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Officials Flag Overflowing Records Vault, Need for Secure Town Records Space
Summary
Town staff told the joint meeting that permanent town records are stored in a vault at the police station that is "stuffed completely full," noted past losses when a courthouse fire destroyed records, and said the town needs roughly 300–500 sq ft of secure storage and climate control for permanent documents.
During the Jan. 5 joint session, town staff described constrained space for permanent municipal records and said some records currently kept at the police station are at capacity.
A records speaker said the town has "a vault, a records vault, but it is overflowing. It's stuffed completely full," and explained that some records must be retained permanently under state-approved retention schedules. The speaker recounted that when a courthouse fire occurred years ago the town "lost all the town records except for 2 books," arguing for careful preservation and controlled access to the remaining permanent records.
Officials discussed options including transferring certain records to county repositories or the historical society, using retention schedules to cull nonpermanent boxes, and identifying additional secure, climate-controlled space. Participants stressed the need to ensure humidity control and secure storage when considering any building reuse or relocation of town records.
