Maynard Select Board Appoints New Officer, Advances Battery Storage Zoning Rules

MAYNARD -- August 19, 2025, Maynard Select Board unanimously appoints a new police officer and advances battery storage zoning protections. The board voted to appoint Anthony Baga, a Worcester State University criminal justice graduate and former evening shift supervisor at Saint Vincent Hospital, as a student officer beginning August 25, 2025, with full-time status taking effect January 30, 2026, upon graduation from the Boyle Police Academy. Assistant Town Planner Zoe Peele warned that Maynard currently has no zoning restrictions on battery energy storage systems and that under state law such installations, roughly the size of a shipping container per megawatt of capacity, could be sited on residential or industrial lots without local approval; the board unanimously referred three draft bylaw amendments to the Planning Board, the most significant of which would restrict battery storage from the town's water supply protection district pending a more comprehensive future bylaw. Town Administrator Greg reported the governor's signed state budget fell approximately $63,000 short of January projections but said offsetting local revenues identified with town accountant Kevin Peterson made budget cuts unnecessary. The board also directed staff by consensus to draft a fall Town Meeting article allowing wine-and-malt licensees to apply for full-alcohol beverage licenses under a recently signed state law.