West Brookfield Select Board Appoints Fire Chief, Sets $1.15 Million Override Vote

Select Board · Meeting of March 17, 2026

West Brookfield Select Board votes to put a $1.15 million Proposition 2½ override on the May 5 ballot. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the single consolidated question, recommended by the state Department of Revenue and the town's financial consultant, to cover a projected municipal deficit that now includes rising vocational school tuition costs. The board also unanimously appointed Thomas Smith as the town's new part-time fire chief at $33,000 annually plus a $4,000 emergency management director stipend for 19 hours per week, effective immediately.

Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School Superintendent Eric Duda told the board that a 150-seat expansion into a Belchertown school will allow more West Brookfield students to attend, with 17 projected for next year at roughly $22,000 per student — up from five last year. A nearly 90-minute joint session over Lake Wickaboag invasive weed oversight ended with the Board of Health retaining control, but the town's 1999 notice of intent was flagged by the board's consultant as out of compliance and in urgent need of replacement.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of March 17, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.