Norwood Select Board Ratifies $15.2M Bond Sale, Saving Town $4.5M in Debt Costs

NORWOOD — February 24, 2026 — Norwood Select Board ratifies $15.2 million bond sale and tables public safety staffing decision pending special meeting. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the General Obligation Municipal Purpose Loan of 2026, selling $15,205,000 in 20-year bonds to Fifth Third Securities, Inc. at a sale price of $16,579,131.46, with an all-in true interest rate of 3.25 percent. The sale drew six competitive bids and generated $1.4 million in net bond premium, with Town Manager Anthony Mazzucco telling the board the outcome produces approximately $4.5 million in projected debt service savings compared to an initial 30-year estimate. The board separately tabled the public safety staffing study for a special meeting March 3, where police and fire chiefs and union representatives will appear; a revised staff memo reportedly brings the estimated net annual cost to the average Norwood single-family homeowner down to approximately $94. The board also appointed Diane Mastendria to the Council on Aging and Megan Goggin and Greg Johnson — a married couple with arts and sciences backgrounds who moved to Norwood in June 2025 — to the Cultural Council, and accepted the resignation of Robert Thornton from the Economic Development Committee effective April 30.