Select Board Approves Whiting-Walnut Street Layout

Select Board · Meeting of October 22, 2026

Dedham Select Board weighed a costly MWRA sewer overflow plan and advanced a Whiting Avenue safety project without taking a final vote on the regional sewer question. MWRA Interim Executive Director Steve Estes-Smarjasi and Chief Operating Officer Kathy Murtaugh said Dedham's share of a regional combined sewer overflow fix could run from $26 million to $78 million depending on the control standard regulators choose; Charles River Watershed Association counsel John Flynn argued for the stricter standard, saying "virtual elimination of sewage in our rivers is possible" at roughly $10 per ratepayer monthly. Vice Chair Dimitria Sullivan said Cambridge and Somerville "should bear a larger burden." The board separately voted unanimously to formally lay out Whiting Avenue and Walnut Street for a $3 million Safe Routes to School project and continued two liquor license hearings, for a 7-Eleven and the restaurant Umizen, to November 5.

Comments on the MWRA plan are due October 30.

In the full story:

• Town Manager's Report and Committee Updates
• Veterans Services Update
• Liquor License Public Hearings: 7-Eleven and Umizen
• MWRA Combined Sewer Overflow Control Plan
• Whiting Avenue and Walnut Street Layout: Safe Routes to School
• PILOT Program Update
• Select Board Policy Rescission Review
• Liquor License Fee Schedule Changes
• Letter of Support for Norwood Hospital Restoration
• Facilities Master Plan Committee Vacancy
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 3,323 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.