Pepperell Selectmen Create Environmental Committee, Raise Senior Tax Credit to $1,500

PEPPERELL — November 19, 2018 — Pepperell selectmen voted to establish a new Lighting, Air, and Noise Committee and raised the senior tax work credit cap from $1,000 to $1,500 at the board's November 19 meeting. New Town Administrator Andrew MacLean warned the board that the town's fiscal year 2020 budget carries a structural deficit of roughly $341,898 that has historically been covered with free cash, and that school assessments averaging 5.7 percent annually over four years — peaking near 7 percent — leave the town "going backwards instead of forwards" under Proposition 2.5 revenue limits. MacLean said a Proposition 2.5 override may be necessary within the next budget cycle or two, calling it "usually a two-year process." The new Lighting, Air, and Noise Committee, proposed by the Pepperell Watchers community group, will have no more than 15 members appointed by the board and will operate under the Open Meeting Law; the panel emerged partly in response to concerns about early-morning truck traffic tied to the proposed soil reclamation project at 161 Nashville Road, which MacLean confirmed has been formally appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals with a hearing expected in mid-to-late January.