Okay, you may be getting tired of us writing about how important the topics are for the next Town Council meeting. But it's true again. The topics on this agenda are sure to generate discussion for months to come. Continue reading for a preview.
Our new Council is hitting the ground running, with two meetings this month. Having two meetings also helps them end before late into the night.
As usual, Monday's meeting will start at 7 pm in the town hall council chambers. The agenda and backup materials can be seen here.
Here is what we know about the agenda prior to the meeting:
Council member Stephen Stokes requested an item to discuss the 2008 Ninigret Park Master Plan and the draft 2014 Master Plan that was not adopted. With his comments in a recent WBLQ radio interview, it appears that the discussion will be about updating the 2014 draft to reflect work that has been done since then and to form a new master plan that will lead to specific ideas for park improvements in the future. If you want to dig into it more, the 2008 Master Plan is in the agenda packet starting here. The draft 2014 plan starts here.
A second Ninigret Park agenda item is discussion of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the town has with US Fish and Wildlife. It appears that we have a new contact representing the Ninigret Wildlife Refuge, replacing Charlie Vendemoer, and a dialog would make sense. The current MOU, signed March 2022, can be seen here.
Cannabis sales in Charlestown was approved by the voters in November. There is an agenda item for this meeting to begin the process of ordinance revisions required to regulate the locations and other zoning aspects for those sales. Briefing memos from Joe Warner, Building/Zoning Official, and Jane Weidman, Town Planner, can be seen starting here.
The agenda also shows the possibility of an Executive (private) Session concerning a "Possible Resignation by the Town Administrator." The full wording can be seen in the agenda. No further information is available at this time.
As usual public attendance in person in town hall is allowed. The session will be offered as a live stream to view through WebEx as described in the agenda. People watching online will not be able to comment or ask questions. The video of the session should be available for viewing at your leisure sometime on Tuesday on the meetings page. It will be down the page in the Past Meetings section.