Shrewsbury Select Board backs Elizabeth Gardens housing expansion, restructures EMS funding

SHREWSBURY -- March 24, 2026, Shrewsbury Select Board hears pitch for affordable housing expansion at Elizabeth Gardens, restructures EMS startup funding. The Shrewsbury Housing Authority, appearing before the board Tuesday, outlined a conceptual plan to add as many as 22 duplex-style units behind the authority's existing 36-unit Elizabeth Gardens complex, backed by a $35,000 technical-assistance grant from Mass Housing Partnership, with a consultant expected to be assigned by mid-to-late April. Housing Authority Chair Kathy McSweeney and Commissioner Richard Ricker said traditional government funding for housing authority construction is "not readily available" from the Commonwealth or federal government, and described a potential developer-lease financing model instead. The board also learned that the previously planned $1 million free-cash appropriation for a new emergency medical services department will be split: approximately $600,000 at the May 18 Annual Town Meeting for FY27 startup costs, with the remaining roughly $400,000 deferred to FY28. Assistant Town Manager Keith Baldinger walked the board through all 37 articles in the signed town meeting warrant, including a $650,000 Community Preservation request to light Maple Lab Recreation Fields and a $100,000 appropriation for town department costs tied to the town's 300th anniversary events. The board also voted unanimously to appoint Mary Beth Lynch and Anne Ruffalo as regular Zoning Board of Appeals members and Siobhan Costello-Weber and Raymond Belois as associate members.