By Scooter MacMillan, Editor
Jim Faulkner and Frank Tenney must wear asbestos boots because they agreed to once again step into the metaphorical crucible of fire as leaders of Charlotte’s highest municipal body.
The Charlotte Selectboard re-elected Faulkner and Tenney as the board’s chair and vice chair, respectively — and they both accepted that appointment.
Monday’s selectboard meeting was the annual meeting following Town Meeting Day, dedicated to that board’s re-organization, although there wasn’t much to be re-organized since the two board members whose seats were up for re-election — Faulkner and Louise McCarren — ran unopposed.
The meeting formalized mostly no adjustments with the board staying the course, including re-approving the rules of procedure, the newspaper of record (The Charlotte News, except when time constraints won’t fit required notices into required public notices) and its procedure for signing warrants.
The board also agreed to keep its regular meeting schedule on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. The time for these meetings was reaffirmed at 6 p.m., but by informal consensus this starting time would be a moving target when the demands of work and children dictate.
The members of the board appeared to agree that Town Meeting Day went well considering it was held via Zoom, but look forward to returning to in-person direct democracy, but on Saturday now.
Getting the budget finalized sooner would make the switch to Saturday town meeting easier than it was this year, board member Matt Krasnow said. “I think the selectboard could pivot to three days earlier from Saturday to Tuesday and get that report in future years a little sooner.”
Faulkner said, “I think we’re satisfied with the move to a Saturday so we can make it more of a social event. I sure hope we can do that next year.”
“We could start the budget meetings now,” board member Lewis Mudge said. This suggestion got a big laugh from the rest of the board.
Town garage update
Possibly the biggest task facing the selectboard after Town Meeting Day is the same gargantuan responsibility it faced before — getting a town garage built.
The selectboard took one step towards making that a reality a week before at its Feb. 28 meeting when it decided on the town-owned property at the old flea market on Route 7, just south of Charlotte Crossings, as the location for the new garage.
This location was in line with the recommendation of road commissioner Junior Lewis who said that of all the sites considered he thought this was the best because it would save the town money to not have to buy land when the construction will cost a good bit.
Lewis also said it would be good to have the garage built convenient to the town sandpile across the road.