The bicentennial bricks that once paved the ramp and steps outside the Bethel Town Office were taken up when they could not be incorporated into a redesign.  Alison Aloisio photo

Bethel selectmen are looking for ideas from the public on what to do with dozens of commemorative bricks that used to pave the walkway in front of the Town Office.

The bricks were sold to help support the town’s bicentennial celebration in 1996, at costs ranging from $250 to $500, according to town officials.

The bricks were often bought and engraved in memory of loved ones with Bethel connections.

But when that walkway had to be redone some years ago, the bricks could not be incorporated into the design.

Town Manager Sharon Jackson told selectmen at last week’s meeting that she had recently received a call from a woman who had purchased a brick, asking what had become of them.

After some inquiries, Jackson learned they had gone for a time to the Bethel Library, which had informal plans to create a patio near its building.

But it was then learned that the bricks had come back into possession of the town, the circumstances of which were not clear.

“We don’t know what happened in between,” Jackson said.

She said some of the bricks are now broken, and others are scratched.

“They have a special meaning to the people who bought them,” Jackson said.

Select Board Chair Michele Varuolo Cole suggested the board put the word out about the situation and ask for ideas on what to do with them. Options could include offering them back to those who purchased them.

“It would be good to hear from the people who bought them,” Selectman Frank Del Duca said.

Resident Jim Bennett said he recalled at one time a suggestion had been made to place them around the base of the old fire bell that sits on the Bethel Common.

In other business at last week’s meeting, a long discussion about setting the fees for cannabis business permit applications resulted in a vote to set the fee for a new business at $1,000 and for renewals at $400.

Some selectmen expressed concern that they not overcharge the businesses. After looking at numbers for legal fees and staff time connected with dealing with the businesses, they came up with $400 based on the costs for the 13 current establishments, and felt it was fair to charge the higher amount for a startup business.

Regarding the town’s mill rate for upcoming property tax bills, Jackson noted it will be $13.95 per $1,000 of valuation, up by $1.05 from last year. But for senior citizens who last year took advantage of the state’s tax stabilization program, which froze their taxes at 2022 rates, the increase this year will effectively be $1.71 mills.

The program, while originally intended to run indefinitely, was discontinued by the state after last year, and tax rates for seniors will return to that charged to everyone else.