NEWRY — As the new year approaches, the time has come for the town of Newry to review its comprehensive plan, and see what needs to be done moving forward into not just 2025, but for 20 years beyond. In the face of adding a large amount of work to the already small Newry selectboard, suggestions have been made to form a committee of local residents to manage the comprehensive plan moving forward into the next few years.

The current plan is 20 years old, but many of the issues documented remain relevant. “It’s interesting to look at where some of the things that they thought we would work toward, and they’re still things that we keep talking about,” said Amy Henley, town clerk, “There’s still some of those same issues.”

Loretta Powers, town administrator, was interested in the idea, though it is still in its early phase. “We’ve gotta see if we have any interest. We haven’t reached out to people yet,” she said. The matter of distribution has caused some hesitation. “One town did a survey-type thing on their website, but not everybody has computers,” said Powers.

When it comes to the size of the committee, the current suggested number is six. “Too many and you’re just spinning your wheels,” said Virgil Conkright, vice chairman of the selectboard. Forming a committee also brings up the question of who to have on it, and who should have a say in town matters.

“It’s always been residents in the past years when we’ve done this,” said Powers. However, some towns have allowed business owners who live out of town but own businesses here to participate. Powers questioned, “Do we want all the influence of people who don’t actually live and work here?”

Mandy Berry suggested an 80/20 split in term of percentages, which was supported by Conkright, though he added, “We gotta know what the numbers are.” According to Henley, the town of Newry has around 2,400 taxpayers. “Where do we draw the line?” she asked.

An alternate suggestion was also offered by Powers, in case of a lack of response. “If we can’t form a committee, we can have that other company [unnamed] do it for us.” There was hesitance from the board at this, due to the fact that hiring this company would cost $100,000. At the time it is unclear from where these funds would be taken or raised. At the moment, the selectboard is still looking for those who might be interested in forming a committee moving forward.