The Cheshire Town Council met to review and align the town manager’s 2026 goals, urging a shorter list of priorities so staff can make measurable progress. Chair Peter Talbot opened the discussion noting the exercise’s purpose was to ensure the manager’s objectives reflect council expectations without overloading staff.

Councilor Greg Wolf pushed for continued emphasis on West Main Street, saying, “I just wanna make sure that we as a group focus on the West Main Street business district and make sure that that keeps some momentum.” He proposed either expanding existing bodies or creating a cultural/performing-arts commission to coordinate events, marketing and public art linked to the new bandshell.

Town Manager Sean cautioned the council about bandwidth, noting the goals were reduced from 37 last year to 33 this year and that “if we doubled this number, I would certainly tell you we’re not gonna make it happen,” saying staff must balance routine operations with priority projects. Members agreed it would help to identify the top two or three objectives in each category so progress can be tracked.

Councilors also supplied a short list of eight council-level priorities they want to carry forward alongside manager-led tasks: creation or expansion of a cultural arts commission, development of the West Main business district and form‑based code, multimodal transportation and bus-line expansion, food-waste diversion and bulky-waste options, a North End planning process, a study of Chapman/Darcy/Humiston school properties, homelessness and related social-services work, and a potential charter revision.

The council discussed where responsibilities should sit. Several members said some items (for example, employee recruitment and specific HR tasks) are department-level work that the town manager should oversee rather than directly perform. The council encouraged Sean to track deliverables and stakeholder conversations—especially with DOT, CT Transit and planning consultants—so progress on multimodal and other initiatives can be measured.

Next steps: staff will refine the goals document and circulate a revised draft for the council to review before next week’s packet. A motion to adjourn closed the meeting.