Billerica Select Board Awards $16,800 Town Manager Search Contract to MRI

BILLERICA -- May 20, 2025, Billerica Select Board awards $16,800 town manager search contract and approves Route 3 zoning grant amid internal leadership clash. The board voted 4-0 at a May 20 special meeting to award Municipal Resources Inc. the recruitment contract under Attachment F of the town's RFP, with Select Board Member John Burroughs absent for both votes. The board also voted 4-0 to submit a Community One Stop subgrant for real estate services and technical assistance, which Planning Director Catherine Malgeri said would fund a consultant to study potential rezoning of the Route 3 corridor. Chair Mike Rousseff declined to open a meeting-within-a-meeting called by Burroughs and Select Board Member Jillian Pravitas under Town Charter Section 7-10 to reorganize board leadership, citing a deficient posting timestamp, missing member notice, and Select Board Policy 1.0 requiring officer elections at the first post-election meeting, conditions he said made the sub-meeting illegal. Burroughs disputed the chair's account and accused Rousseff of lying about deals made over officer positions before the session adjourned at 4:18 p.m.