Foxborough Select Board Transfers 30 Acres to Conservation for Butterfly Habitat

FOXBOROUGH — December 16, 2025 — Foxborough Select Board approves permanent conservation transfer of 30-acre Oak Street parcel to protect rare butterfly. The board voted unanimously December 16 to deed Map 48, Parcel 87 — roughly 30 acres off Oak Street and Lampson Road — to the Foxborough Conservation Commission, fulfilling a state mandate tied to construction of a new PFAS water treatment plant. Director of Public Works Chris Gallagher told the board that 13.4 acres of the wooded parcel will be cleared of oak, pine, and maple trees to create savannah-style habitat for the frosted elfin butterfly, a requirement first imposed in 2011 that the town twice failed to complete. The transfer is permanent under Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution; all habitat management costs will come from the water department enterprise account. In other action, the board approved all 2026 annual business licenses as read by Town Clerk Katie Lang, ratified a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment for non-union employees in FY27, and heard that the Sage School submitted the lone bid for town-owned 175 Mechanic Street at $350,001.