Members of the Brandt Beach Improvement Association were disappointed by voters at Monday's Town Meeting, who voted down their article to pave four gravel roads at the end of Brandt Beach Avenue.

This year was the third that residents petitioned the town to pave the roads, at a proposed cost of $447,000 from the town’s Stabilization Fund.

“Brandt Beach has shown tremendous growth within the past 10 years,” said resident Erma Nicholson. Many of the year round residents, she said, “are elderly and in need of paved roads so that they can walk up and down with ease and without fear of tripping.”

But town officials said taking so much from the town’s Stabilization fund would be a mistake.

“To take $477,096 from the Stabilization Fund would erode the fund to around where we were in 2007,” said Selectmen Chair Jordan Collyer. “We have a great bond rating and to take a large sum of money for a road construction project of tertiary roads would be seen as a fiscally irresponsible thing to do.”

Town Administrator Mike Gagne said his suggestion was to create a prioritization list for the smaller feeder roads – both paved and unpaved.

“As I said to Mrs. Nicholson and other supporters of this article, I cannot promise that you’re going to rank in that priority,” said Gagne.

Voters shut down the article 53 to 3.