Residents push for Activity Center kitchen, ADA upgrades and multiuse modernization

At the public hearing residents and councilmembers repeatedly recommended renovating the Activity Center to improve accessibility and programming. "I suggest getting the kitchen back in the Activity Center, and also making the Activity Center ADA compliant," resident Diane Hildebrant told the council, saying the existing ramp reaches the doors but they are hard to open. Councilmember Cynthia Butterworth supported a combined approach: replacing water meters and updating the kitchen to enable community cooking and garden programming.

Town Manager Suzanne Harvey asked whether a kitchen project could be scoped as part of a broader modernization that includes ADA-compliant doors, bathrooms and accessible parking; William Osborne recommended considering SSP dollars for design work so the project would be shovel-ready for CDBG implementation. Councilmembers stressed the potential for rental revenue and senior programs if the facility were modernized.