Freetown Select Board Requires Future Retirees to Pay Active-Employee Health Insurance Rates

FREETOWN -- May 4, 2026, Freetown Select Board requires future retirees to pay active-employee health insurance rates. The board voted unanimously Monday to apply to anyone retiring after July 1, 2027 the same health insurance contribution percentage they carried as active employees, a policy Town Administrator Deborah Furtado said is needed to rein in a health insurance budget of nearly $2.4 million annually, equal to the cost of running the fire department. Current retirees are unaffected. The board also awarded a $61,163 paving contract for the Fire Station 2 parking lot to Pawtucket Hot Mix Asphalt Inc., the lowest of 11 bidders on a project that had $100,000 appropriated at town meeting. In a related action, the board approved an agreement with J. Bustede Construction LLC for hydrant repair and replacement, contracted with G. Brooks Construction for fiscal year 2027 winter sands at $27 per ton delivered, and authorized a $110,000 Conservation Commission purchase of land at 0 Richmond Road abutting the town landfill. The board tabled a social media response policy pending town counsel guidance, and voted to close the annual town meeting warrant for June 1, with new articles adding battery energy storage systems to the zoning use table and authorizing Water Superintendent positions, with a follow-up Zoom session set for May 12 to finalize the omnibus budget.