Blandford Select Board flags water department contracts, advances cannabis license update

BLANDFORD -- January 6, 2025, Blandford Select Board raises alarm over water department contracts topping $600,000. At the January 6 meeting, Town Administrator Christina Barrera told the board that bond counsel had rejected a complete packet of loan documents submitted weeks earlier, blocking a green light letter needed to pay vendors Bay State and Elm Electric for water infrastructure work already performed. Outstanding obligations to Bay State alone were described as at least $600,000, and Bay State has stopped work pending payment. Board members said they had never seen copies of the contracts and questioned whether water superintendent Gordon had authority to execute agreements of that size without Select Board approval. "I find it hard to believe that it's $600,000 and that another board could enter into that sort of contract without the Select Board," one member said. The board also directed Barrera to update a host community agreement for Bellefleur, a local cannabis business, using a town counsel template, a step needed to advance Bellefleur's state licensing application with the Cannabis Control Commission.