Wilmington Select Board Approves Billboard Lease Agreement Worth Millions Over 40 Years

WILMINGTON -- April 27, 2026, Wilmington Select Board unanimously approves renegotiated billboard lease and $5,000 food-insecurity grant ahead of May 2 town meeting. The board voted Monday to approve a 40-year lease agreement with American Outdoor Advertising LLC for a dual-sided electronic billboard on the Howland property near the Route 93 Wilmington-Reading line, contingent on town meeting ratification, a deal Town Manager Andrew Sheehan said is worth nearly $1 million more than the original proposal after board-initiated renegotiations, with escalation clauses every 10 years and a guaranteed minimum of 10 hours of advertising time per month per side spread across a 24-hour period. The board also directed a $5,000 donation from Lulfi Bank toward the Wilmington Farmers Market for food insecurity programming; Farmers Market representative Christina Reed, 31 Glen Road, confirmed the organization would withdraw its competing $7,500 town meeting warrant article if the grant was approved. Historical Commission Chair Bonnie Smith, 30 Marion Street, appealed in person for the Building Reuse Committee to be given authority to evaluate the 1887 Hudson Roman House before the school committee pursues demolition, but Sheehan clarified the Reuse Committee's charge covers only buildings transferred to town control, and the Roman House remains school property. The board also reappointed Democrat Roberta Lasky and appointed Republican James Major to the Board of Registrars, completing a contested two-seat vacancy, and approved a full slate of annual board and commission appointments.