Freetown Select Board Awards FY27 Road and IT Contracts, Approves Call Firefighter Raises

FREETOWN — May 18, 2026 — Freetown Select Board unanimously approves FY27 road contracts, revises IT agreement, and directs school roof bid to proceed. The board, meeting May 18, awarded highway salt contracts to Saltine Wire Incorporated at $83.89 per ton untreated and $103.89 per ton treated, road striping to Pro Finish Lines Company at 68 cents per linear foot, and chip seal and stone seal work to All States Construction Incorporated in a range of $4.10 to $230 per unit. The board also approved a renewed IT support agreement with Netrospect LLC at $140 per hour after negotiating the termination notice period up from 10 days to 45 days and extending exit rights to either party. Five interdepartmental budget transfers totaling $110,316 were approved, including $50,000 for legal fees and $25,000 each for tax title work and fire-scene fencing on Bain Street, alongside a $90,000 reserve fund transfer for facilities driven by a $30,000 electrical panel repair and electricity costs running roughly $20,000 over budget at the police department alone. Town Administrator Deborah Chaves told the board she will move forward immediately with bidding a $500,000 repair of the oldest section of the elementary school roof rather than waiting on a potential Massachusetts School Building Authority reimbursement grant, with one member noting, "I'd rather spend half a million dollars on the roof now and then have them hopefully pay for five million dollars towards something else."