Acushnet Select Board Imposes Spending Freeze Amid $250,000 Snow Deficit

ACUSHNET — April 29, 2026 — Acushnet Select Board votes to freeze all non-contractual spending through fiscal year end. Citing a roughly $250,000 snow-and-ice removal deficit and additional departmental overtime overruns, the board unanimously authorized Town Administrator Adam LaMontagne to issue an immediate spending freeze memo to all department heads, with LaMontagne holding discretion to approve or deny individual expenditures. The board also appointed Myra Freeman as a new 911 dispatcher at Step 1 of the AFSCME contract and made a pair of administrative appointments for LaMontagne as both Parking Enforcement Officer and Chief Procurement Officer. On a proposed 55-and-older development at 72 Middle Road, the board approved a sewer tie-in for 12 units — generating $72,000 in connection fees at $6,000 per unit — and required two fire hydrants within the development. Town Clerk Pamela Labonte, re-elected the previous day, read a public statement defending the decision to shorten April 28 election hours and clarified that the Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical School re-vote is set for June 20, with absentee voting available but no mail-in ballots permitted.