Jumped into the BOS meeting on TV at about 30 minutes in.  I don’t think I missed much as the perfunctory agenda items were just being finished up.

The BOS tabled the agenda item related to changing town codes because officer Rondeau was not available.  Reportedly he was called to temporary active Army reserve duty.

The following three agenda items to update CIP guidelines, Review Master Plan Goals, and Setting BOS goals were difficult to follow because the items were simply referenced by letter with no description.

When asked for his input, the Town Manager listed a few items that he felt needed addressing:

• Clarification of the direction to be pursued for Brewster Hall.  He asked if the board intended to continue to pursue repairs “piece meal” or via a more comprehensive proposal.
• Restoration of the street repair budget to $750,000/year.  Last year the recommended budget increase of $200,000 was eliminated and later used to justify the BMH repair warrant.
• Continued ADA funding, particularly to the parking areas at Brewster Hall.

As near as I can tell, the BOS worded it so as to read that they would continue to pursue repairs to BMH.

They decided to avoid the specific question of amount for the roads, deciding instead to parse the Town Manager’s requested wording of “maintain increased funding” to read “maintain funding”.

Regarding ADA, they seemed to decide to broaden the goal by removing the specific BMH recommendation, citing that ADA requirements continue to evolve and that we need to be flexible.  I understand this because we built an evidence room at the police department with ADA appropriated funds and are currently financing burying utility lines downtown with “surplus” ADA funds.  It’s a golden goose.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Town Planner described an ongoing project that he is doing for Dave Ford in developing a comprehensive set of signage for downtown.  It will include two “maps”, one at the railroad station and one next to dockside, as well as informative signs to the boat ramps, restrooms, trails, parking, and other significant landmarks.