Pepperell Select Board Creates Building Committee to Plan Police Station Replacement

PEPPERELL — December 23, 2019 — Pepperell Select Board caps 2019 with new building committee, remote participation trial, and Bemis Well financing. At its December 23 meeting, the board voted unanimously to create an ad hoc building committee to guide future municipal construction, with Town Administrator Andrew Thumeles identifying the police station as the most urgent priority and saying he believes it must be replaced rather than renovated. The board also authorized long-term bond financing through the State Clean Water Trust for the Bemis Well water project and voted to adopt state remote participation rules — 940 CMR 29.10 — on a trial basis limited to the Finance Committee, to be evaluated after the May 2020 Annual Town Meeting. Thumeles reported a $16,000 legal bill from special counsel in the ongoing soil reclamation land court matter, calling it the largest single invoice he had seen but noting it remains within budget. A management agreement with the Fitzpatrick Collaborative for the town-owned Peter Fitzpatrick building — structured around a 32-month term, no rent in year one, and a $40,000 payment at the end of year two — was discussed but held over for a January 13 executive session and vote.