Pepperell Selectmen Approve Depot Liquor License, Defer Decision on Federal Firefighter Grant

PEPPERELL — February 14, 2011 — Pepperell selectmen unanimously approved a wine and malt on-premises license for the Depot restaurant at 75 Main Street and heard a stark fiscal year 2012 budget preview on Valentine's Day. Brian Redler, who is acquiring the former Pizza Depot under a purchase agreement, told the board he plans to maintain the family-oriented pizza operation with hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays and noon to 11 p.m. Sundays, with no bar. Town Administrator John Moak warned that the town's budget relies on $530,000 in one-time reserve funds to stay balanced, faces a roughly $95,000 state aid decline and a $104,000 health insurance increase, and could be hit with a $299,000 increase in its minimum school contribution — a figure Chairman Joe Sergi called impossible under Proposition 2.5. Fire Chief Toby Tyler briefed the board on a pending SAFER grant that would have FEMA cover $87,215 over two years for a new firefighter-paramedic, leaving the town with roughly $45,580 in year three; the board deferred action, asking Tyler to return with a cost-neutral plan. The board also voted unanimously to dedicate the annual town report to both Barry Fuller and George T. Knox, citing decades of volunteer service from each.