Lack of transparency again

     Tonight was Dan Chartrand's maiden voyage as stand in for Julie Gilman.  The Board of Selectmen meeting convened at 5:45 p.m. As the board members were scheduled to visit the waste water treatment plant following his announced "truncated meeting."  It was never said why the visit, but it must have been terribly important as public comment was shut off at two points.
     The first occurred when a member of the public stood and asked for an update on the "Sandy" 75% grant for dam removal.  Chartrand's answer was we do not have time to answer the question as we have to go to the waste water treatment plant.  An interesting answer when he could have said, "We have heard nothing" and taken just his long in his response.  Do you think he is being less than forthright?  Well, the next time he shut off public input sheds some light on that.
     Town Manager Russell Dean gave his report and said he had negotiated a bond for the dam removal and another project.  The bond included the total amount of the dam removal as it should, but no mention was made about any offsetting grant money.  Why?  If you think there is the potential for bad news coming your way as a taxpayer, you just may be correct.  Stay tuned as we try to find out more.
     It should also be pointed out that, in Chartrand's rush to exit the meeting he cut short two others of the public.  Arthur ("The Mayor") said that some time had passed since Gilman urged Dean to move quickly to put together a plan for repairing/replacing sidewalks.  He asked for an update.  Chartrand would not give him an update and pushed it off to Gilman upon her return.  After an impassioned plea from a business owner to address the sidewalks, she got a thanks from Chartrand and again no indication that anything had or was being done to push forward corrective action.  Kind of interesting that when on the sidelines Chartrand tries to run the meeting, but when in the hot seat he passes it off.