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Westwood OK’s police station, tax cut
By Johanna Seltz
Globe Correspondent

Residents were in an agreeable mood at Monday’s Town Meeting, approving a $13.2 million new police station and everything else on the agenda, including a tax break for property owners.

Town Meeting voted to use $500,000 in free cash to reduce property taxes by an estimated $65 next year for the average bill, a measure that was possible in large part because of increased tax revenue from the massive University Station development, officials said.

In a similar vein, Town Meeting voted to ask the Legislature for permission to create a public trust fund to help lower the taxes of senior citizens and the disabled in town. Westwood currently has a fund for that purpose, but it is financed with private donations.

Town Meeting also approved a demolition delay bylaw, which is intended to protect historic buildings and applies to all properties built before 1910. The bylaw allows the town to delay demolition requests for up to six months and potentially affects 212 buildings in town, officials said.

In other actions, Town Meeting approved zoning amendments intended to make it easier to build senior housing, increased the local hotel tax, from 4 to 6 percent, and voted to spend $650,000 to replace the artificial turf field and track at Westwood High School.

The new police station will replace the current one, which is more than 50 years old. Officials argued the station is too small and doesn’t meet modern standards for public safety facilities.

Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com.