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Board confirms Town Commons plan, debates piping ditch and six-figure power upgrade
Summary
The board confirmed the Town Commons plan is adopted, discussed switching from stoning the open ditch to piping and covering it, and considered a separate, expensive electrical upgrade to support future uses such as EV charging and events.
The town board confirmed that the Town Commons plan has been adopted and debated a change to pipe and cover an existing open ditch rather than install decorative stone, and considered a costly power upgrade to support future uses including potential electric-vehicle charging.
"So the plan is adopted," the chair said, then described a newly proposed change: piping the ditch and covering it rather than the stoning shown on the plan. "So we are now talking about ditching it, which I think might actually be more economically feasible. But we need to do some engineering, and we need to buy some pipe, and it's gonna cost some money," the chair said.
Board members discussed retaining the Memorial Bridge and routing a pipe under it. The chair asked the Conservation Advisory Board (CAB) to review the change and advise the town on how to minimize environmental impacts and preserve desired features. "I do wanna send it to Cab to tell them what we're doing," a board member said; the chair said he would "keep my foot on the gas" and continue pushing engineering work.
Separately, the board discussed adding electrical capacity to the Commons to support future uses. The chair said transformer upgrades and bringing power from across the road would be required to feed the commons and potential auto-charging stations, and estimated that the upgrade would be expensive. "I'm gonna tell you, it's gonna be 6 figures to put a power upgrade out there," the chair said. Board members noted the town has applied for grants for charging stations but that existing lines may not support both town-hall service and Commons loads without new infrastructure.
No formal new appropriation or ordinance was adopted during the workshop. The board directed staff to continue engineering work, to consult the Conservation Advisory Board for advice on the piping proposal, and to report cost estimates for piping and the electrical upgrade at a future meeting.
The chair said the Commons work was intended to make the space more usable for concerts and public events, and emphasized that further decisions would follow engineering estimates and cost analysis.
