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Board flags need for permanent administrative capacity and grant-writing support; budget line of $8,600 noted
Summary
Advisory board members flagged gaps in the town's administrative capacity after a long-serving grants coordinator left and asked staff to pursue grant-writer engagement and short-term project-management options.
Board members raised persistent organizational concerns after the departure of a long-serving staff member who had managed grants and cross-department coordination. Members said the town lacks a single administrative hub to coordinate timelines, training and grant tasks; they proposed short-term steps (hire grant writers for scoped tasks, use interns for project-management work) and long-term options (create a chief administrative officer or project-manager role).
In the meeting, staff noted a current-year line for professional services totaling $8,600. Board members said a full branding and market-analysis project could cost in the tens of thousands ( "it could be 30,000, it could be 35" was discussed). They asked for clarity on whether existing funds could be encumbered or rolled forward and requested staff coordinate with grant writers to review prior successful state applications so the advisory board can adapt language and find shared opportunities with other town projects (open-space inventory, ecotourism, parks initiatives).
Members also discussed civil-service constraints and hiring challenges in engineering and planning, which limit the town's ability to recruit and retain experienced staff. As an interim measure they proposed exploring multi-year college internship programs or targeted part-time positions to serve as the glue between advisory boards, planning and engineering.
Board members asked staff to reach out to the grant-writing team, confirm scope and cost estimates for branding/market-analysis work, and provide a recommended funding strategy. They also asked staff to produce a project calendar that pulls timelines from the town's advisory boards so overlapping studies can be coordinated and duplicative procurements reduced.
No binding financial commitments were made during the meeting; members asked staff to return with cost estimates and a proposal for how to staff or source the administrative/project-management work.
