Charlton Board Appoints Town Clerk, Authorizes Fire Department Breathing Equipment Lease

CHARLTON -- April 28, 2026, Charlton Select Board formally appoints Town Clerk Karen LaCroix and authorizes a fire equipment lease at April 28 session. In a unanimous 4-0 roll-call vote, the board appointed LaCroix as the town's first appointed Town Clerk, completing a two-year transition that began with a 2025 citizen-petition election (46-14) and culminated in Special Town Meeting bylaw amendments passing 204-53; her term runs through June 30, 2029. The board also unanimously authorized a three-year lease-purchase agreement for 43 Scott X3 Pro SCBA packs for the Fire Department, using $69,000 in encumbered grant-match funds as a down payment after the department's regional AFG grant application was unsuccessful. A new permit fee schedule covering building, wiring, and plumbing and gas permits passed 3-1, Member David Singer dissenting, effective July 1, 2026. A conditional approval for a National Grid pole on Old Worcester Road was granted pending the utility's site meeting with abutters Dave and Donna Peters, who raised access and drainage concerns in writing.