Brunswick Town Council Special Meeting – June 29, 2026
Brunswick Town Council Special Meeting – June 29, 2026
The Brunswick Town Council held a special end-of-fiscal-year meeting on the evening of June 29, 2026, to address budget adjustments, tax abatements, and administrative resolutions. All councilors except Councilor Peralt were present. The meeting included a public comment period and unanimous votes on all agenda items.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Paul Whitcomb (Brunswick resident): Expressed his position on the town's proposed public works project, advocating that the new fuel station be located at the former leaf mulch pile instead of the former senior gardens. He argued that a 15-foot retreat recommended by Wright Pierce is inadequate and that the sand and salt shed should remain in its current location due to noise and vibration concerns. He emphasized that there are many unanswered questions about the project's scope and whether smaller alternatives have been considered.
Consent Calendar
- No explicit consent calendar was identified; however, several routine items (items 80–83) proceeded without separate public comment after the initial public comment period.
Discussion Items
Item 80 – Resolution authorizing transfer of funds between municipal functions Town Manager Chair McDonald presented the annual budget reconciliation request, noting that he reviewed every expenditure line to estimate year-end totals. The largest driver was public safety personnel and training, including a $50,000 reimbursement for a police officer trained elsewhere. Traffic signals came in under budget due to fewer breakages; risk management (workers' comp) was favorable; technology services increased due to a new position and rising software licensing costs. Hawthorne School ($50,000+ spent unbudgeted) and maintenance costs for Curtis Memorial Library and People Plus were noted as challenges. Councilor Hicks asked about facility costs. No public comment. The motion passed unanimously.
Item 81 – Resolution to authorize town council chair to complete tax recommitment Town Manager explained that the death of Tax Collector Brandon Peralt required recommitment of outstanding tax balances to Deputy Finance Director Darianne Or Plant so she can proceed with lien notices. The resolution authorizes the council chair to sign the necessary forms. Councilor Ellis remarked on the archaic nature of the law. Unanimous approval.
Item 82 – Abatement of real estate property taxes ($152.38) on Map 39, Lot 3 A clerical error caused a property acquired by Brunswick Topsum Land Trust to remain billed to the original owner. Because the abatement period had lapsed, council action was needed. The resolution abates the tax and authorizes a quitclaim deed to the land trust. Unanimous approval.
Item 83 – Abatement of uncollectible real estate and personal property taxes ($16,108.39) Town Manager presented a routine annual abatement for 31 accounts where businesses have closed, disappeared, or owners are deceased. Councilor Ellis inquired about selling delinquent taxes; the Manager explained that collection attempts have been exhausted and no market exists for such accounts. A minor procedural note was raised by Councilor Weems about the abatement number not appearing in the motion, but no amendment was pursued. Unanimous approval.
Item 84 – Any other action to close the 2025-2026 fiscal year No additional action was required.
Key Outcomes
- Item 80: Unanimously approved resolution authorizing fund transfers between municipal functions for fiscal year 2025-2026.
- Item 81: Unanimously approved resolution authorizing the town council chair to complete settlement and recommitment of outstanding tax balances.
- Item 82: Unanimously approved abatement of $152.38 in property taxes and issuance of a quitclaim deed to Brunswick Topsum Land Trust.
- Item 83: Unanimously approved abatement of $16,108.39 in uncollectible personal property taxes across 31 accounts.
- Item 84: No action taken.
- Meeting adjourned via unanimous vote.
Meeting Transcript
I always ate him. Good evening, everyone. I'm going to officially call the special end of your meeting for June 29th, 2026 to order. Looking around the table, we have all counselors present except for Councillor Peralt. Counselor Anderson is on Zoom. I'll remind folks to please silence your electronic devices if you haven't done so already. Give folks a second to do that. And then please rise if you are willing and able for the Pledge of Allegiance. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Just a note from me as chair that I ask that while we hold this space together, we treat every person here with respect and compassion as we serve our town. Are there any adjustments to the agenda for tonight? Not seeing any. Counselor Teamy, did you have an announcement? Yeah, I just um I don't know. I probably everybody already looked at these, but uh um Water District sent out at their annual water quality report, and I just wanted to commend them on three consecutive years of no detectable PFAS in the operational health. Great. Other announcements of council, Counselor Acker. Uh just a reminder for those who may not know, but tomorrow uh evening at five is a ribbon cutting uh for the uh improvements at Simpson Point, uh the new the new ramp and uh trail down to the beach that the town owns. So encourage people to uh to come and celebrate. What time? Five o'clock. Thank you. Other announcements of council. Not seeing any, I will open the floor to public comment. As a reminder, this is for non-agenda items only, three minutes per speaker, 30 minutes at the beginning of the session. Follow the code of conduct that's posted on either side of the room. Share your name, town, and pronouns if you'd like, and if you want to follow up to fill out the sheet. My name is Paul Whitcomb. I'm from Brunswick. I just want to confirm that the uh public works project is not on the agenda tonight, correct? Okay. Correct. I want to reiterate my position on what I think that the town should do. Uh instead of putting the fuel, the new fuel station at the site of the former senior gardens, put it on the site of the former leaf mulch pile. This will uh this will pretty much solve any of the problems with uh uh community uh impact. Uh I think that the uh the uh sand and salt shed can still be used. The one that we have right now can can be used. There's there's nothing stopping us from using that. And uh the senior gardens, you could uh I think that probably the best uh route for that would be to put it into trees. The uh the the whole the whole 1.9 acres into trees to form an effective uh buffer between the residences and the um and the fuel station and and the salt, the salt shed. I think the salt shed is a particularly bad idea to put uh closer to the homes because there is a certain operation. I'm not sure exactly what that operation is, but during the winter they have an extremely noisy uh uh process that they undertake there at the salt shed. Uh that puts out a lot of vibration as well. So I think that uh I think that's the fairest and most responsible uh approach for this project. I think that the uh 15-foot uh retreat that Wright Pierce recommended is um is inadequate. Uh there are a ton of questions. Serious questions that need to be asked.
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