Hubbardston Extends Interim Town Administrator Contract Through December 31

HUBBARDSTON — June 29, 2026 — Hubbardston Select Board extends interim town administrator's contract and defies regional dispatch center on payment terms. The board voted unanimously at its June 29 meeting to keep Interim Town Administrator Sean Brown on through December 31, 2026, after the board's chosen permanent hire accepted a different job offer; the chair was authorized to sign the contract, which includes retirement benefits but no town health insurance. The board also voted unanimously to pay only 25 percent of its Central Mass Regional Emergency Communication Center assessment on July 1 — the amount specified in the signed intergovernmental agreement — after the center's appointed Board of Directors voted on two days' notice to demand the full annual assessment upfront. Select Board member Peter Walker, the only elected official on the Directors board and the sole dissenting vote at the Friday meeting, warned that "an unelected board" cannot override a contract signed by each member town's elected select board. Interim TA Brown noted that more than 10 percent of the town's annual tax levy — roughly $1.1 million — remains uncollected, and that the FY25 annual audit, begun six months late, is expected to wrap up within three to four weeks.