Rebekah Thompson

The Select Board held a workshop to review and finalize municipal budget items. Key discussion topics included adjustments to pest control service costs for different locations, the inclusion of Wi-Fi for cameras at the kiosk and booth, and a potential budget reduction through the potential restructuring of the assessor position from an in-house role to outsourced contracting. Additionally, the board reviewed bids for remote IT management services.

The Select Board and Budget Committee met to conduct a budget review for the upcoming fiscal year. Discussions included approval of various departmental budgets, including salaries and benefits, general administration, elections, insurance, animal welfare, health and human services, roads, buildings and grounds, the transfer station, and parks and recreation. The committee also discussed funding for capital reserve accounts, including those for computers, transfer station compactors, town hall expansion, revaluation, and the comprehensive plan.

The Select Board discussed the implementation of a kiosk for park admissions, covering technical specifications such as payment methods, power supply options, lighting, and ongoing maintenance costs. The board also debated the feasibility of hiring seasonal staff to manage the booth versus utilizing the proposed kiosk, and explored the potential of developing a campsite area at the park for work-camper management, including the necessary infrastructure requirements and budget considerations.

The Select Board discussed various administrative budget items, including the consolidation of IT services into a monthly cost model, the selection of survey software for public outreach, and the potential repurposing of a storage building to reduce external storage rental costs. The board also reviewed expenses related to the Planning Board, code books, trail camera subscriptions, lien release fees, and the repair and binding of vital statistics records. Adjustments were made to mileage estimates for the Director of Facilities and Recreational Services, and the committee reached a consensus to forward the proposed budget to the budget committee.

The meeting included a public hearing concerning the application for a subdivision amendment land swap for the property at 592 Walker Road (Map 3, Lot 78-4), involving swapping one and a quarter acres to create a building envelope closer to Walker Road for cost efficiency. The board also addressed procedural matters regarding whether to follow site plan review standards or subdivision standards for this modification, ultimately agreeing to proceed with the site plan review checklist. Subsequent discussion involved reviewing the application against numerous criteria (Section 8.3.6B), including compliance with zoning, potential adverse effects on abutters, property values, traffic, fire danger, flood hazard, safety access, exterior lighting, and landscaping buffers. The board unanimously voted to approve the application for the land swap based on meeting these criteria.