Pepperell Select Board issues temporary food truck permit outside downtown, ratifies police contract

PEPPERELL -- July 13, 2020, Pepperell Select Board reorganizes, debates food truck permits, and ratifies police contract. The board unanimously re-elected Bill Greathead as chair and Margaret Scarsdale as clerk at its July 13 meeting, the first with newly seated member Tony Beattie. The most extended discussion centered on a mobile vending permit for Juan DeRujo's Pig on the Road Barbecue, a trailer operation that sold out within two hours on each of three consecutive days near the downtown rail trail, drawing parking complaints and protests from established restaurant owners including Charlotte's Diner and Jeff Chabot's downtown eatery. Town Administrator Andrew McLean clarified that the Board of Selectmen's permit authority allows it to regulate location, hours, and volume, but that once the town begins approving qualified applicants, it cannot legally discriminate between them. The board voted 3-0 to issue a temporary six-day permit contingent on DeRujo relocating outside the downtown area, with suggested alternative sites including Wilkins Farm on Route 119 and the local VFW post. The board also unanimously approved the relocation of Pitbull Beverage's package store liquor license from 2 Tarbell Street to 112-114 Main Street, and ratified a collective bargaining agreement for the town's police superior officers and patrolmen's unions on a 2-0 vote, with Beattie abstaining after disclosing he had not had the opportunity to review the document.