Summer is coming and the fate of Town Hall is probably the last thing on most citizens’ minds. But we hope readers have been paying attention to the subtle shift in opinion that seems to be taking place among the selectmen.
Barely a month ago, the board voted 4-1 to proceed with a plan known as 1B. But that night, Town Administrator Tim Bragan also introduced a bold, 11th-hour proposal to move town employees to office space elsewhere in town and renovate Town Hall for use as a community center, a move that would also place the old library in play. At the time, BOS Chairman Stu Sklar described the proposal as “just an idea.” But as we reported this week (“As Town Hall Turns,” page 1), the board appears ready to make room for such an outcome, and on Tuesday Sklar opined that the board was “converging on consensus.”
Bragan’s proposal and the financial arguments behind it will be available online this week. We urge our readers to pay attention and to make your opinions known—for or against—to our representatives. The last thing taxpayers should want is to awaken to a fait accompli—one that departs radically from present expectations for the town’s “seat of government”—without having had time to carefully consider its implications and to ponder, in public debate, the pluses and minuses of a radically reconfigured town center.
