Pepperell Selectmen back Millie Turner Dam removal, appoint Nashoba Valley Tech member

PEPPERELL -- June 29, 2015, Pepperell Selectmen vote to support Millie Turner Dam removal, fill Nashoba Valley Tech seat, and accept improved fiscal year 2014 audit. At its June 29 meeting, the Board of Selectmen, Chairman Stephen Mellis, Clerk Michelle Gallagher, and member Melissa Zandakis, heard from auditor James Justy of Justy and Hinkson that the town's fiscal year 2014 audit found no material weaknesses for the first time in at least three years, with a total general fund balance of $2.5 million and revenues of $20,695,000 against expenditures of $20,650,000. Alex Hackman of the state Division of Ecological Restoration announced a $400,000 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant will fund removal of the privately owned, state-classified poor-condition Millie Turner Dam on the Nissitissit River beginning around September 15, with a roughly four-week construction window. The board voted unanimously to appoint Conservation Administrator Paula Taurasi as the town's representative to the newly authorized Nashua River Wild and Scenic River study committee, with Town Administrator Mark Andrews as alternate. In a 3-1 vote over applicant Doris Casey, the board appointed Michael Tang to fill a vacancy on the Nashoba Valley Technical High School committee for a three-year term. The board also approved the contract for Treasurer-Tax Collector Debbie Nutter following a brief executive session.