Takeaways from the Special Town Council Meeting

At last Friday’s meeting, the discussion about whether to proceed with construction of a new medical clinic ended with the decision not to move forward.

Although public comment was not initially announced, the Mayor allowed it, and several attendees took the opportunity to speak. All six letters submitted to the Town Council, as well as the comments made during the meeting, expressed the view that a new medical clinic was unnecessary.

When the council was discussing it, they made reference to those letters, including specifics mentioned in them. At one point, they were able to clarify a misunderstanding one of the letters referenced. This was great.

The tone of the comments by council members was respectful. It felt more like dialogue between residents and council and completely lacked any “us vs them” feeling.

Though it concluded the way I had felt appropriate, the tenor of the meeting was such that, even if they had chosen to go down the path towards clinic construction, it would have been a positive meeting.

The Mayor expressed some confusion as to why 5 years ago there was such public outcry when the clinic run by the McMahons was closing but, now, there’s public outcry against building a new one. Randy Aton summed up the answer to that by saying he really wanted the clinic that was here to remain but could not support building a new one.

What happened then and what is happening now are not contradictory. One can believe that what we have is, by and large, sufficient. Building a new clinic at such a hefty price tag is not supported by available data nor has sufficient research occurred, as the Mayor acknowledged, even though she had initially been a strong proponent. Kudos to her for her forthrightness.

They pivoted to a discussion as to what should be built on that parcel. It is clear they want a council chamber, a space permanently configured for council and commission meetings. Kyla suggested it be called a Public Meeting Room because it could certainly be used for a wide variety of community functions. They also discussed perhaps upgrading the current clinic with a more modern and efficient modular structures that could also provide more privacy for patrons..

It’s time for the community to put on their collective thinking caps and figure out the best use of that land. More will be coming on that in future issues, but for now: consider the article on page 2.

One public comment at the meeting suggested a parking lot, even if temporary, to rake in some funds. A public comment letter had also suggested that “a thoughtfully designed parking structure” could serve multiple uses including spaces for town offices, perhaps an upper level pavilion, while also providing an income stream.

None of the people making these suggestions was adamant that his/her idea was IT. They were basically brainstorming.

Time for a town hall?