Pepperell Selectmen Recommend Full Warrant, Set June 16 Override Election

PEPPERELL — April 14, 2014 — Pepperell selectmen set a tentative June 16 special election for a budget override and recommended a 23-article town meeting warrant at their April 14 meeting. Town Administrator John walked the board through a fiscal year 2015 spending plan presenting two options: a reduced-services budget balanced to available revenues and a supplemental level-services budget requiring a Proposition 2 1/2 override, with a first-year capital package of $476,500 covering equipment, vehicles, and long-deferred building repairs. Free cash reserves, cited at $5.3 million in 2007, have fallen to approximately $1.1 million. The board also tabled action on a state-required Affordable Housing Production Plan presented by Jay Dolphin of the North Central Massachusetts Council of Governments, which identified a need for 434 additional subsidized units to reach the 10 percent Chapter 40B threshold; Selectman Mike raised concerns about unsold units at Emerson Village and the town's lack of public transit, saying, "I'm not feeling that this has been quite tailored to Pepperell." The board filled five Board of Fire Engineers seats, accepted the resignations of Town Clerk Jeffrey W. Sauer and Agricultural Advisory Committee member Heather Friend, and voted not to recommend Article 16, a library receipts funding measure, while leaving it on the warrant for town meeting.