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Select Board backs modified ARPA scope for Center Street Lot study, pushes for Select‑Board‑appointed advisory group
Summary
Planning staff proposed flexing $25,000 from phase two into phase one of the ARPA‑funded Center Street Lot study to expand the phase‑one parking/curb management work, add tactical urbanism demonstrations and create a community advisory group; the board directed staff to explore making the advisory group a Select‑Board‑appointed public body and to try to re‑insert some financial feasibility analysis into the scope.
The Select Board on Oct. 15 approved a modified scope for an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)‑funded study of the Center Street parking lot intended to inform conceptual planning and community visioning for that commercial area.
Meredith Mooney, Economic Development Director in the Planning Department, told the board staff recommend flexing $25,000 from phase two into phase one, boosting phase‑one resources to $125,000 and enabling additional parking‑scenario analysis by the town’s consultant (Stantec). Staff proposed a community advisory group, a series of tactical urbanism demonstrations (low‑cost temporary installations) and robust public engagement in early 2025.
Board members pressed staff on the advisory group’s structure: several members favored a Select‑Board‑appointed body that would be subject to the Open Meeting Law and have the ability to vote on recommendations; others favored a staff‑led stakeholder group with balanced representation. Board members also urged reinserting a financial feasibility analysis early in the process so concepts presented to the public would be financially grounded. Planning staff agreed to review the Attorney General’s guidance regarding working groups versus formal committees, to analyze options for committee appointment and voting structure, and to evaluate whether additional ARPA funds could be rebalanced to restore some feasibility work.
The board voted to approve the modified scope and to authorize staff to release an RFP reflecting the change, with the expectation that a consultant would be under contract by mid‑December and public engagement would begin in spring 2025.
Next steps: staff to draft the RFP reflecting the modified scope, evaluate options to include financial feasibility analysis, and return with recommendations for advisory‑group structure and any needed ARPA reallocation.
