Pepperell Selectmen Unanimously Endorse Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans Monument for Town Common

PEPPERELL — June 10, 2013 — Pepperell selectmen endorsed a Global War on Terror monument for Pepperell Common at their June 10 meeting. The board voted unanimously to approve the design presented by committee members Robert Conti and Robert Letty, a five-pointed star layout with paver stones engraved with the names of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from Pepperell and four neighboring Nashua Valley communities, with a projected cost of $75,000 to $100,000 and a Memorial Day 2015 target. The board also renewed the town's auditing contract with GST Hankston and Company for three years at roughly $20,000 annually and approved a separate one-time $3,000 cash audit required by state regulation following the departure of the town's previous treasurer. Town Administrator John Lebeaux formally presented a Massachusetts Department of Revenue financial management review, telling the board the report — two years in the making — covers payroll reform, budgeting formalization, and other governance improvements, and asking each selectman to identify priorities for follow-up. One complication emerged on the monument project: a time capsule reportedly buried on Pepperell Common in the mid-1970s may lie within the proposed construction footprint.