Board: Turner selectmen

Met: Monday night

New park, new name

Issue: Selectmen had been looking for a name for a spruced-up patch of property on School House Hill Road, next to the Nezinscot Dam.

The scoop: Selectmen Dennis Richardson suggested naming it the Philip S. Bryant Memorial Park, after the only man from Turner to die during combat in the Vietnam War. Other selectmen unanimously agreed.

Up next: The Turner Sons of the American Legion will likely place a marker or some other sign on the property. According to Turner Sons’ Mike Chavez, Bryant joined the U.S. Navy and served as a hospital corpsman 3rd class. He died four months into his Vietnam tour in 1968, clearing land mines in Quang Tri Province.

Hello, goodbye

Issue: Cub Scout Pack 187 sat in on part of Monday night’s meeting and met selectmen, part of earning their Citizenship badges.

Issue: Also meeting the board: state Sen.-elect Garrett Mason.

Issue: Jeffrey Timberlake resigned as town assessor. He was voted into office as a new state representative on Nov. 2. Guidelines prohibit someone from being an assessor and a legislator at the same time. He’ll remain on the Board of Selectmen, where he is halfway through a three-year term.

Future meetings

Issue: Selectmen will likely hold a special town meeting soon on whether to accept a piece of land near the Turner gravel pit as a gift; more details to come.

Issue: On Dec. 16, the Tri-Town Selectmen group — Turner, Leeds and Greene — will meet at 6 p.m. in Turner.

Staff writer Kathryn Skelton can be reached at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.