New committee to find space for Padanaram parking lot

A new committee may help alleviate parking issues in Padanaram after the Select Board appointed six people to the Village Parking Committee at a meeting on Feb. 8.

The committee members are tasked with exploring options for space to put a parking lot in the popular village center.

Residents Linda Hopps, David Russell, Mimi Powell, Ann Sadow, and Jill Law will comprise the committee along with Select Board member Stanley Mickelson.

The group will be looking for a likely piece of property to redevelop into parking space so that more visitors can spend time in the South Dartmouth village.

“We need to find something,” said Mickelson at the board meeting. “Without a secure area for off-street parking, businesses will not be able to sustain a steady flow of people coming to visit our beautiful town.”

The Select Board also appointed two residents — Bill Trimble and Doug Roscoe — to the Pathways Committee, which focuses on improving pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in town.

With the newcomers, the Pathways Committee will have five members.

Two prospective police officers were also offered conditional employment by the board at the request of Dartmouth Police Chief Brian Levesque.

After completing training at the police academy in Plymouth, Jose Santiago and Nicholas Mancuso will be hired as new officers in the Dartmouth Police Department.

Santiago, a Dartmouth resident, helped create a non-profit youth organization in New Bedford called Planet Hope that is currently holding a clothing drive to help families stay warm this winter, Levesque said.

He also noted that Mancuso holds a degree in criminal justice from Southern New Hampshire University and has worked as a police dispatcher in Dartmouth since 2017.