Brookfield Select Board Clears South Pond Beach Work, Moves Into Police Contract Session

BROOKFIELD -- July 25, 2024, Brookfield Select Board authorizes South Pond Beach cost estimates and signs a federal grant award while debating marijuana negotiation rules. The three-member board, Chair Sarah Campbell, Vice Chair Richard A. Chaffee, and Clerk Beth L. Coughlin, voted unanimously July 25 to have Chaffee seek estimates for paving, rip-rap erosion control, and sand placement at South Pond Beach, with the full project expected to come in under $10,000. The board also unanimously signed a notice of award for engineering procurement tied to the Kimball Street Project under a fiscal year 2022-2023 Community Development Block Grant. A lengthy exchange followed over Coughlin's designated role as liaison for host community agreement negotiations with a marijuana cultivation applicant tied to Molasses Hill Road; Coughlin said a board vote from roughly January or February had authorized her to communicate independently and bring results back to the full board, while Chaffee argued future negotiations should occur in open public forums. The board also took preliminary steps toward forming a roads and bridges advisory committee, with former water department employee Bruce Clark named as a likely candidate, before adjourning unanimously into executive session for police union contract talks with the New England Police Benevolent Association.