Pepperell Selectmen approve utility poles, license transfer, and public works conflict-of-interest status

PEPPERELL — January 12, 2015 — Pepperell selectmen approve four formal actions and launch a budget transparency overhaul at their first 2015 meeting. The board unanimously approved a $3,800 reserve fund transfer to build a Financial Appropriation and Accountability Report — a consolidated five-year budget platform described by Town Administrator Mark Donahue as required under Article 6 of the town charter — with Finance Committee Chair Melissa Zanadok calling it essential to fix a forecasting gap caused by three accountant transitions in recent years. The board also approved the transfer of a Class 2 used-car dealer license from Doreen L. McDonough to Gail Champa-Spear at 29 South Road, subject to a building-inspector checklist review and a new surety bond, after written comments flagged the site's location in a 100-year flood zone and a possible paving violation. Two National Grid utility pole petitions for Jewett Street and Main Street passed unanimously, and Board of Public Works members were designated special municipal employees under MGL Chapter 268A, Section 1N, to expire at the 2016 annual town election. Donahue also reported that Pepperell's Chapter 90 road funding allocation had increased by $207,000 following the governor's release of an additional $100 million statewide, and that the Pepperell Army Community Covenant had agreed to fund the 2015 Memorial Day parade after the $3,000 town line item went unfunded when last year's budget override failed.