Sandisfield Select Board Defers Gas Station Tax Financing Decision to Town Meeting

SANDISFIELD — November 10, 2025 — Sandisfield Select Board takes up fire staffing, road repairs, and a tax break pitch at a wide-ranging November session. Fire Chief Chris Grillo told the board that a block on building access by SFDI is "110 percent impeding" department operations, and described two recent incidents — a domestic assault with a 30-to-35-minute state police wait and a quarter-mile woods rescue in which two firefighters were injured — as evidence that underfunding emergency services has direct consequences; an OEMS inspection of the department's ambulance licensure compliance is scheduled for the week of the upcoming special town meeting. Board of Assessors representative Roger Brown reported single-family home values have risen roughly 10 percent, pushing the town's single-family count from 594 to 599, and announced a $100,000 overlay fund release; the formal tax rate vote is pending state certification of valuations. A member of the Moran family proposed a seven-year tax increment financing arrangement under MGL Chapter 40, Section 59 for a planned South Main Street gas station, with one board member saying the decision should go to Annual Town Meeting voters in May rather than be made by the three-member board alone. New DPW Superintendent Derek Boomsen, a 30-year construction industry veteran, outlined plans for culvert replacement on Town Hill Road, a Complete Streets grant application, and repairs to the town hall parking lot, which he called the first thing visitors see when they arrive.