New docks planned for Hammond Beach

CORNWALL — The old Hammond Beach docks in Cornwall have been removed, according to a report heard at the regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 3. 

It’s all part of a project to build new docks — and have them in use by June.

The new docks will float and will be made with modern decking materials that eliminate splinters, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway reported. He is preparing the specifications for the job.

“We need to get this done between now and June,” he said.  He is planning to have the project proposal prepared in time for the town meeting in May. He said that it will be of the same design as what was there before, but perhaps a bit smaller.

Also discussed at the meeting were the town’s bidding procedures, which were determined to be 25 years old, and therefore in need of update, to make them practical and current.

“Sometimes it is OK to use our own judgment as a town,” the selectmen agreed. A resident, in accord with the selectmen’s view, commented aloud that “the most important thing is transparency.”

Ridgway announced that the Cornwall fire department has a new tanker truck in service. The older tanker will be moved to the Cornwall Bridge fire department. There is “now more water on wheels,” Ridgway said.

The Cornwall Bridge crosswalk project is a bit delayed, Ridgway announced. The state Department of Transportation is making a minor revision to the plan, so the project is still in the works. A resident in attendance said she hoped that the project could reduce the number of signs in the area of the planned crosswalk.

Because Cornwall receives so little in state aid, a recent Moody’s financial report does not impact the town. Cornwall is rated as highly as a small town can be, according to the selectmen.

Selectman Richard Bramley expressed surprise at how many towns get a huge amount of support from the state.

Following the finance board’s suggestion, the town is proceeding with inventorying its town buildings, much the same as the roads and bridges were inventoried, as a tool toward planning for capital expenses.

Selectwoman Priscilla Pavel noted that a question always comes up at town meetings, questioning the standing $50,000 expense line for buildings.

The annual public hearing on the budget proposals for the town and the school is scheduled for Friday, April 20, at Cornwall Consolidated School, beginning at 7:30 p.m.