The latest Wellesley town news:

Housing Authority director search

The Wellesley Housing Authority has a special meeting slated for 9:30am on Thursday, Dec. 2 during which it will select and announce the committee that will conduct interviews with candidates vying to become the organization’s executive director.

Sean Barnicle recently left the position to take a similar role in his hometown of Norwood.

Commissioner Maura Renzella says the search group will have an aggressive schedule, with plans to conduct executive director candidate interviews in December with an eye toward bringing on a new director early in 2022 (“fingers crossed”). Nine qualified candidates submitted applications.

Voter redistricting

The Massachusetts Legislature has voted for new districts based on the 2020 U.S. Census. This will mean updates to Wellesley voting precincts.

Wellesley will be split into the 4th Congressional District (Precincts E and F) and into the 5th Congressional District (Precincts A,C, D, G, and H). While the Congressional Districts largely sync up with. existing Wellesley precincts, the new district line cuts across part of Precinct E.

The Select Board will be voting to align Wellesley’s precincts with the Congressional District lines by moving two voting blocks from Precinct E to abutting precincts. Details and a map of the changes are in the redistricting presentation.

If approved by the Board, these changes will go into effect for the Annual Town Election in March 2022.

Comments on these changes should be emailed to the Select Board at [email protected] by Thursday, Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. The Board will vote on the precincts at its regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 6.

Open space & rec forum

Wellesley is updating its Open Space and Recreation Plan and wants input from residents.

This plan guides the Town in developing policies to manage recreation and open space areas in our community and is required for Wellesley to be eligible for state grants. The current plan was last updated in 2015.

The Natural Resources Commission will hold an online public forum to discuss the plan on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. Register to attend the Zoom meeting and give feedback.

To learn more about the plan and proposed updates, review data from a recent community survey. Share input in advance of the forum by completing the online feedback form.

Once completed and approved by the state, the updated plan will help shape Town open space and recreation decisions for the next seven years.

$5K more for traffic box art program

A new $5,000 grant from the Community Fund for Wellesley’s Al Robinson Fund for the Arts will advance the town’s traffic box art program, which has transformed drab infrastructure into colorful displays since 2020.

The boxes are part of a growing outdoor art gallery across Wellesley.