Select board also looking into recording and posting town board and committee meetings for public viewing
Jan 26, 2026
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TRENTON—During the Trenton Select Board’s January 20 meeting, members voted unanimously to support, via letter sent to the Maine State Legislature Joint Standing Committee on Transportation, the designation of the Trenton portion of Route 3 as the Deputy Luke Gross Memorial Highway.
Deputy Gross was killed after being struck by a vehicle while cleaning up debris from a previous accident on Route 3 in Trenton on September 23, 2021.
Trenton Select Board Chair Fred Ehrlenbach said that the transportation committee could not approve the legislation without support from the town that the road runs through.
Select board member Judith Sproule asked if the select board was giving support for the town with its letter, could people not be in support of the designation and be upset with the select board, and what equates to town support.
Ehrlenbach said yes that could be a possibility, but the general consensus of the select board seemed to be that would not be the case.
In elected bodies—such as town councils, city councils, and select boards—the elected officials often give support to legislation on behalf of the town.
POSSIBILITY OF RECORDING AND POSTING MEETINGS
During the “visitors to be heard” portion of the meeting, resident Adam Fraley asked the select board if they had ever thought about recording its Zoom meetings and then posting the recordings to YouTube.
“I know a lot of other towns do the same thing, and it’s been really beneficial to me to watch those meetings in towns where I do business and stuff,” Fraley said. “I thought it would be a good way to make it more accessible for people in town to view the meetings and stay up to date on what’s going on.”
Sproule asked Ehrlenbach if he would be open to what Fraley was suggesting and Ehrlenbach responded that it was all public information anyway.
“That’s the ultimate transparency,” Sproule said of the idea if they had the ability to record and post meetings.
Sproule said that she would be happy to look into it or find someone who could get it done. Fraley, from the audience, also said that he would help.
LAND USE AMENDMENTS
Planning Board Chair Brant Viner asked if the most recent iteration of the LUO amendments would be discussed at this meeting and Ehrlenbach responded that it was on the agenda.
Viner said that it wasn’t on the agenda that he had received and Town Administrator Carol Walsh explained that she didn’t receive anything from Viner (as the planning board chair) until Monday and the deadline for getting items on the agenda is noon of the Thursday before a select board meeting.
The amendments are all fire protection related. The planning board will host a public hearing on the amendments at a select board meeting prior to town meeting. The select board voted to place the amendments on the warrant for the upcoming town meeting.
COMMITTEE SEATS
The select board needs to fill three public at-large seats on the town’s budget committee. Bruce Cameron had previously said that he is interested in one of the seats. Walsh said that she would reach out to Mike Hodgkins and see if he was interested in one of the two remaining seats and none of the board members could come up with a possible name for the third seat nor had anyone expressed interest.
Member John Bennett then said, “how about you sir?” to Fraley who had not left the meeting after speaking during public comment.
Fraley asked how often the committee meets and was told there would be three meetings. One on February 17 (municipal budget), one on March 3 (school budget), and one on March 17 (final budget meeting).
“I should be able to do it,” Fraley said.
Walsh asked if she should put his name down and Fraley responded, “I got a heartbeat and I can walk and talk, so yeah.”
Walsh said, “You’re one up on some of us.”
The select board then unanimously appointed Kirk Clark to the Frenchman Bay Regional Shellfish Committee.
COMMITTEE UPDATES BY SPROULE
Sproule gave updates on two committees that she is participating in: the community resilience partnership (CRP) and the comprehensive planning steering committee.
Sproule said that the town members of the CRP are setting priorities and will be meeting on January 27 to evaluate and finalize priorities for grants. They will also likely schedule a public workshop in February during this meeting.
Some of the ideas so far are emergency preparedness, public health, energy efficiency, transportation, natural resource protection, shoreline protection, and from the fire chief: water supplies for fighting fires.
During the first round of grants, the town can apply for up to an $80,000 grant but in future rounds, if the town partners with other towns for grant funded projects that amount could be as much as $180,000 according to Sproule.
The comprehensive planning committee steering committee has met twice. They have been organizing resources and working on a draft action plan and also been working on a slate of members and committee structure for the formal planning committee and will be presenting the steering committee’s ideas to the select board.
The steering committee will be meeting again on February 3, prior to the select board meeting which is also scheduled for February 3.
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