Board of Selectmen Meeting — September 15, 2026

The Swansea Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, to address a variety of municipal matters including an animal control hearing, environmental grant awards, appointments, and preparations for a special town meeting. The meeting began with a dangerous dog hearing concerning two huskies owned by Sophia Dare of 370 Dillon Lane, which had repeatedly escaped and killed 21 chickens and four turkeys valued at $1,240 on the Cummings Road property of Randy LeBeau. After hearing testimony and input from Animal Control Officer Lisa White, the board unanimously voted to designate the dogs as nuisance dogs, requiring them to be kept in an enclosure when off leash, wear basket muzzles when walked off property, and undergo management oversight with Animal Control.

Conservation Agent Adeline Belsheim presented three major grant initiatives, notably a $61,140 Coastal Resilience Program grant from Coastal Zone Management to study beneficial sediment reuse and dune elevation at Swansea Town Beach, as well as an MVP grant for marsh restoration along the Palmer River and a study with the Division of Ecological Restoration on tidal restrictions at the Old Providence Road Bridge. Following public review without comment over the summer, the board voted unanimously to officially endorse and adopt the Town Beach Management Plan. The board also approved a slate of appointments across the town clerk's office, Cultural Council, library, and conservation commission.

The board completed several procedural steps to prepare for the October 19, 2026 special town meeting scheduled at the Venus de Milo, voting to open the warrant, insert two articles (one for a Community Preservation Act conservation restriction at 1210 Wilbur Avenue and another authorizing borrowing for a new 114,707-square-foot Joseph Case Junior High School), close the warrant, and sign it. In other business, Town Administrator Mitch Rossetti reported that an online municipal surplus auction raised $35,578, the board authorized a letter supporting the Sowams National Heritage Area designation, and accepted the resignation of Nancy Hedgecroft from the Conservation Commission and Soil Board.

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