Pepperell Selectmen Approve Auto Clinic Expansion, Dog Training Facility in Unanimous Votes

PEPPERELL — September 11, 2017 — Pepperell selectmen unanimously approved two special permits and a liquor license transfer at their September 11 meeting, then deferred a contentious regional dispatch decision to September 25. The board, chaired by Melissa Tzannetakis and including members Lisa Ferolito and Roland Nutter, voted 3-0 to allow William D. Murphy to add 1,630 square feet to his Auto Clinic at 17 Nashua Road and expand parking from 30 to 37 spaces, conditioned on compliance with Board of Health, DPW, and Highway Department comments and a full Planning Board site plan review. In a re-hearing ordered by Land Court, the board unanimously granted a special permit to Operation Delta Dog — a nonprofit that trains shelter dogs for veterans with PTSD — to occupy space at 20 Mill Street, with conditions including a three-dog limit, soundproofing, an evacuation plan, and video monitoring. A liquor license transfer for Raised Package Store at 162 Main Street to new owner Shilpa P. Patel's Mel D. Corp. also passed unanimously. On the Northern Middlesex Regional Emergency Communications Center, Tzannetakis disclosed that partner towns Dracut and Tewksbury had called Pepperell "not a good partner" and proposed suspending the agreement, placing a regionalization ballot question on the April 2018 election, and adding a Town Meeting warrant article to fund keeping dispatch local if the ballot failed — but after more than an hour of public comment, the board deferred any vote to September 25.