Pepperell Selectmen Vote to Pursue Home Rule Charter Commission

PEPPERELL — July 11, 2011 — Pepperell selectmen unanimously launch Home Rule Charter drive and accept 19.8-acre conservation donation. The Board of Selectmen voted July 11 to commence an elected Home Rule Charter Commission process, requiring residents to gather 1,100 petition signatures before a nine-member commission can be placed on the annual town election ballot. Selectman Joseph Sergi cited a string of fiscal failures — including a structural deficit that jumped from $1.3 million to $2 million without warning and $120,000 spent to relocate power lines installed off town land — as evidence the town's decentralized governance structure lacks accountability. Town Administrator John Moak cautioned that the commission "could determine that what we do right now is the best thing," noting the body is investigative rather than predetermined. The board also authorized an ad hoc committee of up to five residents to collect signatures and educate the public, directed Moak to draft a letter to the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative chairperson requesting information about an Inspector General finding that $11.5 million should be returned to member districts, and voted to accept a donated 19.8-acre conservation parcel off Brookline Street from resident Richard Parker, completing a priority corridor identified in the town's 2005 open space plan.