Blandford Select Board Tables Road Procurement Contract, Schedules Talk With Highway Superintendent

BLANDFORD — November 10, 2025 — Blandford Select Board tables road procurement contract and flags possible solar developer legal maneuver. The board voted Monday to table a $1,500 agreement with the Franklin Regional Council of Governments for Russell Stage Road milling and paving, asking Highway Superintendent Ray Garfield to attend the November 24 meeting and explain his plans for independent procurement capacity before the contract is signed. Town Administrator Christine Dobosz also raised an alarm over two preliminary subdivision plans filed at the Planning Board by entities she described as solar companies — covering parcels at 30 Huntington Road and Chester Road — saying the filings appeared designed to trigger a subdivision-control-law freeze on a pending solar moratorium. "It seems to me like that is an attempt to exploit the subdivision control law," Dobosz said, adding that she had forwarded the matter to town legal counsel. The board separately approved an employment contract for incoming Assistant Treasurer-Collector Jordana Mora at $32 an hour and received word that upgrading the assessors' obsolete Patriot Software would cost $13,875 for the remainder of the fiscal year.