Southbridge Town Council Awards $705,300 Paving Contract, Enters Executive Session on Overdue Minutes

SOUTHBRIDGE — May 11, 2026 — Southbridge Town Council awards $705,300 road contract, confronts open meeting law backlog at Monday session. The nine-member council unanimously approved a paving and sidewalk repair contract with M. El Palo and Sons Paving for the North Street neighborhood, funded by Community Development Block Grant FY24 dollars, with completion targeted for late July. Town Manager addressed the $308,810.87 acquisition of 39 Elm Street — acknowledging possible procedural failures tied to an open meeting law complaint now before the Attorney General — and separately confirmed an audit of executive session minutes, not reviewed or released since at least 2023, has been completed. The council approved a $325,000 appropriation from sewer retained earnings and a $120,000 change order to Ludlow Construction for buried concrete encountered during the River and Crane Street Phase 2 project, which carries a $2.7 million MassWorks grant. Resident Shelley Klein formally asked the council to resolve what she called unlawful curbside subscriber fees and an unauthorized rate increase from $1.15 to $1.50 per quarter before adopting the FY27 budget, scheduled for a May 18 vote.