Pepperell Selectmen Expand Fire Board to Four, Schedule Fifth Seat After Election

PEPPERELL — March 13, 2011 — Pepperell selectmen expand the Board of Fire Engineers to four seats and pull a Nashoba Valley Technical High School stabilization fund article from the town meeting warrant at the chairman's final meeting. After nearly an hour of questioning that exposed a rift between EMS and fire personnel over a botched strong-chief proposal, the board voted two to one to appoint all four candidates — incumbent Chief Engineer Toby Tyler, Peter Shattuck, Jonathan Kinney, and newcomer Milton Blood — to terms expiring April 30, 2012, with a fifth seat to be filled at an April 26 meeting. Outgoing Chairman Patrick called the strong-chief rollout "premature," saying candidates "couldn't even articulate the positives and negatives of going forward." The board voted unanimously to strip the Nashoba Valley stabilization fund article, which would have committed Pepperell to roughly $16,662 annually, with selectmen citing loss of fiscal control at a time when the town is drawing $550,000 from reserves to cover a structural deficit. An accessory pet daycare application from Maureen Allen of 80 South Road was withdrawn by the applicant after the public hearing closed, ending a multi-session review that drew written opposition from at least three abutters over traffic safety and noise on Route 119.