Littleton Select Board eyes Orchard House sale, sidewalk plow overhaul at blizzard meeting

LITTLETON — February 23, 2026 — Littleton Select Board moves toward selling town-owned Orchard House and overhauling sidewalk snow-removal policy. Meeting fully remote due to a blizzard on February 23, the four-member board — Chair Karen Morrison, Vice Chair Matthew Nordhaus, Clerk Gary Wilson, and Mark Rambacher, with Chuck DeCoste absent — reached a consensus to pursue a sale of the Orchard House at Nagog Orchard, where rehabilitation costs have been estimated at more than $1 million at prevailing wage. Nordhaus will work with town counsel and Assistant Town Administrator Tony Sousa to draft an RFP and a surplus-declaration warrant article targeting the May 5 Annual Town Meeting. On sidewalks, DPW Director Steve Jahnle told the board the department plows nearly 18 miles of sidewalk and that cutting to roughly 10 to 11 miles of prioritized primary and secondary routes — focused on school and business areas — would eliminate trips to isolated cul-de-sacs where his 52-inch-wide machines are wider than the four-foot walks they serve; the board directed Duggan to engage town counsel on whether eliminating private-way plowing requires a separate town meeting vote, also targeting May.