Selectboard favors separate budget line for Garen Road project to improve transparency

Selectboard members agreed it would be clearer to list the Garen Road work as its own line item rather than absorb the costs into general road maintenance. A member argued the separate item would let the town show exactly how surplus funds are spent and make project accounting auditable: "By separating out the Garen Road project on its own, this will satisfy ... our auditors," one participant said, urging the board to code labor and materials to the project.

Estimates discussed included material, hauling and fuel costs; board members proposed coding timesheets and material invoices so the work could be tracked to the specific project. The board directed staff to prepare line-item detail and said they would consider pulling excess from generalized maintenance categories into the new project line so taxpayers can see the apples-to-apples cost.