Freetown Select Board Raises Land Purchase Budget, Closes Town Meeting Warrants

FREETOWN — May 5, 2025 — Freetown Select Board closes town meeting warrants with a $100,000 engineering add and a contested utility pole fight unresolved. The board voted unanimously Monday to finalize the annual and special town meeting warrants for the June 2 session, increasing Article 8 — a land purchase appropriation — from $2,450,000 to $2,550,000 to fund geotechnical engineering required under a library grant. A public hearing on a Verizon and Eversource petition to install a three-phase utility pole at 89 Chase Road was continued for the third time, to May 19, after a neighbor identified as Frank raised extensive public objections, alleging the property is being used as a commercial recycling operation without permits and that a tub grinder arrived on site Saturday by semi-trailer, with a noise output the neighbor cited at 66 decibels at 300 feet. Chair Trevor Matthews said he could not compel the property owner to attend or demand that Eversource disclose how the power will be used, but asked that the board of health, zoning enforcement officer, and town counsel all be present May 19. The board also approved a 3 percent ambulance billing contract with Coastal Medical Billing through June 30, 2028, and awarded a $16,467 voting booth contract to Castu and Harris, funded primarily through an existing grant.