Pepperell Selectmen approve police mutual aid pact with Hollis, New Hampshire

PEPPERELL — September 15, 2010 — Pepperell Selectmen approve Hollis police pact, economic development grant, and cable interconnect at September 15 meeting. The board voted unanimously to accept a mutual aid agreement with the Hollis, New Hampshire Police Department, replacing an annual officer-appointment practice that New Hampshire's Police Standards and Training Council found no longer met its guidelines; Police Chief David Scott said the agreement mirrors an existing pact between Hudson, New Hampshire and Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. The board also unanimously authorized submission of a $1,000 DHCD peer-to-peer technical assistance grant — with roughly $900 in consulting fees at $30 per hour — to bring in an approved consultant to help structure Pepperell's first economic development committee, and endorsed a letter to Comcast and Charter requesting a cable interconnect to carry North Middlesex Regional School District educational programming directly to Pepperell without physical DVD courier delivery. A lengthy budget discussion projected general-government salaries at approximately $3.7 million for fiscal year 2012 and identified a remaining structural deficit of under $530,000 to be bridged largely with one-time reserves. A proposal to formally demand that National Grid relocate a downtown power substation was tabled after board members argued for an informal contact first.