Town Manager Report for the week ending October 2, 2026
This was a very slow meeting week with no Council or Planning Commission meetings scheduled. I did have a Directors meeting in which we discussed what was going on throughout the Town along with individual reports from Town Directors. The Police Department in conjunction with the Boy Scouts had a very successful open house Tuesday evening at the Community Learning Center to recruit for a Police Explorer program they are initiating. It was highly attended and we had 39 signups. More to come as that program gets up and running. Thanks to Captain DeMolles and Hopkins Hill Fire Chief John Potvin for your leadership on this program.
Our auditors have completed their field work and our working on a draft for the Town and the School. The goal is to have the full audit complete prior to the 12/31 deadline. Unaudited balances at this point look favorable for the Town and the School Department.
On Wednesday we had a meeting of the Lake Management Committee for Johnsons Pond led by Matt Ladewig and his team from TRC. Here is a brief summary from Asst.TM Broadbent on where we are:
TRC has been given the map and photos of each of the outfalls on Johnson’s Pond identified by Fuss & O’Neil. Fuss & O’Neil will continue to map outfalls on Johnson’s Pond using the funding appropriated for this fiscal year. We are checking with Fuss & O’Neil to see if they can schedule this year’s survey of outfalls soon, and if they think the funding will finish mapping the rest of the lake. TRC’s shoreline survey is being done from a boat, so they will be able to see outfalls regardless of their ownership. The focus of TRC’s investigation of outlet locations is to determine where stormwater best management practices (raingardens, swales, infiltration basins) would be most effective in capturing pollutants and sediment-i.e. non-point source pollution. TRC will be performing water quality testing where tributaries drain into Johnson’s Pond. This will give a sense as to the quality of the water coming into the lake. The plan itself will include suggestions for stormwater water quality projects that could be done in the future, as will the plans for Upper Dam Pond and Lake Tiogue. TRC has done quite a bit of field work already and will be collecting more data in the next week or two. They will be done with the examination of their data by the end of December, in line with the ARPA funding. We will have a community meeting on the plan in mid to late December, with the plan delivered to the Town Council in March.
On Friday we had the ribbon cutting at CHS for the new sewer line. We thank Senator Reed for being there and for obtaining the $3.25m grant. Thanks also to Vice President Brown and Superintendent Cowart for your leadership. It was a great day.