Ogunquit board accepts town manager resignation, reviews campus costs

The Ogunquit Select Board accepted Town Manager Matt Buttrick's resignation, effective January 29, and heard a detailed financial closeout of the municipal campus project showing about $6.2 million in non-taxpayer funding. The board also approved a police weapons-storage grant application, set a Perkins Cove bridge workshop, and heard extended public debate over Dunaway Community Center spending and anonymous letters.

Key points

• The board voted 4-1 to accept Town Manager Matt Buttrick's resignation, with Chair Bob Whitelaw casting the lone no vote; his last day is January 29.
• Treasurer Mandy Cummings reported the campus project totaled about $15.7 million, with taxpayers covering the $11.9 million bond and roughly $6.2 million coming from donations, interest earnings, rebates, and bond savings.
• Residents disputed how much bond money was intended for the Dunaway Community Center, with some saying a $2.3 million commitment was redirected; officials said the building received $3.7 million and that the bond covered the project as a whole.
• The board voted 5-0 to direct the town to apply for a fully funded state grant for weapons storage vaults in police cruisers, with no town match.
• The board voted 5-0 to have the town manager schedule a public workshop on keeping the Perkins Cove bridge raised through the winter.
• The board approved two Dunaway Center uses, a free Monday line dancing class and a monthly senior luncheon starting in January, and discussed drafting a policy for town-sanctioned events.
• Public comment included criticism of an anonymous letter read at a prior meeting, a request to sanction the Ogunquit Community Forum as a town group, and an appeal for planning board volunteers.

Next steps

• The town manager will schedule a public workshop on the Perkins Cove bridge before cold weather, with the harbor committee invited.
• The town will apply for the state weapons storage grant, due October 28.
• The town manager will draft a policy on approving town-sanctioned events at the Dunaway Center.
• The board will respond to the Ogunquit Community Forum's request to be recognized as a town-sanctioned group.
• The town will re-post the Heritage Museum lead remediation RFP after the sole bid came in at $298,000.

Read the full transcript