Board of Selectmen Meeting 3 /9/26

The Freetown Board of Selectmen met on March 9, 2026, to address a wide range of municipal business, opening with a presentation from Stark Architects on conceptual master plan options for redevelopment of the town beach on Long Pond. Representatives presented two phased concepts incorporating expanded parking, basketball and pickleball courts, walking trails, and a stage, while youth football representatives voiced concern about preserving dedicated practice space. The board also reviewed boat ramp and beach staffing challenges for the upcoming summer season, heard updates from Community Program Director Kylie regarding resource constraints, and approved a community exercise series at Hathaway Park. Junior Girl Scouts from Troop 762000 presented an initiative to install a waterfront safety station equipped with life vests and sunscreen dispensers at Hathaway Park, which the board unanimously approved.

The board conducted routine and annual business, including adopting the warrant for the April 6, 2026 annual town election, declaring library tables surplus for the transfer station swap shed, approving a three-year vertical communications agreement for Town Hall phones, accepting insurance renewal rates from the MIIA Health Benefits Trust, and endorsing an agreement with Bulldog Fire Apparatus for a $1,144,789.69 fire engine. The board also authorized the Lakeville Police Department to place microwave radio equipment on the Freetown Police Department tower, and approved multi-year employment agreements for Town Administrator Deborah Pettey and Executive Assistant Lu-Ann Souza through June 30, 2029.

A significant portion of the meeting centered on the renewal of Excel Recycling LLC's junk dealer's license. Several nearby residents raised serious concerns regarding industrial noise, house-shaking explosions, traffic hazards from trucks parking on sidewalks, and hazardous emissions and heavy metal dust affecting residential neighborhoods. Building Commissioner Carl Bizarro outlined inspection findings regarding structural concerns with stacked container walls and fluff piles. Ultimately, the board voted 2-1 to renew the license for the period of May 1, 2026, through April 30, 2027, subject to two binding conditions: establishing a 20-foot buffer and a 35-foot maximum height for the fluff pile, and requiring a Massachusetts-licensed structural engineer's safety report on the stacked container wall within three months, with necessary repairs completed within six months.

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