Bellingham Select Board Creates Veterans Council, Appoints Six Members

BELLINGHAM — May 5, 2025 — Bellingham Select Board launches Veterans Council and locks in process for new electricity supply contract. The board voted unanimously Monday to appoint six residents — Anthony Cazari, Matthew Lahan, Margaret Johnson, Carol Anne Paul Mary, Jim Hastings, and Edward Sandell — to the newly formed Veterans Council, a body intended to coordinate services across the town's existing veterans organizations. Hastings, a Vietnam-era Marine who has chaired the town's Memorial and Veterans Day committee for 15 years, was also named the town's honorary Commodore. The board authorized Town Administrator Dennis Brain to execute a new municipal electricity supply contract on bid day, anticipated for the first week of June; the current Bellingham Power Choice contract expires in December and has delivered more than $5 million in savings compared to utility basic service rates since 2017. Separately, the board approved a job profile for the open town administrator position — with salary language revised to "up to" rather than a fixed $220,000 — and ratified the appointment of Barry LaRiviere, a Bellingham native and former Conservation Commission member, as DPW Project Manager. The board also discussed two parcels totaling approximately 23 acres near Maplegate Country Club, secured at no cost under a Chapter 61A first-right-of-refusal negotiation, which will go before town meeting for formal acceptance.