Selectboard OKs five-year Verizon cable renewal

Selectboard · Meeting of September 14, 2026

DUXBURY — The Duxbury Selectboard approved a five-year Verizon cable license renewal and heard a sobering fiscal 2028 budget forecast. The board voted unanimously to issue the license, which includes a $90,000 PEG capital grant and a 5 percent franchise fee passed through to Verizon's roughly 1,800 local subscribers. Select Board member Brian Glennon questioned why the town's own PEG fee, $5.38 monthly on his bill, is billed to ratepayers rather than funded by Verizon, calling it close to "an indirect tax or fee on our residents." Finance Director Mary McKinnon told the board that pension costs are projected to rise at least 9.75 percent and health insurance at least 6 percent, or $571,000, while department heads have already submitted $74 million in capital requests.

"We are not going to be able to afford $74 million of requests next year," McKinnon said. The board also debated, without voting, new seasonal licensing rules for seawall easements after beachfront residents objected to a proposed October-to-April removal requirement.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,122 words

Source: the Selectboard meeting of September 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.