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Select Board acknowledges Open Meetings Law lapse after emergency action on Slaughterhouse Bridge; drainage remediation planned
Summary
The board reported emergency stabilization work at Slaughterhouse Bridge and agreed to publicly cure a procedural violation: a highway subcommittee with a quorum authorized repairs without a properly warned Select Board meeting. Board directed staff to report prior inspection recommendations and explore drainage and remediation options.
The Select Board discussed recent emergency stabilization work and ongoing drainage problems at the Slaughterhouse Bridge after a citizen reported concerning inspection results and restricted load limits. Town staff said contractor work stabilized the structure and identified short‑term repair actions; the state bridge inspector had previously recommended installing a boxed grate or similar device to divert water away from the bridge foundations.
Board members debated whether to follow the state inspector's recommendation, pursue a hybrid remediation or undertake a larger reconstruction. One board member summarized engineering options discussed earlier in the year and asked for copies of prior inspection reports and the Daniels company recommendations so the board could decide whether to invest in drainage devices or a more comprehensive structural solution.
Separately, the board acknowledged it had violated the Open Meetings Law when a meeting of the highway subcommittee that included a quorum of Select Board members directed the manager to authorize emergency repairs and the contractor subsequently signed a contract. Select Board members agreed to place an item on the next regularly warned agenda to remedy the procedural defect and record the acknowledgment in the minutes. One resident who filed the complaint told the board he wanted any future high‑value or non‑routine contracts to be placed on a Select Board agenda; board members said the manager has statutory emergency authority but accepted the need to improve process for large expenditures.
The board directed staff to assemble previous inspection reports and the state inspector’s recommendations, to solicit three remediation options and costs for the drainage problem, and to report back to the board before any further major expenditures.
Next steps: provide the board with prior inspection documentation and a costed set of remedial options; schedule an agenda item to formally cure the Open Meetings Law violation and outline steps to improve internal notification and public warning procedures.
