Middleton Select Board Approves Union Contracts, Construction Change Orders at February Meeting

MIDDLETON -- February 3, 2026, Middleton Select Board approves two union contracts and $405,000 in Municipal Complex spending while flagging an $800,000 projected budget deficit for fiscal year 2027. Town Administrator Justin Snyder told the board Tuesday that the gap is "a little unusual for it to be that size" this early in the budget cycle, attributing it partly to statewide fiscal pressures. The board unanimously approved a $203,429 change order covering 20 items on the new Municipal Complex and a $201,705 extension for owner's representative PCA 360, with Snyder emphasizing the project remains on schedule for its originally projected opening date. The board also ratified an AFSCME administrative assistants contract on a 3-0 vote with one abstention and an AFSCME library staff contract 4-0, both following executive session. On the Attorney General's lawsuit against Middleton and eight other MBTA Communities Act non-compliant towns, the board's chair argued the town "does not even have it in our authority" to return the rejected zoning measure to town meeting, calling the suit "unprecedented." The board voted unanimously to distribute the dormant $5,200 Elmira Richardson Scholarship Fund to Middleton nursing or allied health students, split equally between a Masconomet and an Essex Tech recipient.