Freetown Select Board Authorizes Radio Tower Contract, Approves ARPA Clerk Funding

FREETOWN — November 29, 2023 — Freetown Select Board authorizes radio tower contract and $10,000 in ARPA funds for accounting staff. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to allow Town Administrator Deborah Chaves to sign a contract with Industrial Communications for radio equipment installation on the town's communications tower, a project long delayed by equipment back-orders and lease negotiations; Chaves said installation could begin as early as spring 2024. The board also approved $10,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to hire a part-time senior clerk to help Town Accountant Matt handle the administrative load created by a growing portfolio of municipal grants. Senior planner Craig Pereira of the Horsley Witten Group presented the town's first-ever Hazard Mitigation Plan, warning that Freetown currently lacks the plan needed to qualify for federal disaster-recovery funding and that adoption would unlock a five-year window for grants on a 75-25 federal-to-local cost share. A proposed solar array for the police station rooftop was shelved after the contracting company abandoned a preferred canopy design, and board members cited ongoing roof leaks at the three-year-old building as reason not to proceed.