One of the ways that everyone’s life is measured is in the amount of time that you spent on this Earth. Another way is what you have done with that time. For instance, what can you do with 10 months? What can you do with 304 days? Or 7,300 hours? Maybe even 438,000 minutes? What can you do?

Well the most notable thing that can be done in 10 months is bringing home a bouncing bundle of joy. Perhaps though, buying diapers is not your thing.

You can always enjoy a complete baseball season. Or football season? Maybe even a couple of Kardashian relationships. All of these could be completed within a 10- month timeframe.

What you could not do is expect a decision on whether you have the blessing of the town to build a long-awaited shelter. The town has taken nearly six months to study, plan and discuss several zoning ordinance changes. Now, they need more time because, well, why do in six months what could be done in 10 or 12 months?

In reality it should not have even taken six months. You might remember that the town recently completed a review of the zoning ordinances. Those ordinances, meant to dictate what one can and cannot do with their own property, failed to account for a shelter-like structure. As luck would have it, none of this was known until the local shelter needed to expand. So now the shelter, and the people they serve, are left to twist in the wind until this oversight is corrected.

The task force created by the Town Council to fix the problem has met 12 times. They have had meetings. They have had discussions. They have had site visits. If you have not been able to complete this task in 12 meetings what makes you believe that you can finish in eight more meetings? How about instead of focusing on zones and overlays we just say that a shelter like structure can go anywhere in town?

If you think about it, the idea makes sense. What is a shelter but a building with people, who are not related, who live in close proximity to each other. We have plenty of hotels and motels in Brunswick. We have plenty of dormitories in Brunswick. We have condominiums and senior living facilities in Brunswick. We even have apartment buildings.

All of these places have the same sort of living arrangements that are seen all over Brunswick. The only difference are these people are homeless. Perhaps the shelter should be renamed “student housing” or “junior housing.” A name change might just get this approved sooner rather than later.

None of this should come as a surprise if you have lived in town. Who remembers the 1980s and 1990s when the town kept wondering if we should build a new high school? Then came the decision about the police station. Then came the planning for the fire station. That one took more hits than a pinata. The Town Council will never be accused of not studying something fully. Unfortunately, what is good to study once it good to study twice and so on and so on.

The last time the Town Council approved a fire building, the charging stations for the equipment came with a bag of oats.

It is time for the town to make a decision. It does not have to be a perfect decision. It does not need to be a decision that is right for everyone or every group. It just needs to be a decision. If they dither on making a decision any longer we are going to be done with the baseball season and well into another year of football. And while that may seem funny, it is no laughing matter for the people who need the services of a new and expanded shelter.

Jonathan Crimmins can be reached at j_ crimmins@hotmail.com.