Wilmington Select Board approves $37.7 million bond note for Wildwood school project

WILMINGTON — February 9, 2026 — Wilmington Select Board opens alcohol licensing overhaul hearing and approves $37.7 million bond note. The board unanimously approved the sale of $37,700,000 in General Obligation Bond Anticipation Notes — dated February 17, 2026, and payable February 17, 2027 — at a premium of $649,194, initiating borrowing for the Wildwood Elementary School project, a water main improvement, and an industrial waste sewer project. The board also opened and immediately continued to February 23 a public hearing on new alcohol licensing rules drafted by the Economic Development Committee — the first such rewrite in more than 50 years — that would cut the seating minimum for a beer-and-wine license from 100 to 25 seats and remove a ban on dancing at licensed restaurants. Joe Misellie, Economic Development Committee chair, said the changes are "merely recommendations" for the board to adopt or amend. Town Manager Gary Slingley disclosed that a 31-student enrollment drop at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School will reduce Wilmington's assessment there from $7.8 million to roughly $6.73 million, with the roughly $900,000 in savings to be redirected toward accelerating demolition of the old Wildwood building from fiscal year 2029 to fiscal year 2027.