Pepperell Selectmen Appoint Police Officer, Systems Administrator at Packed January Meeting

PEPPERELL — January 23, 2012 — Pepperell selectmen fill two town positions, close lengthy dog daycare hearing, and approve restructured employee health insurance plan at January 23 meeting. The board unanimously appointed Jeremiah J. Friend, a reserve officer and Pepperell native, as a full-time patrol officer effective February 6, bringing the department to 16 officers, still two short of the pre-recession high of 18. Town Administrator John Moak presented a fiscal year 2013 health insurance restructuring that replaces a projected $96,000 premium increase with a $40,000 to $45,000 actual savings, producing what Moak called "about a $140,000 swing" that directly reduces a roughly $240,000 budget deficit. The board also closed the public hearing on Special Permit SP11-01, a proposed dog daycare for up to 45 animals on South Road, after competing acoustic engineers clashed over whether Massachusetts DEP Noise Control Regulation 310 CMR 7.10 requires an L90 or LEQ noise metric — a disagreement that produced baseline ambient measurements differing by nearly 10 decibels and opposite conclusions about regulatory compliance. Deliberation is scheduled for February 13. Dale Sinclair, a former Air Force Research Laboratory systems engineer who cut that facility's data center budget from $1.8 million to $1 million annually, was appointed Pepperell's Systems Administrator, also effective February 6.