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Select Board moves to require board sign-off after debate over 1856 Academy spending
Summary
After multiple votes rejecting continued town ownership of the 1856 Academy, the Select Board debated halting spending on the building and then voted to require the board approve any future expenditures recommended by the volunteer restoration committee.
A Monmouth Select Board debate over the future of the historic 1856 Academy culminated in a decision to require board approval for any further spending on the building after voters twice rejected further town ownership.
Board members opened the discussion by saying the recent election results showed residents do not want the town to continue owning the building. One member proposed pausing all spending: "I would actually like to make a motion that we stop expending funds and put everything at a halt over there until a decision is made on what is going to happen with that building," the member said.
Several members pushed back, arguing small items on a contractor punch list should be completed and that volunteers and committee members should have an opportunity to meet and plan next steps. "I think we have a meeting planned on the 22nd and we're going to start discussing what our next steps were," a board member said, urging more time for the volunteer committee to meet.
Faced with competing approaches, a subsequent motion directed that future spending on the 1856 Academy be approved by the Select Board on a case-by-case basis and based on recommendations from the volunteer restoration committee. The board debated whether to simply prohibit all spending or to allow limited, verified expenditures to complete critical punch-list items; the latter approach prevailed in a recorded motion.
The board also discussed alternatives for public engagement, including holding a focused evening hearing to give residents and committee volunteers a chance to weigh in, and how donated funds vs. prior town appropriations have been tracked. Town staff said some original town-appropriated funds were spent in earlier phases and that ongoing fundraising consists of donations. "Everything that the town raised in that initial group money is gone," a town official said during public comment, noting more recent funds are donations.
Next steps the board set: require the 1856 restoration committee to present recommended expenditures at a public Select Board meeting for approval; staff to provide clearer accounting of donated versus municipal funds when requested; and schedule additional public engagement to settle the building's future rather than letting the issue dominate regular meetings.
The board did not commit to a final disposition of the building at the meeting; members said a town meeting or ballot question would be required for any sale or final disposition, and that committees would continue fundraising in the meantime.
