Erving Select Board Unanimously Appoints Robert Holst as Police Chief

ERVING — March 8, 2021 — Erving Select Board unanimously appoints Sergeant Robert Holst as the town's next police chief. Chair Jacob Smith and Member William Bembury each delivered prepared statements explaining their reasoning before the vote, with Smith citing the other finalist's responses on diversity and community complaints as concerns and Bembury reading at length from Holst's military and law enforcement credentials. Holst, who has served seven months as acting chief, will begin no later than April 1, subject to a six-month probationary period, pre-employment checks, and contract negotiations under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 41, Section 97a. The board also approved a $120,000 invitation for bids for an emergency generator replacement at the wastewater treatment plant — up from an $80,000 estimate due to newly identified asbestos — and a $67,200 engineering contract with Weston and Sampson for sidewalk work on four town streets. A special town meeting was set for March 27 in the Erving Elementary School parking lot in drive-in format, where voters will consider the generator funding among other warrant articles.