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By John Barrella

FREETOWN — The Board of Selectmen worked through an unusually packed agenda Monday, Aug. 3, taking up aging water agreements with three neighboring communities, a family’s push to relocate a World War I monument, and a heated public-comment exchange with a resident locked in litigation with the town — all while approving a stack of personnel and infrastructure items with little debate.

Water agreements with Fall River, New Bedford, Lakeville need updating

Town Administrator Deborah L. Pettey told the board the town’s intermunicipal water agreements with Fall River and New Bedford — from which Freetown purchases water depending on which side of town a resident lives — have technically been expired since 2010, with the town simply operating under the old terms since. Pettey said the issue has become urgent because Freetown is pursuing grant funding to expand its water system, including a joint project with New Bedford to extend a line through the school campus and a separate effort with Lakeville to bring water to the school campus there, which would require negotiating a new agreement with Lakeville as well.

Pettey also raised an unresolved dispute over what she described as a leak in a water line on Innovation Way — a line Fall River installed, she said, to serve an Amazon facility. She said the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has pressed for a fix regardless of blame, wanting to avoid icing in the winter, while it remains unclear whether the town or Fall River is responsible for repairs, or whether the source is even a water line or groundwater.

Selectman Jared C. Zager was designated to work with Pettey on renegotiating the agreements. Board members pointed to a burst water line on County Road last year — which caused a mess, froze over, and left a neighborhood with low water pressure for weeks — as a reminder of what happens when such agreements lapse.

Push to move WWI monument runs into historic preservation concerns

Bruce Wilbur, president of the nonprofit Freetown Memorial Park Association, asked the board to consider relocating the World War I monument currently at the “Four Corners” intersection to Veterans Memorial Park on Chace Road, joining the town’s World War II memorial, a police and fire memorial, and a helicopter display already there. Wilbur said the association’s concern is safety: family members who want to visit or decorate the stone — his own uncle is named on it — must contend with heavy traffic at the intersection, which he estimated sees 60,000 to 70,000 vehicles a week.

The proposal ran into resistance from Mary Elizabeth Brown, who grew up on the same street where the monument’s boulder originated and said she serves on the town’s Historical Commission. Brown said the monument site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, complicating any move, and asked the board to hold off on a decision while she researches what, if anything, is permitted.

A town official identified in the meeting only as Mike added a legal complication: the small parcel the monument sits on is protected under Article 97 of the state constitution as dedicated open space. He said that status wouldn’t bar adding benches, plantings, or other memorials to the existing site, but that converting it to any other use — such as widening the intersection — would require a two-thirds vote of town meeting, a two-thirds vote of the state Legislature, and replacement land of equal or greater value.

Board members did not take a position for or against the move, urging Wilbur and Brown to continue talking and report back in about a month. Selectman Carlos Lopes, who chaired the meeting, said he personally favored relocating the monument for greater visibility, while acknowledging the historical value of its current site.

Building code dispute spills into public comment

The board opened Monday’s meeting in executive session to discuss, in part, litigation strategy in Town of Freetown v. Weaver. Later, during public comment, Robert Weaver and his sister, Joanne Wilson, addressed the board directly, alleging that the town’s building commissioner — referred to in the meeting only as Carl — had harassed Wilson, who they said is 80 years old, over code violations at properties tied to the family. Based on recent records, the Building Commissioner is Carl Bizarro.

Weaver said Wilson was cited for a small sign advertising a for-sale house, and separately for the property’s classification as “vacant,” which he disputed given the family visits regularly. He said the commissioner entered onto Wilson’s property without permission the morning after a court hearing on a related matter, which he characterized as retaliation, and argued the commissioner has broader authority to inspect properties than state law actually allows. Weaver also said other properties around town display similar unpermitted signage without being cited.

Selectman Lopes and a second board member acknowledged that the proper process — a written warning before a citation — did not appear to have been followed in this case, and said the board had already discussed the matter with the building commissioner. Lopes said the board would refer the question of the commissioner’s legal authority to enter private property to town counsel and report back within a few days. Pettey said she would look into having the pending sign citation withdrawn from court given that the sign in question had already been removed.

New hires aimed at easing bottlenecks in Town Administrator’s office

Citing an unmanageable grant-writing and procurement workload, Pettey won approval to hire a paid intern for the town administration office — floating local graduate programs, including Bridgewater State University’s public administration program, as a recruiting source — at $20 an hour, funded through her office’s existing professional and technical budget rather than new town funds.

Separately, the board approved hiring a per-diem contractor to help draft procurement requests for quotes and proposals, which Pettey said currently sit on her desk for weeks at a time; she cited roughly 10 pending procurements, including requests tied to a school roof project and a schoolhouse grant. The pay rate was set at roughly $50 an hour, structured as a flat fee per assignment and capped at $1,000 without additional board approval. Pettey noted that the state’s $10,000 threshold for requiring formal procurement — set roughly 15 years ago — has not kept pace with rising costs, effectively pulling more town purchases into the formal bidding process.

Other business

The board approved a $5,970 change order for the Freetown Elementary School fence project, upgrading a steel gate to a wider aluminum sliding gate with enclosed rollers, which Pettey said addressed a pinch-point safety hazard for children. A separate change order added $17,876.77 to the Fire Station 2 paving contract, bringing that project’s total to $79,039.77.

The board also acknowledged the resignation of dispatcher Lydia Saint Laurent, who has served the town since 2013, and set Monday, Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. for a Special Town Meeting at the Apponequet Regional High School auditorium in Lakeville, opening the warrant for citizen and department submissions beginning Aug. 4.

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VOTE OUTCOMES — Aug. 3, 2026 All votes below passed unanimously unless otherwise noted.

• Entered executive session (collective bargaining and litigation strategy, including Town of Freetown v. Weaver; grant-compliance records review)
• Approved open-session minutes from June 29, July 2, and July 13, 2026
• Adopted the Sept. 1, 2026 State Primary warrant as presented by Town Clerk Cheryl Estrella
• Approved joint designation of police officer election assignments between the Town Clerk and Police Chief Scott Rose
• Designated Selectman Jared Zager to negotiate intermunicipal water agreements with Fall River, New Bedford, and Lakeville
• Voted to call a Special Town Meeting for Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6:30 p.m., at Apponequet Regional High School
• Approved the proposed Special Town Meeting warrant timeline
• Voted to open the Special Town Meeting warrant for submissions, Aug. 4–Sept. 8, 2026
• (No vote taken: process for accepting town donations — discussion tabled pending research into electronic payment options)
• Designated Selectman Carlos Lopes to represent the board on the district’s superintendent’s strategic planning group
• Approved a $5,970 change order for the Freetown Elementary School fence project
• Approved a $17,876.77 change order for the Fire Station 2 paving project (new total: $79,039.77)
• Approved a road opening permit for 45 North Main St. (water service)
• Voted to hire a paid intern for the Town Administration office
• Approved the public administration intern job description
• Set the intern pay rate at $20/hour
• Voted to hire a per-diem department assistant for procurement work
• Set the procurement assistant’s pay at a $50/hour-based flat rate, capped at $1,000 per assignment
• Approved appointments: Harry Ashley Jr. (Local Emergency Planning Committee director); Michael McHugh (Emergency Management member); Brian Sylvia (Highway heavy equipment operator, pending test results); Ryan Pereira (Acting Sergeant)
• Appointed Chad Cavallo as Public Records Clerk, and to the Planning Board and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Board
• Rescinded FY2027 appointments of Linda Ramirez and Ashley Emery (Parade and Fireworks Committee) and Greg Goodwin (Master Plan Committee)
• Voted to adjourn at 8:30 p.m.