County Administrator Michael Dutton summarized his goals for 2026 at the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners' Jan. 2 meeting, and the board voted to accept the goals by roll call.

Dutton said the goals focus on several operational and long-term items: advancing composting efforts at Joint Base Cape Cod for Upper Cape towns; finding interim and long-term office space tied to a Superior Court renovation and an associated lease with the state trial court system; drafting and implementing a business plan for the county's dredge program; refining financial policy, including how the county calculates revenues; and preparing public education and administrative groundwork for a possible elected charter review commission ahead of November 2026.

On courthouse issues, several commissioners stressed the county's limited borrowing capacity and encouraged staff to pursue assistance from the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) and to engage legislators to help secure state participation in renovation costs. Dutton acknowledged those constraints and said he would flesh out the leasing language and the county's approach to seeking state support.

Dutton characterized the memo as "a shortened version of what has been a fairly lengthy document" and said, "So, so those are sort of the broad areas." After discussion, a motion to accept the administrator's 2026 goals was seconded and approved unanimously by roll call.

The board asked staff to clarify leasing language in the goals document and to return with more detailed proposals and any finance transfers needed for immediate work on court facilities.