Select board previews warrant articles: fire staffing, inspection fees, trash collection and several capital items

The Brentwood Select Board spent substantial time reviewing draft warrant articles and informational proposals ahead of the warrant deadline and public hearings. Items discussed included several public-safety, public-works and capital requests; no final townwide appropriations were adopted tonight but multiple proposals were advanced for further drafting.

Fire department proposals: Chief Roy (Chief Olsen) summarized three items he submitted: the routine $50,000 truck-fund warrant (unchanged), a proposal to establish a revolving fund that would retain building-inspection fees to add more inspection hours, and a warrant to add a 24-hour per-diem slot to provide a consistent third responder on duty (estimated cost $225,703). The chief described operational pressures — roughly 1,075 calls handled, heavy mutual-aid demands and NFPA/OSHA staffing guidance — and said a per-diem slot avoids benefits costs while improving on-scene personnel numbers.

Other warrant items discussed: a petition to continue manual trash collection for the second half of the year (estimated $24,950), additions to capital reserve funds for information-systems hardware ($30,000), revaluation ($25,000), municipal building maintenance ($25,000), fire vehicles (amounts noted), and highway vehicles ($150,000). Staff also raised encumbrance requests for a voting machine ($6,500) and consultant work on the Stevens property ($9,400), both of which the board approved for payment from unreserved fund balance.

Mill Road and developer bond: board members discussed a conditional agreement with a developer (Joe Falzone) that included a not-to-exceed figure of $110,000 for guardrails and related safety work on Mill Road. Staff were asked to review the conditional approval language (including any escalation clause) and arrange a site walk with the developer and highway contractor to determine scope and timing.

Next steps: the board set internal deadlines for department submissions and a warrant-review date. Staff will draft final warrant language, reconcile small budget differences with the budget committee, and present finalized warrant articles at the next select-board meeting and the budget committee's review prior to the public hearing.