Dighton Select Board tables highway hire, backs composting and Swap Shed pilot

DIGHTON -- January 14, 2026, Dighton Select Board tables highway posting, endorses composting program, and accepts Planning Board resignation. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to table the posting of an assistant foreman position in the Highway Department after member Nicole Mellon raised concerns about inconsistent job-description language and inadequate public notice, directing Highway Superintendent Tom Ferry to revise the posting and return. The board also unanimously approved a composting awareness flyer citing a state DEP estimate that food scraps make up roughly 25 percent of household trash, with a potential annual savings of $26,000 for the town at full participation, and gave conditional backing to a Swap Shed pilot program at the transfer station to be funded by a $6,000 MassDEP grant, with formal policy adoption held for three required readings. Robert J. Woods's resignation from the Planning Board, effective April 10, was accepted, and the board instructed the Town Clerk to place his unexpired seat on the April 11, 2026 annual town election ballot. More than $1.8 million in vendor warrants were approved, and the board granted 100 hours of donated sick time, covering 12 weeks of FMLA leave, to a pregnant employee, deferring the remaining 68 donated hours pending a future request.