Pepperell Selectmen Fill Dozens of Seats, Debate Fitzpatrick School Future

PEPPERELL — June 11, 2018 — Pepperell selectmen approved more than two dozen annual reappointments, accepted a $15,000 donation for the regional COIN opioid-outreach program, and heard a pitch to convert the town-owned Peter Fitzpatrick School into a community arts and education hub at their June 11 meeting. Chair Roland Nutter, Clerk Lisa Ferraloli, and Selectman William Greathead voted to limit reappointments of labor counsel Sharon Siegel and Town Counsel Ned Richardson each to September 11, 2018, leaving incoming Town Administrator John Moak — set to start June 14 — room to issue competitive bids. The board voted 2-1 to waive all permit fees for the Middlesex Dewars war memorial monument project near the Rotary, prompting a dissent over precedent after a prior project had been charged a reduced $200 fee. Steve Pozanowski of Teenage Anxiety and Depression Solutions presented the $15,000 check, combining a $12,500 second installment from an anonymous two-year donor and $2,500 from TAS, after last year's combined donation of $22,500. Town Collector Debbie reported a 99.1 percent real estate tax collection rate on a $20,168,536 commitment, with $2.1 million in the general fund and no need for short-term borrowing. Ferraloli, speaking from her tenure as former town clerk, stated the departing town administrator had directly controlled public records responses as a negotiating tool — "absolutely 100 true," she said.