Freetown Select Board Approves Trail Grant Application, Town Hall Bathroom Overhaul

FREETOWN — January 29, 2024 — Freetown Select Board clears trail grant, ADA bathrooms, and a dozen contracts in busy January session. The board voted unanimously on 17 separate items at its January 29 meeting, approving a MassTrails grant application seeking $75,000 to renovate the 3,500-foot Central Park Trail for ADA accessibility, with a $25,000 town match covered by highway department labor. Planning and Land Use Administrator Victoria Alfaro said the project would serve seniors and youth near the Council on Aging and Freetown Elementary School. The board selected Option C for long-overdue town hall bathroom renovations, a design developed with employee input that keeps the existing footprint and adds two accessible stalls in the women's room and one in the men's, pending ADA turning-radius verification. Town Administrator Deborah Wall secured approval for a part-time contract with former town accountant Kimberly S. Fails to help manage what Wall estimated as $4 million to $5 million in active grants, and a separate policy and procurement consulting contract with Carlton E. Abbott Jr. The board also approved a MIIA Wellness Grant application of up to $7,500 toward a pickleball court likely sited at Hathaway Park, with total town cost estimated under $7,000 after highway labor contributions.