Pembroke Select Board Reorganizes, Votes to Oppose North River Commission Dissolution Bill

PEMBROKE -- May 21, 2025, Pembroke Select Board reorganizes and unanimously opposes state bill to dissolve the North River Commission. The board elected Tracy Marini as chair, John Brown as vice chair, and Rich Flynn as clerk at its first meeting of the new term Wednesday. North River Commission Chair Bill Bolter asked the board to direct Town Manager Bill Chenard to write a letter opposing House Docket 3585, which would transfer the commission's permitting authority to individual town conservation commissions; Bolter said the bill appears driven by a single permit dispute in Scituate and would expose individual towns to legal costs. Chenard called the legislation filed "for all the wrong reasons" and said Pembroke's independent electric aggregation program saved rate payers $1,014,877 in 2024, with a new three-year contract bid going out the following Tuesday that could reduce the current $14.75-per-kilowatt supply rate into the 13-cent range. The board also approved a one-day outdoor liquor license for Bryant Villiquors and received notice from the 22-year-old Pembroke Tree Lighting Committee that it is handing the annual holiday event to the town.