Acushnet Conservation Chairman Souza Resigns at End of June 24 Meeting

ACUSHNET -- June 24, 2026, Acushnet Conservation Commission Chairman James Souza resigned at the close of the June 24 meeting, saying a phone call with a selectman following a Saturday site visit left him concluding his conduct had become an embarrassment. Souza, who served as chair through a period when the town had no conservation agent and said he put in 20 to 25 hours a week in the office during that stretch, told commissioners, "I think I've dedicated more time as a chairman than any town around here has ever." Before the resignation, the commission voted unanimously to approve an order of conditions for a 170-by-65-foot synthetic turf athletic field at St. Francis Xavier School, 223 Main Street, within the 100-foot buffer zone of a bordering vegetated wetland, with a pre-work silt fence inspection required. The commission also voted unanimously to accept a Memorandum of Agreement between the EPA and the Town of Acushnet, adopted a Registry of Deeds certification-statement format for stormwater permits on the recommendation of Merrill Associates, and voted 3-1 to determine that a well pump shed at 1094 Main Street constitutes an exempt activity under the local wetlands bylaw. The next meeting is July 24, 2026, at Town Hall.