Freetown Select Board awards paving contract, authorizes snow account overspending

FREETOWN — February 24, 2025 — Freetown Select Board clears a paving contract, authorizes snow account overspending, and amends a tax title warrant article at its February 24 session. The board unanimously awarded a $139,866 paving contract for the Highway Barn project to Partlow and Sons Paving — under the $150,000 budget estimate — and authorized overspending in the fiscal year 2025 snow removal account, which was already $20,000 over its $150,000 appropriation before the most recent storm. Town counsel advised the board to recommend striking the words "up to" from the interest-waiver language in Article 3 of the special town meeting warrant, warning that the Attorney General "has consistently struck agreements that have any discretion in them." The board also approved $144,319 in ambulance abatements and writeoffs for January 2025 and greenlit Bristol County Mosquito Control's annual aerial spraying program for April through October. Building Commissioner Carl reported that a Housing Court consent order now requires a Brierley Road scrap yard — the subject of enforcement efforts spanning nearly 15 years — to be fully cleaned up by July 1.