Pepperell Selectmen Appoint Seven-Member Town Administrator Search Committee

PEPPERELL — May 21, 2018 — Pepperell selectmen seat a seven-member town administrator search committee and confront a disputed quarry fill proposal at 161 Nashua Road. At the May 21 meeting, the board appointed selectman Lisa Farreliito, department heads David Scott, Deb Spratt, and Ken Kalinowski, and citizens at large Jason Russell, Deb Fountain, and Carolyn Adab — the last seat passing 2-1 — to lead the search for a new town administrator, with the MMA job posting not yet live as of the meeting. Town counsel Ned Richardson told the board that a former gravel pit at 161 Nashua Road retains no grandfathered use rights after the prior applicant withdrew its site plan application in 2016, and that the current zoning bylaw prohibits commercial dumping grounds in all zones. The board directed Richardson to query the state DEP for any pending filings related to a reclamation proposal involving an estimated four million cubic yards of fill — discussions that residents said had been ongoing since December 2017 without the board's knowledge. The board also added seven members to its 21-seat master plan committee and heard an update that a proposed three-town regional emergency communications center with Ashby and Townsend remains contingent on Townsend producing documentation sufficient to exit its Nashoba Valley dispatch contract.