Auburn Select Board Holds Road Funding Petition and Budget Vote Until April

AUBURN -- March 23, 2026, Auburn Select Board defers road-funding petition and manufactured-housing rent control vote to April as warrant review continues. Meeting Monday, the board worked through most of the 29 articles on the May 5 annual town meeting warrant, holding two of the most contested items for additional information. A citizen petition filed by board member Todd Crane seeking $550,000 from free cash to pave at least three miles of Auburn roads, based on a DPW cost estimate of $130 per linear foot, was deferred to the first April meeting after fellow member Dan Carpenter argued the board had agreed to await federal and state funding signals before committing; Crane abstained as petitioner. The board also held Article 27, a petition from Alan Rafferty asking the board to seek a state special act authorizing manufactured-housing-park rent control, pending town staff outreach to the roughly 30 Massachusetts municipalities that have enacted similar protections; Rafferty said rent increases of up to 40 percent have pushed monthly payments from under $1,000 to over $1,300 for some Auburn park residents, affecting an estimated 500 people. The board unanimously approved a $85,489.28 special education stabilization transfer, the second installment of a draw covering unexpected out-of-district placements, and issued a common victualler license to Root and Press LLC for a cafe inside the Lundgren Honda dealership at 163 Washington Street.