Bellingham Select Board Creates Third Police Lieutenant, Deadlocks on Planning Board Seat

BELLINGHAM — August 11, 2025 — Bellingham Select Board unanimously backs police restructuring, finance reorganization, and speed humps in final meeting with longtime Town Administrator Dennis Frame. The board voted Monday to create a third police lieutenant position, reclassifying Sergeant Chris Padulla, who led the department's push for state accreditation — with an on-site review scheduled for the morning after the meeting — and managed a million-dollar-plus construction project with only $30,000 in overruns. A no-cost finance office reorganization will promote a current payroll employee with more than 20 years of municipal finance experience to assistant CFO. A joint session with the Planning Board to fill an associate member seat ended without an appointment after votes on both Brian Hall and Robert Lau fell short of the required six. The board denied water abatements for two frozen-meter cases at 21 Rita Avenue and 1052 South Main Street, leaving balances due of $1,366.38 and $1,277.61, citing owner-negligence classification under state law, while approving three other utility abatements totaling roughly $855.