Mansfield to Leave Crossroads Veterans Services District

Only a week after the selectmen said that Manfield had no intent of leaving the Crossroads Veterans Services District, the town will do exactly that after a 4-0 vote by the selectmen to take such action.

The vote will dissolve the district at the end of June since Mansfield was the only town that bordered the two remaining towns of Norton and Foxborough.
The selectmen were forced to make a decision during their May 1 meeting, otherwise they would have been requiered to stay in the district for another year.

Disagreements over issues such the structure of the district and who was responsible for the hiring of veteran service officers (VSO) led to Mansfield’s exit of the district and a bleak future for the year old venture.

Since district agent John Hogan retired in Februay, the district has been operating with only two agents.

The decision to leave was not taken lightly as those involved in the district from Mansfield have gone back and forth in the day since the district’s last meeting on April 30.

“I’ve been kinda bouncing this back and forth for the past 24 hours and I’m leaning towards potentially saying bye bye,” Selectman Jess Apowitz said.

With Easton’s exit, Mansfield’s contribution was expected to go up as costs are calculated by town size. While the final cost to Mansfield has yet to be calculated, it was expected that the program as a whole would be cost neutral at best instead of cost beneficial according to Town Manager Bill Ross.

Other issues included whether the VSOs could remain town employees or if the state would force the remaining towns to create a new entity the towns would fund and use to pay the VSOs.

“We could vote tonight to remain and tomorrow get a note from the state saying you have to have your own entity,” Chairman Olivier Kozlowski said.

While the district may be be gone soon, Mansfield will reach out to Norton with the hope of working out something in the near future.

“We have a good relationship with Norton, we just don’t want to leave them high and dry like that. I would like to open discussions with them,” Selectman Doug Annino said.

Ross plans to notify Foxborough and Norton of their decision as soon a possible. The district will operate until the end of the fiscal year in June.

Meanwhile, Mansfield will keep their veteran service agent once the district dissolves after June 30.

“We have an obligation to provide services to our veterans both legally and morally,” said Ross