Oakham Select Board Authorizes Site Visit List, Backs 20-Year School Lease With No Exit

OAKHAM — October 14, 2025 — Oakham Select Board approves EFSB site visit list and commits to 20-year school lease ahead of contentious battery storage hearing. Meeting Tuesday, the board voted to authorize seven observers — including Planning Board member Phil Warbass, BEST Committee representative Matthew Broderick, Select Board member Michael Brunel, resident Barbara Pucci, town counsel attorney Melanie, Conservation Commission member Sean Seeley, and Clayton Rice if available — for a state Energy Facilities Siting Board walkthrough at 348 Colbrook Road on Thursday afternoon. Brunel outlined a six-officer security plan for the subsequent evening public hearing at Oakham Central School, citing expected overflow from neighboring Barre and a building capacity of 450; the board agreed to stop admissions at roughly 435 to reserve space for town officials and signed-up speakers. The board also voted unanimously to enter a 20-year lease for Oakham Central School with no escape clause, matching terms expected from other district towns, with members warning that abandoning the building could cost "hundreds of millions of dollars" to replace and would forfeit Massachusetts School Building Authority reimbursement eligibility. A public notice read into the record confirmed that both articles at the October 6 special town meeting passed — Article 3 with exactly 51 votes in favor out of 76 cast, meeting the two-thirds threshold, and Article 4 with 54 votes in favor.