Dighton CPC Votes to Fund $53,320 Vital Records Conservation at Town Meeting

DIGHTON -- April 16, 2026, Dighton's Community Preservation Committee unanimously backed $53,320 for conservation and digitization of historic town vital records at its April 16 meeting. Chair Kevin Smith led the vote, which split the appropriation, $5,000 from the CPC historic resource fund and $48,320 from the unrestricted unreserved fund, with the language set for the annual town meeting warrant. Member Jonathan Gale, the ADA coordinator, conditioned his support on a one-week inquiry into whether new federal web-accessibility regulations require the digitized records to be published in a compliant format, noting that the April 26, 2027 deadline applies to municipalities under 50,000 residents. The committee also held an extended discussion on the possibility of a grant program for privately owned historic homes, modeled on Springfield and Cambridge initiatives that offer roughly $30,000 for exterior restoration work, but noted Dighton lacks the local historic district bylaw those programs require. The available CPC balance stands at approximately $650,000 across all categories.