Pepperell Selectmen Endorse Complete Streets Plan, Vote to Bid Walking Path

PEPPERELL — March 23, 2020 — Pepperell Selectmen endorsed a five-project Complete Streets plan and voted to begin bidding a decade-long walking path project at their first-ever remote meeting Monday, with COVID-19 overshadowing nearly every agenda item. The board unanimously approved a prioritization plan developed with VHB consultant Jason for submission to MassDOT by an April 1 deadline, identifying five Main Street and rotary-area pedestrian, bicycle, and crosswalk improvement projects eligible for up to $400,000 per grant cycle in Tier 3 construction funding; Railroad Square, ranked second, is expected to require bundled funding sources beyond the state cap. The board voted 2-1, with Selectman Joe Radwich dissenting, to direct Town Administrator Andrew McLean to issue a bid for a walking path on town field championed by Friends of Pepperell Recreation, which has fundraised for more than a decade and reimbursed the town $7,000 for prior DPW excavation work. The budget review was tabled pending the likely postponement of the May 4 annual town meeting, which McLean said is "almost definitely too soon" given the pandemic; the board also deferred setting a new date for the April 27 local election, pending the state Senate's anticipated legislation and a response from Ashby, whose election must be synchronized with Pepperell's for the North Middlesex Regional School District at-large race.