Pepperell Select Board approves rewritten Fitzpatrick Collaborative lease, cutting town costs

PEPPERELL — August 27, 2025 — Pepperell Select Board unanimously approves rewritten Fitzpatrick Collaborative lease, slashing town's annual cost from roughly $107,000 to $25,000. The board voted 4-0 with one abstention Wednesday night to adopt the amended lease agreement, with an effective date of July 1, 2025, after a two-year renegotiation led by Town Administrator Andrew and Chair Mark. Under the new terms, all daily operating costs — including utilities that had been the largest variable expense — transfer to the Fitzpatrick Collaborative, which will now pay the town 5 percent of gross revenues with a minimum of $10,000 per year; lease renewal authority shifts from performance-metric triggers to a direct annual Select Board vote. Member Tony abstained after raising four concerns he said were unaddressed in the contract, including a deadline for reopening the grant-funded commercial kitchen, which requires an estimated $150,000 in remaining construction work. The board also ratified a three-year AFSCME Local 1733 DPW collective bargaining agreement with 3 percent, 2.5 percent, and 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustments and the first longevity pay increase in roughly 21 years, and voted unanimously to proclaim August 28 as Chief Brian Borman Day as the six-year fire chief heads into retirement.