Charlton Select Board Fills Bylaw Panel, Approves Scout Fundraiser, Adopts Financial Policies

CHARLTON -- January 27, 2026, Charlton Select Board appoints seven to new Bylaw Review Committee and clears Scout toll road fundraiser. The board unanimously seated five full members, Bradford C. Howard, Kathleen Walker, Mike Kavorkian, Denise C. Renaud, and Joseph Haebler, and two alternates, Jeanne Costello and Deborah Saper, on the newly formed Bylaw Review Committee at the January 27 meeting, drawing from eight applications received before a January 16 deadline. The board also unanimously approved a voluntary toll road fundraiser for Friends of Scout Troop 338 near Main Street and Masonic Home Road on February 7 or 15, subject to Police Chief Dowd's safety conditions, and adopted four updated financial policies covering procurement, surplus item disposal, and real estate transactions. The evening's sharpest exchange came over overnight parking at the town library, where Member David Singer argued the Select Board, not the Library Trustees, holds authority over the adjacent municipal lot, citing a private parking arrangement with a resident "who happens to be an elected official's family" made without Select Board authorization; Library Trustees Chairman Stefan Sage countered under MGL Chapter 78, Section 11 that the trustees hold custody of all library-related town property, and proposed two permit-based exceptions for neighboring residents and Wi-Fi users. No vote was taken; the matter was referred informally to a working group with Town Administrator Andrew Golas and town counsel.