Middleton Select Board Unanimously Rejects $6.7 Million PFAS Water Line Borrowing

MIDDLETON -- May 5, 2026, Middleton Select Board shelves $6.7 million PFAS water line loan, approves package store expansion and Verizon easement. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to take no action on a Massachusetts Clean Water Trust borrowing proposal that would have extended municipal water lines to roughly seven households near two town landfills where PFAS was detected, funding that carried a June 2026 acceptance deadline and would have been repaid through the water enterprise fund, raising all ratepayers' bills. Board Chair Brian Cresta recommended pursuing point-of-entry filtration systems for affected homes instead, funded by a $1 million congressional grant from Congressman Seth Moulton's office, while using remaining grant dollars for engineering design that could support a future Clean Water Trust application. The board also unanimously approved an alteration of premises application for JU Inc. at 223 Maple Street, expanding a pending all-alcohol package store license by 539 square feet to 3,539 square feet total, and approved a Verizon conduit easement at the new municipal complex at 99 South Main Street. The omnibus fiscal 2027 municipal budget, set at $51,925,927, is among 30 articles headed to Annual Town Meeting on May 12.