Newton Finance Committee Approves $5M Culvert Grant, Hears Mayor-Elect Staffing Plan

NEWTON — December 8, 2025 — Newton Finance Committee approves $5 million culvert grant and $2.3 million pump station work in final meeting of the year. The committee voted unanimously on all four financial items at its December 8 meeting, including acceptance of a $5 million MassWorks infrastructure grant for the Craft Street Culvert Replacement Project, a $2,304,983.75 sewer fund appropriation covering construction and oversight at five aging pump stations, a $425,000 transfer to settle the fiscal years 2025-2027 Teamsters contract, and a $45,000 transfer for vacation payouts to retiring Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and the outgoing Chief Operating Officer — a payout that CFO Moren Lemieux and Deputy City Solicitor Andrew Lee defended as legally required wages under Massachusetts law. The committee also heard Mayor-Elect Mark Laredo explain his plan to expand the executive office from seven to nine full-time employees, funded partly by leaving positions vacant in Planning, Parks and Recreation, and Public Buildings, with the two senior positions — Chief of Staff Dana Hansen and incoming Chief of Community Services John Rice — carrying a combined annual salary of roughly $375,000; Laredo pledged to bring all necessary fund-transfer requests to the incoming council at its first January meeting. Outgoing Finance Chair Lenny Gentile, retiring after 44 years on the council, called Newton "in no better financial health than any city or town in the Commonwealth" and urged his successors to maintain rigorous fiscal oversight.