Scituate Select Board adopts sidewalk plan, authorizes snow deficit spending

SCITUATE -- February 3, 2026, Scituate Select Board unanimously authorizes snow deficit spending and adopts a new town-wide sidewalk priority plan. The board voted 5-0 Tuesday to allow deficit spending against the $497,115 snow and ice budget, of which only $141,256 remained after a two-foot storm that alone cost approximately $244,000, with Finance Director Nancy Holt noting spending jumped from $30,000 through December to $274,000 by the end of January. In a separate 5-0 vote, the board adopted a scored, ranked list of 38 sidewalk projects produced by a resident Sidewalk Sub-Committee after five months of work, pairing it with a repairs list for deteriorating existing sidewalks; Town Administrator Jim Boudreau noted $400,000 is committed to sidewalks in the capital plan, enough for roughly 800 feet at current costs. The board also voted unanimously to oppose any extension of Plymouth County's pension funding schedule past FY2031, when the town's annual assessment of roughly $13 million drops by at least $6 million, with Boudreau warning that deferral would produce only "temporary savings." Interim Superintendent Dr. Thomas Rabb presented a $55 million total-funds FY27 school budget, a $1.9 million increase in the town's share, that Chair Andrew Goodrich contrasted with deficits ranging from $750,000 in Norwell to $7.7 million in Abington among a dozen South Shore communities.