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Bristol council approves $1.63M in appropriations, $772,000 for fire truck; delays water/sewer rate increase
Summary
The Bristol Town Council on May 7 approved multiple funding and code items — including a $1,629,134 additional appropriation, a $772,000 GO-bond payment for a fire truck, SRF pay applications, and an ordinance delaying water/sewer rate increases to Aug. 1 — and adopted several code changes and resolutions by unanimous vote.
Council members conducted a packed agenda on May 7, approving several funding measures, construction pay applications, and code amendments. Key outcomes included final adoption of an additional appropriation ordinance for $1,629,134, approval of a bond-funded $772,000 payment for a new fire truck, adoption of an ordinance delaying the scheduled water and sewer rate increase until Aug. 1, and several housekeeping code changes for parks, public comment rules and annexation descriptions.
Appropriations and capital items The council completed a public hearing and approved ordinance 5-7-2026-8 (final reading) to appropriate $1,629,134 for multiple projects and funds. Separately, the council approved ordinance 5-7-2026-11 on final reading to allocate $772,000 of GO bond proceeds to complete the fire truck purchase. Both measures passed on unanimous votes from members present.
SRF and grant pay applications Council approved SRF disbursement number 50 for $32,677 (engineering) and SRF disbursement number 51 for $178,910 (pay application) with $9,416 held as retainage. The council also approved Community Crossing (CCMG 2024-1) pay applications; staff emphasized the need to process checks quickly to meet grant deadlines and noted a return/closeout amount associated with the project (staff listed a returned amount of $63,962.70 in the packet).
Ordinances and code changes Legal counsel Alex Bowman led several ordinance actions: the council adopted ordinance 5-7-2026-12 to delay water and sewer rate increases until Aug. 1 after a noticed public hearing; it adopted ordinance 5-7-2026-13 (park code amendments) on first reading by suspending the rules and then approved Resolution 5-7-2026-11 to set park rental fees by resolution (no fee level changes). The council also adopted ordinance 5-7-2026-14 to correct the legal description for the Kaufman farm annexation (a clerical fix) and adopted ordinance 5-7-2026-15 to codify public-comment procedures and identify the presiding officer.
Tax abatements and community support Council voted to approve CF1 compliance forms for SLM Management and Alliance Sheets (finding both substantially compliant with prior abatement commitments). Council also adopted Resolution 5-7-2026-10 to establish a "community advanced support" policy to score and guide modest town funding for events; members agreed to a minor change to one scoring exhibit (adjusted the possible maximum score from 50 to 45).
Other business and next steps Council affirmed a countywide local income tax distribution agreement to pursue a population-based distribution approach that staff argued would be more equitable under recent state changes; the affirmation was unanimous. Staff provided project updates (utility truck search, Alber Street completion) and will return with follow-ups on tabling decisions (notably the Belmont septic variance). The meeting closed after public comment and routine announcements.
Vote summary (representative): most formal motions recorded unanimous approval by voting council members Doug Smith, Kathy Burke, Greg Holski and Jeff Beach; staff recorded votes individually during roll call for each motion.
