Middleton Select Board Appoints Assessor, Approves Brigadoon Sidewalk Overhaul

Select Board · Meeting of July 21, 2026

Middleton Select Board fills assessors seat, greenlights Brigadoon sidewalk work, and takes on Ferncroft and school leadership in a marathon July 21 session. Nick Halides, a retired commercial banker who led the appraisal department at Bay Bank and managed more than a billion dollars in real estate loans during a 40-year career, was appointed to the Board of Assessors through May 2027 in a joint session with that board, edging out urban planner Natalie Lovett. The board unanimously approved a Department of Public Works plan to remove up to 18 trees and patch heaved sidewalks in the Brigadoon neighborhood, with replacement trees offered to any affected property owner; DPW Superintendent Paul Goodwin estimated the prior full-neighborhood repair at $250,000 to $300,000 but said this targeted phase will cost significantly less, funded largely through Chapter 90 and approximately $163,000 in state Winter Recovery funds that must be spent by July 2027.

The board accepted a Massachusetts School Building Authority funding agreement for the Fuller Meadow School roof replacement, with MSBA reimbursing roughly $750,000 of the $2.3 million total project cost at a rate of 47.21 percent on eligible work. Town Administrator Justin Saltzbach reported that the town's newer ambulance was totaled in an accident the previous day and warned that a replacement could take up to 18 months; he also flagged an emerging water-supply crisis tied to the town's intermunicipal agreement with Danvers and declining watershed replenishment. Newly hired Masconomet Superintendent Heather Galanti and Assistant Superintendent Dr.

Jim Mealy made their first appearance before the Middleton board, pledging transparent budgeting and community outreach well beyond the school's own families.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report, 5,047 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of July 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.