Greenfield Town Meeting voters amended, then approved, three articles which served to redistribute the town’s 2026 proposed paving funds to other articles.
Nearly 100 voters attended Saturday’s Town Meeting.
Select Board Chair Tom Bascom said that the board proposed the amendments, which resulted in the cancellation of the town’s paving plan for the year, because of the volatility in global energy markets.
“We are concerned about recent instability in world oil markets due to the political situation in the Persian Gulf,” Bascom said. “Because oil prices are so high, we decided it is not a good year to do paving, and we have proposed redistributing half of the funds to other articles. This year’s paving project would have completed our long-range paving plan, so it’s a disappointment. It’s a delay.”
Petroleum is a significant portion of paving material.
Greenfield road agent Jim Morris said the town will postpone the scheduled paving project of Slip Road until 2027.
The first amendment, to Article 12, changed the amount proposed for paving and reconstruction in 2026 from $120,000 to $1.
The second amendment, to Article 5, added $30,000 to the Emergency Energy Fund within the Expendable Trust Fund, raising the total amount of Article 5 from $7,000 to $37,000.
The third amendment, to Article 13, distributed the remaining $50,000 from the original Article 12 to Article 13, which proposed creation of a Paving and Infrastructure Capital Reserve Fund.
Bascom said the remaining $80,000 from the original version of Article 12 “is just not being raised.”
Article 13 includes funds for infrastructure, including bridges. Bascom said the main driver for the creation of the Paving and Infrastructure Capital Reserve Fund is the upcoming reconstruction of the Schoolhouse Road bridge, which the state has slated for 2029.
“That will be a $1.4 million project and the town will need to do a 20% match, so we need to start saving up for that,” Bascom said.
Articles 14 and 15 allocate funds for the maintenance and repair of gravel roads, including chip sealing. Miner Road and Holt Road are scheduled for repairs in 2026.
In the discussion of road repairs, Forest Road resident Ginnie Plourde said the town’s sidewalks are dangerous, and asked if Greenfield was pursuing grants to repave them. Bascom said the town was not pursuing any grants for sidewalk repairs.
Voters approved the town’s 2026 operating budget of $1,622,701 without any discussion.
Police study committee completes assessment
Sheila Nichols, who chaired the 2025 Police Study Committee, which was formed after 2025 Town Meeting to explore the option of combining police services with Hancock after Hancock approached Greenfield in 2024, said the committee has completed its work.
Nichols said that after a year of gathering feedback from residents and assessing the police coverage situation, the committee determined it is not in the town’s best interest to share or combine police coverage with Hancock.
“All the towns around us aspire to have a police department like we have here in Greenfield,” Nichols said.
Select Board member George Rainier praised the department’s new chief, Frank Shea, for achieving a fully staffed department, and thanked members of the department for their hard work. Residents applauded Shea and Officer Mike Eneguess, who were in attendance.
