Pepperell Selectmen Set Key Dates in Nashville Road Quarry Fight After State Review

PEPPERELL — July 30, 2018 — Pepperell selectmen receive state environmental review of a contentious quarry reclamation proposal and set key strategy dates. The Board of Selectmen on July 30 received a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection technical review of MCGI's draft soil management plan for the 161 Nashville Road quarry site, which the agency said it had found conceptually inadequate and in need of engineered, stamped plans before any administrative consent order could be finalized. Interim Town Administrator John Moak told the board that MassDEP "will not finalize the ACO" until local officials have been given meaningful input, and that the town's special environmental attorney said DEP appeared to be "holding MCGI's feet to the fire." An executive session with the town's attorneys is scheduled for August 13, and a public presentation by MCGI is tentatively set for August 20. The board also voted unanimously to appoint 11 members to a new Peter Fitzpatrick School Feasibility Committee and confirmed three appointments, including Derek Gilmore as assistant electrical inspector replacing his retiring father Ralph Gilmore. The town separately received a $222,005 Green Communities grant from the state for energy efficiency upgrades at six municipal facilities, including $86,173 for Barnum Brook Elementary School lighting.