Palmer Select Board Transfers $1.74 Million to Stabilization, Ratifies Police Dispatch Contract

PALMER -- June 29, 2026, Palmer Select Board approves $1.74 million stabilization transfer and police dispatch contract at June 29 meeting. The board voted unanimously to move $1,740,614 from free cash into the town's stabilization account under Resolution 2026-51, retaining $500,000 in free cash in line with town financial policy; the current free cash balance stood at $2,240,614. The board also ratified a contract with UFCW Local 1459 covering Palmer Police Emergency Telecommunications through June 30, 2028. The meeting's most contested item was the reappointment of Norman Chuck, a sitting Planning Board member, to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which passed 4-2 after members debated whether the dual role created at least "the appearance of a conflict," as the chair put it, since the ZBA hears appeals that can originate from Planning Board decisions. The board also appointed Julia Taylor to the Recreation Committee and Daniel Belanger to the Board of Health, both through June 30, 2029.