It’s clear that our Town Hall building no longer meets the needs of our local government and is not accessible enough to all residents in Town. As a member of the TC Passios Building Committee and now the Lunenburg Municipal Building Design Community, I have been working with other members of our community to identify a cost-effective path ahead that will preserve Town Hall and the Ritter Building and ensure their continued use for generations, while also consolidating town government in an accessible building (TCP) that provides residents and businesses a one-stop-shop of municipal services for our residents.

Our community has suffered from the lack of a dedicated full-time professional focused on facility management. Municipal buildings are our most costly community investments, and like all investments, a professional steward is required to ensure their continued health. Proactive management of facilities reduces their overall cost to the taxpayer. Lunenburg needs a Facility Manager and over the past two years, I’ve worked with the Town Manager to follow the process outlined by the Town Charter to create a new town agency for Facilities and the creation of a manager that will work collaboratively with the School Department. Approval will occur at the 2022 Annual Town Meeting.

The professional management of our building will also help identify opportunities for energy efficiency. Incorporating cleaner energy technologies into buildings, we can reduce the carbon footprint of our facilities. A carbon neutral town government is attainable — and will help lessen the effects of human activity on our climate.