Pepperell Board Approves Interim Animal Control Officer, Snow Override, and Reserve Transfers

PEPPERELL — February 17, 2015 — Pepperell selectmen weigh $218,000 in bond savings and a $25 million 1A Auto headquarters proposal as a $400,000 budget gap looms. At the February 17 meeting, UniBank advisors Lisa Dickinson and Cecil presented two refunding opportunities — a 2005 bond originally issued for $2,080,000 and a 2007 bond issued for $3,852,000 — projected to save the town a combined $218,780 net of all costs, with a target sale date of August 5. In a separate presentation, 1A Auto CFO Preston Farrington and project manager David Roulette outlined a proposed 100,000-square-foot corporate headquarters on Pepperell's former mill site, estimated at $25 million or more, that would add 150 jobs and trigger a Tax Increment Financing application at the May annual town meeting. Chairman Mike Green, who recused himself from the 1A Auto item, also disclosed he will not seek re-election, and told the board on the budget outlook: "I just don't think there's any way around it" — a reference to a possible Proposition 2½ override, with the regional school district and vocational school together comprising 63 percent of town expenditures and both signaling significant assessment increases.