Charlton Select Board Approves Town Meeting Warrant, Names Council on Aging Coordinator

CHARLTON -- April 22, 2025, Charlton Select Board approves town meeting warrant and appoints two residents to local posts. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the annual town meeting warrant, clearing it for posting ahead of the May 19 town meeting at Charlton Middle School, and reaffirmed the Council on Aging's appointment of Shawnee Boyce as Outreach Coordinator after a pool of 32 applicants yielded four finalists interviewed by Michelle Drum, Susan Crockett, and Lynn Dyer. In a joint roll-call session with the Planning Board, members unanimously appointed Lori Degnan of Osgood Road as a Planning Board alternate; Planning Board member Bill Fontaine described her as someone who "does all our homework, comes prepared for every meeting" and is especially suited to evaluate alternative energy matters. Degnan had moments earlier urged the board to schedule a discussion on whether Charlton, which she said hosts 28 to 30 large-scale solar projects, should pursue an opt-out from the 2024 state clean energy siting law that allows projects over 25 megawatts DC to bypass local zoning; the chair agreed to add the topic to a future agenda. The town administrator reported receipt of a $16,000 grant for a housing production plan and noted fire station earthworks are accelerating, before the board entered executive session to discuss police union contract bargaining strategy.