Freetown Select Board raises cyber insurance, awards road paving contract

FREETOWN — July 21, 2025 — Freetown Select Board votes to raise cybersecurity coverage and approve road paving contract. The board unanimously approved increasing cybersecurity insurance from $1 million to $2 million at an added cost of $5,000 annually, as part of a broader insurance overhaul led by Town Administrator Deborah Petty, who also secured a $10 million increase in municipal building valuations for roughly $5,000 more in premiums — bringing total town insurance costs to an estimated $240,000 per year. The board awarded a milling and pavement overlay contract for Bullock Road and various streets to the Hatch Group, Inc., whose bid of approximately $640,000 was the lowest of several submitted, with competing bids ranging up to $850,000. Select Board member Trevor Matthews was appointed to the Tax Increment Finance Board alongside Patty Rodriguez, Margaret French, and Melissa Ma. The board also voted to begin conducting Sexual Offender Registry Information checks on town employees and volunteers working with children and seniors, a gap flagged by the town's incoming insurance carrier.