Cohasset Select Board appoints eight to Public Safety Facilities Committee

Select Board · Meeting of February 3, 2026

Cohasset Select Board reviews $4.2 million capital request list and public safety budgets as fiscal year 2027 season opens. The board unanimously appointed eight residents — including Will Ashton, Donald Staszko, and Glenn Pratt — to the newly formalized Public Safety Facilities Committee, which is leading the push to replace the town's Elm Street police and fire building. Harbor Committee Chair George Baumgarten added urgency to that effort, presenting 25-year flood modeling showing the Elm Street facility could be "marooned on both sides" in a major storm event within 15 to 25 years.

Police Chief Quigley sought $4,115,027 for FY27, a 10.51 percent increase driven by a $589,000 South Shore Regional Emergency Communications Center assessment, IT cost transfers, and labor contracts, while Fire Chief Dockray requested $3,694,656, including $649,822 in overtime and a $1.2 million capital ask to replace a 2001 fire engine that has reached its 25-year service life. Interim Town Manager Michelle Leary told the board FY27 capital requests total $4.2 million against only $2.3 million to allocate.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of February 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.