SOUTHAMPTON — At its Dec. 10 meeting, the Southampton Select Board moved through various topics as it winds up its 2024 agendas.
With only one more meeting this year, the board needed to obligate its remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
The board voted to obligate $61,500 in funds for the town’s needs. Now that the funds have been obligated, the town has two years to use them.
The largest amount, $44,000, will go toward expanding the use of Permit Link. The system, now used by the Building Department, will allow residents to purchase all kinds of permits and for departments to see what is going on for each of the town’s parcels — all in one place.
The board also obligated $12,500 to purchase four self-opening add-ons for doors in public buildings. These will allow the doors to open without being physically moved. The town intends to buy a couple first to see how they work. The final obligation was made to meet the needs of the 250th-anniversary group, which was working to plan year-long celebrations. It will receive $5,000 for promoting events, entertainment needs, or the like.
In one final move, the board also voted to stop using ARPA funds to pay paraprofessional salaries at Norris Elementary School at the end of this calendar year. Those salaries will then need to come out of the school’s budget.
Town Administrator Scott Szczebak received approval for moving forward with a new wage classification plan. The new chart is meant to better reflect market rates for town employees, both exempt and non-exempt. Szczebak intends to put the plan into place with January paychecks. The initial pay adjustments, up to $15,000 will come out of ARPA funds. Anything over that will then come out of a specific line item set aside for this need.
The town continues to move forward with a potential sewer project. At this point, the feasibility study has been completed and the town will be reaching out for feedback from the public. It is also looking at any legal issues and ways to secure funding for it.
As the proposal for the Greenway Rail Trail works its way through to completion, the town decided to end its work for an equestrian trail to be next to the rail trail. On suggestion from committee member Aaron Tauscher, the proposed equestrian trail was deemed incapable of coming to fruition. Chair Christine Fowles noted that the proposal was a “nice thought but in practicality would not make sense.”
The board approved license renewals for 16 businesses. A couple of board members did express concern that this wasn’t all of them and asked for Szczebak to double check.
The board’s next meeting will be virtual on Dec. 23.
