Freetown Select Board weighs $1.25 million boiler fix at elementary school

FREETOWN — October 6, 2025 — Freetown Select Board hears $1.25 million boiler replacement pitch for elementary school. Town Administrator Deborah Lopes told the board Monday that a full replacement of the two 1979-era Cleaver Brooks boilers at Freetown Elementary School could cost up to $1,250,000 once hazmat abatement, project oversight, and architectural work are added to the $1,176,676 mechanical estimate presented by Ben Miller of GGD Consulting Engineers of Dartmouth. Lopes said her goal is to bring the item to the January town meeting but acknowledged she does not yet have free cash figures and must weigh the boiler project against a separate roof replacement estimated at $2 million to $3 million. The board also debated a draft civil fingerprinting policy proposed by the police chief under a 2012 state law that would authorize background checks for permit applicants in categories including ice cream vendors, pawn dealers, and secondhand goods dealers — with Selectman Matthews warning the policy "opens up a lot of subjectivity" and could steer businesses away from town. The board took no vote on either the boiler appropriation or the fingerprinting policy, and unanimously approved $300 in outside donations and a slate of community recreation events.