NEMASKET NEWS MIDDLEBORO & LAKEVILLE
Nunes calls to reschedule Town Meeting, updates Middleboro on financial state
MIDDLEBORO – Robert Nunes asked the Select Board to move the Special Town Meeting date back in his first Middleboro Select Board meeting as interim town manager on Monday, Sept. 21.
Nunes said there were too many adjustments to make to the supplemental budget before the meeting, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 19.
“The town must get this right,” he said. “We cannot rush this important process simply to meet an arbitrary timeline.”
The Select Board will set the new date at its Sept. 28 meeting. Nunes said he is looking at rescheduling the meeting to Monday, Nov. 8.
Nunes made the recommendation to the Select Board during a presentation updating the board and the Finance Committee on the state of Middleboro’s finances.
He said part of the issue was that the town needed to provide $1.151 million more than previously budgeted for a Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School assessment.
During the presentation, Nunes said that the delayed fiscal year 2025 audit should be completed within the “next several months.” The consulting firm the town hired to complete the audit, CBIZ, did not give Nunes a firm end date.
“Yes, the audit is late. But more importantly, the findings will be serious,” he said.
The final report will assess issues Nunes called “very concerning,” including financial reporting practices and debt. The town’s switch to a new financial reporting system in the middle of the financial year has caused some of the delays.
The town’s bond rating could decrease if the audit continues to be delayed, Nunes said. This would potentially lead to higher borrowing costs. The town’s bond rating is AA Stable as of September 2024.
Nunes recommended the town hire an independent consultant to review the audit findings so that town employees could focus on their jobs.
During the close out process for financial year 2026, Nunes said the town needs to address the deficits for the water and sanitation enterprise funds. He stressed the importance of closing out a financial year without deficits.
Nunes also said the town needed to change how it calculated indirect costs – which include employee benefits, operating and administrative costs – in its enterprise services. He said that changes in methods inflated indirect costs. “These indirect costs do concern me,” he said. His recommendation was to hire another outside consultant to review the costs.
He told the Select Board that interviews are ongoing for the vacant treasurer/collector and assistant treasurer/collector positions. Director of Finance Susan Nickerson was appointed as the temporary treasurer/collector during the meeting.
“We can’t go much longer without that position," he said.
At the beginning of his presentation, Nunes emphasized three principles of fiscal responsibility: transparency, accountability and sustainability. He said that the town should make responsible decisions that promote long-term financial health and be accountable for the decisions it makes. He also said he would post financial data online for residents to access and answer questions townspeople had about the town’s financial state.
Proposed 928,000 square foot Wareham
Street warehouse would sit on protected wetlands
The proposed site of the warehouse, which would abut the railroad tracks along Wareham Street near the Middleboro-Rochester border. Photo source: Wareham Conservation Commission
The site is a protected habitat for eastern box turtles. File photoMIDDLEBORO – A Maine businessman wants to build a warehouse the size of 16 football fields along Wareham Street.
But it would be built on protected wetlands that serve as a habitat for eastern box turtles.
The Middleboro Conservation Commission is reviewing a plan to build a large warehouse along Route 28. The commission will hold a hearing on the project to assess its impact on nearby wetlands and rivers.
Former Carver Town Manager and railroad logistics company TransloadX co-founder Michael Milanoski submitted the notice of intent for the project in February 2025. The warehouse, which would sit at 678 Wareham St., would cover 928,000 square feet of ground. It would include 928 parking spaces, 159 loading spaces and 128 trailer spaces.
Due to the volume of vehicles entering and leaving the warehouse, part of the proposal includes widening that part of Wareham Street to add a turn lane.
There is not currently a tenant lined up for the proposed warehouse.
The land the warehouse would sit on has been owned by Maine businessman Peter Gerrity since 2008.
It would sit next to a privately owned cranberry bog along Wareham Street.
The town conducted an independent wetlands review around the site in 2024. After submitting the notice of intent, the applicants halted plans due to a potential change in ownership, but no changes were made.
Conservation agent Patricia Cassidy said she reopened talks with Milanoski in August.
Much of the warehouse project would sit within 100 feet of bordering vegetated wetlands and 200 feet of the riverfront of the East Branch Sippican River. The proposal said that during construction, 4,430 square feet of wetlands would be altered.
Cassidy said that under the State Wetlands Protection Act, work within 100 feet of wetlands needs to be reviewed by the Conservation Commission and be subject to a public hearing.
There are questions about whether parts of the land are under the Conservation Commission’s jurisdiction. Cassidy said that one part of the land could be considered an isolated land subject to flooding.
If that is the case, then the Conservation Commission would require the applicants to recreate those wetlands. “They would have to copy at least one-to-one the square footage that they would be altering and put it somewhere else on the property,” she said.
Cassidy also said that the land is a protected habitat for eastern box turtles, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. The turtles are a species of special concern under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act.
The project is also being reviewed by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The office has requested more information in a draft environmental impact report.
Milanoski and Gerrity were not available for comment at press time.
The warehouse will be discussed at an upcoming Conservation Commission meeting currently scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 1.
MIDDLEBORO – A Maine businessman wants to build a warehouse the size of 16 football fields along Wareham Street.
But it would be built on protected wetlands that serve as a habitat for eastern box turtles.
The Middleboro Conservation Commission is reviewing a plan to build a large warehouse along Route 28. The commission will hold a hearing on the project to assess its impact on nearby wetlands and rivers.
Former Carver Town Manager and railroad logistics company TransloadX co-founder Michael Milanoski submitted the notice of intent for the project in February 2025. The warehouse, which would sit at 678 Wareham St., would cover 928,000 square feet of ground. It would include 928 parking spaces, 159 loading spaces and 128 trailer spaces.
Due to the volume of vehicles entering and leaving the warehouse, part of the proposal includes widening that part of Wareham Street to add a turn lane.
There is not currently a tenant lined up for the proposed warehouse.
The land the warehouse would sit on has been owned by Maine businessman Peter Gerrity since 2008.
It would sit next to a privately owned cranberry bog along Wareham Street.
The town conducted an independent wetlands review around the site in 2024. After submitting the notice of intent, the applicants halted plans due to a potential change in ownership, but no changes were made.
Conservation agent Patricia Cassidy said she reopened talks with Milanoski in August.
Much of the warehouse project would sit within 100 feet of bordering vegetated wetlands and 200 feet of the riverfront of the East Branch Sippican River. The proposal said that during construction, 4,430 square feet of wetlands would be altered.
Cassidy said that under the State Wetlands Protection Act, work within 100 feet of wetlands needs to be reviewed by the Conservation Commission and be subject to a public hearing.
There are questions about whether parts of the land are under the Conservation Commission’s jurisdiction. Cassidy said that one part of the land could be considered an isolated land subject to flooding.
If that is the case, then the Conservation Commission would require the applicants to recreate those wetlands. “They would have to copy at least one-to-one the square footage that they would be altering and put it somewhere else on the property,” she said.
Cassidy also said that the land is a protected habitat for eastern box turtles, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. The turtles are a species of special concern under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act.
The project is also being reviewed by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The office has requested more information in a draft environmental impact report.
Milanoski and Gerrity were not available for comment at press time.
The warehouse will be discussed at an upcoming Conservation Commission meeting currently scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 1.
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