Author: John Caves

At the February 24 Mayor & Council meeting, we voted to award the bid for the first part of the Maple Ave sidewalk project. It wasn’t a contested vote, but it’s a good opportunity for me to talk about sidewalks. We have several sidewalk projects in various stages in Brunswick right now, and I’ll try…

At the February 10 Mayor and Council meeting, we voted on an updated policy for events organized by private businesses, residents, and nonprofits that take place on public property and/or require City support. The policy sets rules for those events and establishes a method for calculating a fee to recoup some of the cost of…

At the October 28 Mayor and Council meeting, we voted to authorize the City to issue a Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) for $18.2 million to begin the financing of four big projects: This vote was the culmination of several other votes in the past several months, including approving the plans and contracts for the sewage…

At last Tuesday’s Mayor & Council meeting, we voted on an ordinance to increase the maximum fine for municipal infractions and certain misdemeanors from $1,000 to $5,000. It ended up being a unanimous vote to pass the ordinance, but I had some concerns at first about how the change would play out in the code…

At the May 27th Mayor & Council meeting we voted to approve the budget for the current fiscal year. In Brunswick, the fiscal year begins at the start of July, so this one (fiscal year/FY 2026) started on July 1, 2025, and goes until June 30, 2026. Before that, we voted on various things that…

Well, I managed to get voted down 5-1 on my own motion on Tuesday’s Mayor & Council meeting (classic new guy move). We were voting on Ordinance 609, a modification to certain sections of the Zoning Ordinance that lay out how appeals of Planning Commission decisions are handled. An update was needed. Before, the Zoning…

At the April 1st Mayor & Council meeting (on April Fool’s Day, I know), we voted unanimously to establish a $50 system improvement fee for funding water and sewer infrastructure and sidewalks. It’s a direct cost for all of us, but it’s needed. I’ll explain my reasoning. First, what it is: It’s a $50 fee…

At the Mayor & Council meeting last Tuesday, we had a close vote on a change to the drug policy for City employees. The proposed change ended random testing for cannabis and THC products (marijuana, etc.) for some employees. The Council deadlocked 3-3, and the Mayor cast the tiebreaking vote in favor. I was one…

At the last Mayor & Council meeting in February, we voted on the annexation agreements for the Vista Pointe and Cooper Farm developments. In both cases, the vote was unanimous to approve the annexations. Since the developments will likely be significant for Brunswick’s future, I’ll explain how I got to yes despite having some strong…

One of the votes we took at the Mayor and Council meeting on Tuesday was to approve a MOU for the City and the Brunswick Junior Railroaders to share responsibility for maintaining the football fields in the Sports Complex (on the east side of town near the middle school). The Council split 4-2, with four…