Town manager reports progress on parks, paving, revenue‑collector hiring and water‑well planning

Town Manager Andrew J. Tierney updated the Board on multiple town projects, including parks improvements, a major paving job, recruitment for a revenue-collector position, audits and preliminary work to identify town-owned sites for new wells.

Tierney reported the dog park is "almost done" with a planned soft opening scheduled for Sept. 25, and that parks improvements funded through ARPA have increased daytime and evening use of the facilities, including pickleball courts and a skateboard park. He said the town will coordinate a soft-opening ceremony and work with local vendors and veterinarians for the event.

Town staff said a paving project on Papermore Road (near the Marlborough town line) was completed and that residents affected by the repair have expressed appreciation. Tierney said grants fund certain road projects and that Jones Street paving is scheduled for next year under a grant process. He also said Martin Rowe will go out to bid on a bridge project.

On staffing, the town plans to set up interviews for a revenue-collector position soon. Tierney said the Region 8 Insurance Consortium balance is at approximately $3,200,000 for contingency and staff continue to work with both the town auditors and a forensic audit. Regarding water, the town has identified town-owned locations to test for new wells and will begin consultant meetings to evaluate sites; the town clarified that a separate $2,100,000 common-well grant is unrelated to the town’s budgeted well exploration.

The manager’s report was informational; no formal board action was taken.