Pepperell Selectmen Approve $2,402 Grant Match for Aging Fire Rescue Equipment

PEPPERELL — November 9, 2015 — Pepperell selectmen approved a $2,402 reserve fund transfer to secure roughly $48,000 in federal funding for fire department hydraulic rescue equipment more than 18 years old. The board acted Monday on a full agenda that also included a unanimous rejection of a split residential-commercial tax rate for fiscal year 2016, with assessing staff Maureen Bulger warning that the maximum allowable shift would raise the average commercial tax bill by 50 percent — about $1,933 — while cutting the average residential bill by only $155. The board approved a change of manager at Tea Cafe Inc., with incoming partner Kan Hong So having completed TIP certification the previous day. Signs and Safety Committee Chair and Police Chief Scott reported that a draft traffic plan for Railroad Square prepared by the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments is "remarkably similar" to the committee's own proposal, though the committee wants to revisit a proposed 10-space parking reduction and the cost of pedestrian-activated flashing crosswalk signs before the plan is finalized. Town Administrator Mark Andrews noted that 1A Auto's $28 million headquarters project at the mill site remains on track for a 2017 opening.