Carver Select Board Tables Edaville Parcel Vote, Opens Tax Split Talks with Assessors

CARVER -- October 9, 2025, Carver Select Board opens tax split debate and tables Edaville title vote over record errors. At a joint session Thursday, Board of Assessors member Mike Paddock, a 15-year assessor, urged both boards to begin a phased reduction of Carver's commercial property tax classification factor from its current 1.4 toward 1.3 over five years, arguing the split discourages quality businesses from locating in town. No vote was taken; the formal classification vote will occur at a forthcoming hearing when assessors return with a recommendation. The board also postponed a request by Lancelot Group, new owner of the Edaville Railroad property, to formally waive the town's Chapter 61A right of first refusal on four parcels, after board members and assessors found that at least one parcel ID on the agenda was incorrect, a second parcel appeared to have been sold to a third party in 2017 without a refusal offer, and a third parcel no longer exists as a standalone record. During public comment, elected Town Moderator Ellen Germain publicly contested Town Administrator Glen Cannon's refusal to appoint her to the Finance Committee or the Earth Removal Committee, citing no statutory or bylaw bar to her appointment and calling the denial "either discriminatory or retaliatory."