Freetown Select Board Renews Excel Recycling License Amid Resident Complaints

FREETOWN — April 24, 2023 — Freetown Select Board renews Excel Recycling junk dealer's license for another year despite years of resident complaints. The board voted unanimously Monday to approve the May 1, 2023 through April 30, 2024 license for Excel Recycling LLC on High Street, rejecting a proposal to shorten the term to six months pending results of a new environmental study. The town's health agent, identified in the transcript only as Kevin, confirmed the town has contracted with Apex Environmental Partners Group to conduct baseline air, noise, and soil testing around the facility, saying the protocol is "designed to withstand the rigors of a court case." Residents at the meeting described eight years of odor, dust, and noise complaints and pressed the board to hold a formal public hearing before the renewal vote, which the board declined to do on advice of Town Counsel. The board also approved a four-year dump truck lease with All American Investment Group LLC for the highway department, allocated $35,000 in Arbor funds for a water and sewer tractor, and heard a planning update warning that Freetown faces potential loss of state grant funding if it does not create an MBTA Communities multifamily housing district by 2024.