Budget Working Group — September 29, 2026

The Fairhaven Budget Working Group met on September 29, 2026, to advance its project planning framework and establish priority focus areas for addressing municipal budget challenges. The group opened by approving the minutes of the September 8 meeting as amended and officially adopted a project plan and review framework developed collaboratively by Dan and Mark. Members emphasized that the working group serves as a high-level, long-term advisory body distinct from the Finance Committee's line-by-line review of immediate fiscal deficits.

Select Board member Rick Trapillo presented a detailed memorandum outlining potential municipal initiatives across personnel, public facilities, regionalization, energy, economic development, and procurement. Following extensive discussion, the group formally voted to identify education, public safety, public works, and economic growth as Fairhaven's core services to be protected and delivered efficiently and in a fiscally responsible manner. Members also discussed centralized procurement under Town Administrator Keith Hickey, underutilized town assets, and comparing town metrics to comparable communities via state data.

The group brainstormed a list of potential initiatives to explore, including ambulance privatization or regionalization, energy audits, capital planning reviews, and utilizing Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds for private economic development. Members decided by consensus to prioritize investigating the potential privatization or operational model of the wastewater treatment plant as their first active initiative, citing the imminent commissioning of the new facility and anticipated operational costs. The group agreed to invite Board of Public Works Superintendent Vinnie Furtado to their next meeting, tentatively set for October 6, 2026.

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