Warren Select Board fills office vacancy, opens town meeting warrants

Select Board · Meeting of February 26, 2026

Warren Select Board appoints interim aide, hears fire chief warn of ambulance strain since Mary Lane closed. Members unanimously appointed Madeline Matosik as interim executive assistant to the board and town administrator, restoring regular office coverage. The board also opened warrants for the June 11 special and annual town meeting, adopted updated meeting guidelines, and approved more than $228,000 in accounts payable warrants and bills.

The town's fire chief told the board ambulance turnaround times have grown from about an hour to two or three hours since Mary Lane Hospital closed in Ware, saying crews sometimes "hold the wall" for 45 minutes or more waiting for a hospital bed. A resident cited the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Barron v. Kolenda decision, saying the board's newly adopted comment policy may not survive a constitutional challenge: "Civility, the court held, can't be required in a public comment session of a governmental meeting."

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Source: the Select Board meeting of February 26, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.