Southbridge Council Approves Fifth Firefighter Hire, Six-Million-Dollar Grant Push

SOUTHBRIDGE -- June 1, 2026, Southbridge Town Council unanimously approved a firefighter hire, two DPW summer laborers, and more than $6.2 million in state grant applications at its June 1 meeting, while debate over the June 9 regional dispatch ballot question dominated both the chairman's remarks and councilors' forum. The council confirmed Peter Zarlan as a full-time firefighter-EMT, described by the fire chief as the department's fifth full-time hire in an ongoing staffing rebuild, with two vacancies remaining, and Job Barber as a full-time DPW maintenance operator. The council's largest grant authorization was a MassWorks application of up to $5 million for the Southbridge Innovative Center, part of a slate of four One-Stop for Growth applications written by Planning Director Peg Dean. The council also approved $90,000 in fire department overtime transfers to cover staffing shortages and cleared a second reading of a Library Revolving Fund bylaw. Chairman Lazo, citing the town's past regional decisions on the landfill and water company, urged residents to "vote no" on Question 1, while Councilors Kelly and Daniels made detailed fiscal cases for regionalization, with Kelly putting the cost of replacing the current dispatch console at $430,000 and Daniels projecting town-wide savings of $5.5 million to $8.6 million over the short term.