that the committee "has been in a holding pattern for the last 18 months" awaiting a Select Board response. The board also approved a 5 percent rent increase for existing tenants at the Nines affordable housing complex at 40 Williams Street and set gross rents for new tenants ranging from $2,400 for a studio to $3,427 for a three-bedroom unit, all at 80 percent of area median income. Chair Marjorie Freiman closed the meeting by disclosing what she called "at least a second" instance of Select Board executive-session information on the MassBay 40 Oakland Street lawsuit being shared outside proper channels, calling it "an open meeting law violation and a betrayal of confidence."