Hardwick Select Board Creates Town Meeting Task Force, Appoints Eight Members

Other Committee · Meeting of July 16, 2026

Hardwick Select Board establishes town meeting options task force and advances skate park partnership. The board voted unanimously at its July 16 meeting to approve operating guidelines for a new town meeting options task force and appointed eight community members — including former 24-year town clerk Alberta Miller and former Hardwick Gazette editor Ross Conwell — to study and recommend reforms to the town's annual meeting process, with recommendations due no later than November 19 and a sunset date of July 16, 2027. The board also authorized Town Manager David Elson to explore placing the community's existing temporary skate ramp near the townhouse trailhead after Rose Friedman of Civic Standards described kids skating on downtown sidewalks following removal of last summer's ramp from its flood-prone location.

The board awarded a $193,188 demolition contract to Complete Demolition Service LLC for the East Hardwick flood buyout, funded entirely by the Flood Resilient Communities Fund grant, and approved a fiscal year 2027 paving contract with Grades that includes a speed table on West Church Street — after learning that prior contractor Pike Construction declined to include the traffic-calming measure. Hardwick Electric Commissioner Jake Lester reported a $541,000 year-end operating deficit driven by variable power supply costs and said a TextMyGov outage notification system for the department is imminent, following criticism that a recent substation failure was communicated only via Facebook.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,951 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of July 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.