By Beth David, Editor
The Acushnet Selectboard held a meeting on 2/27/26, and held three interviews for police chief, an item postponed from a meeting on 2/23, in the height of the blizzard.
Gary Coppa, Provisional Police Chief, was chosen from a field of three, with Jeremy Fontes and Danny Deamaral also being interviewed.
The board will now enter into negotiations with Chief Coppa for his contract.
The board also met with Fire Chief, Thomas Farland, to discuss the blizzard response and cleanup. He told the board that he has the information to file for disaster relief from the federal government and has no doubt the area will reach the required benchmarks.
He said for all the “chaos” the town was still a “well oiled machine.”
Within 24 hours all the towns roads had at least one lane passable.
“I would definitely say we were the best community on the south coast,” said Chief Farland.
All three SB members praised the work of town employees and snow plow contractors.
SB Chairperson, David Wojnar, said the level of communication with Chief Farland was thd “gold standard.” They were in touch with both state reps to get equipment from the state and National Guard.
“I can’t say enough about what great work you do,” said Mr. Wojnar.
SB member Kevin Gaspar said it as impossible to keep up with a storm like that and said people need to be patient. He said PJ Keating offered two loaders and operators that the town used to clear the school parking lots. He said it was a morale booster for workers to know help was there.
They started out slow, he said, but “rocked” that storm. There was a great feeling of teamwork and camaraderie.
“That’s what we are about in Acushnet,” said Mr. Gaspar.
SB member, Bob Hinckley, also sang the praises of town staff. He reminded the public that all calls to Town Hall are recorded, so he knows how abusive people got to the one woman who was in town hall taking calls.
“She does not deserve to be treated the way she was treated,” said Mr. Hinckley, adding that people should call him instead.
•••
Click here to download the 3/5/26 issue: 03-05-26 Blizzard_Kids
Click here to download the Timoth-Hiller Summary: Timothy-HillerSummary
Support local journalism, donate to the Neighb News with PayPal
