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Select Board pursues small preservation grant and reconnecting-communities resources while flagging road maintenance needs
Summary
The board will apply for a $10,000 matching grant for town-hall preservation and explored Reconnecting Communities resources for pedestrian and bike safety; members also raised local road maintenance and snow-drift hazards and discussed seeking landowner permission for snow fences.
The Westport Island Select Board said it received an invitation from Main Preservation to submit a full application for a matching grant of up to $10,000 to support renovations at the town hall. A small team of volunteers and board members will prepare the application ahead of the deadline.
Separately, a board member updated the meeting on a rushed interview for a Reconnecting Communities program. The member said the program primarily offers technical assistance and help accessing funding rather than direct capital grants for long stretches of road: “It turns out also it’s not money sadly. It’s um like a big suite of resources which includes helping you get money but is like … engineers and webinars and all kinds of stuff,” the member said. The board discussed potential uses for the program’s resources in the town-hall area and for short pedestrian and trail connections.
Board members also reported on immediate road-safety problems. They described icing and water over the road near Green Rum Cove caused when a ditch filled and a ledge forced water onto the roadway; town staff (Dale) responded to clear the hazard. Members further described recurring drifting and dangerous ice at Moer’s Hill and suggested exploring snow fences, noting that the road is a state road and installation would require landowner permission.
The board asked staff to contact property owners for permission to investigate a snow-fence solution and to pursue the Main Preservation grant application; the reconciling-communities resources will be explored for smaller town-center pedestrian improvements rather than major highway work.
