Freetown Awards Bridge Engineering Contract, Approves Police Cruiser Lease With Dissent

FREETOWN — August 19, 2025 — Freetown Select Board selects McClure Engineering for bridge project, approves police cruiser lease over one dissent. The board unanimously chose McClure as top-ranked firm — scoring 124 out of three competitors — for the federally funded South Main Street Bridge Preservation Engineering Project at its August 19 meeting, authorizing Town Administrator Deb to negotiate and execute the contract; construction is not expected before 2027. The board voted 2-1, with Selectman Lopes opposed, to lease two 2026 Dodge Durango police cruisers from All American Investment Groups LLC for $165,000, with Lopes arguing the existing fleet shows no signs of failure and questioning the replacement schedule. The board also ratified a municipal fiber agreement with ContractCorp, approved a not-to-exceed $30,000 consulting contract with Eric A. Kinsherff CPA LLC to modernize the treasurer-collector's office, and approved $344,662 in ambulance write-offs for July — described by officials as the largest single-month total on record. Library Director Nicole Devyon's resignation, effective October 15, was acknowledged unanimously, and the board directed a pre-K playground fence and a roughly $1 million school boiler replacement to a December 8 town meeting.