Charlton Finance Committee Hears Police Request for Two New Positions, Old Home Day Funding

CHARLTON — January 15, 2025 — Charlton Finance Committee reviews $514,000 in new personnel requests for FY2026. Police Chief Gary Mason asked the Finance Committee to fund an eighth full-time dispatcher and a new administrative sergeant, citing a false shooting report at the Amazon distribution facility last fall that left a single pregnant dispatcher managing simultaneous calls from multiple agencies. "The days of operating with one dispatcher are just non-existent," Mason said. Town Administrator Andrew Dowd and Finance Director Ashley LaFreniere presented a preliminary budget showing all departmental personnel requests would cost a net $514,000, cautioning the committee that recent industrial tax-base growth from Amazon, Millennium Power, and MCI is anomalous and should not be projected forward. The Old Home Day committee, represented by Mike Lally and Kathleen Walker, made its first-ever request for direct town funding at $25,000, presenting a fiscal 2024 expense list totaling roughly $27,800 and noting that fireworks alone cost $9,250. The committee also learned that a special legislative act enabling the town to close on the $18 million fire station property was signed by Governor Maura Healey on January 8, with general contractor bids due the following Friday and sub-bids trending below budget estimates.