Russell's Mills residents tell Dartmouth Select Board they were excluded from process over conservation restriction and demolition questions

Residents of Russell's Mills Village told the Dartmouth Select Board they have been sidelined in discussions about a conservation restriction and a related proposal that includes possible demolition and a sculpture park.

"We've been consistently ignored, disrespected and shut down," said John Powell, a resident who identified himself during the meeting, describing what he called a pattern of being denied a hearing on matters affecting the village. Powell told the board the historic‑district commission had been the only body to provide a forum for neighbors to be heard.

Bob Smith, another Russell's Mills resident, said minutes and application materials overstated community support for the Buzzards Bay Coalition proposal and identified elements of the coalition's Community Preservation Committee application: "Most of the members of the village, as far as I know, have no problem with the conservation restriction. What they do have a problem with was tearing down the house... Both of those issues are in the application, the 10‑page application that Buzzards Bay Coalition filed to get $575,000 worth of CPC funding." Smith said residents were denied opportunities to question demolition and sculpture‑park plans during earlier meetings.

Residents asked how and when they will get a public hearing to obtain facts about the proposal. The chair and other officials said the conservation restriction itself does not green‑light demolition and that future hearings (historic commission, planning board, Conservation Commission) are part of the process and will provide opportunities for public testimony. The board said it would ask the Town Administrator to contact the Buzzards Bay Coalition and encourage the organization to meet with neighborhood representatives.

Several residents urged recurring training for volunteer commissioners and clearer public guidance on the sequence of events and which bodies will hold hearings. The board agreed to work on publishing a clear sequence of next steps and to request that Buzzards Bay Coalition representatives meet town officials and neighbors.

The Select Board took the public comments under advisement while moving forward with the administrative action on the historic‑district commissioners; the board said it expects additional hearings and public opportunities as the conservation and any demolition matters proceed through the town's established processes.