Wilmington Select Board Approves Billboard Lease, Sending Deal to Town Meeting

WILMINGTON — April 28, 2026 — Wilmington Select Board unanimously approves renegotiated electronic billboard lease worth close to $1 million more than original terms. Town Manager James Slagle told the board Monday that revised payment escalators — now increasing every 10 years rather than every 20 — and a new clause guaranteeing advertising time spread evenly across all hours of the day pushed the cumulative 40-year payout for the dual-sided Route 93 billboard on the Howland property well above the prior proposal. The deal with American Outside Advertising LLC takes effect only if town meeting voters approve a companion zoning overlay district at the annual and special town meeting Saturday, May 2, at Wilmington High School at 9 a.m. The board also voted unanimously to redirect a $5,000 Lowell Five Bank donation to the Wilmington Farmer's Market for food-security programming, a move that will allow the farmer's market to withdraw its $7,500 Article 38 warrant request. Wilmington Historical Commission Chair Bonnie A. Smith pressed the board on the fate of the 1897 Hudson-Roman House, warning that the reuse committee had never been given a formal chance to evaluate the structure before a demolition appropriation heads to a town meeting vote Saturday.