HARDWICK – The select board reviewed line items in the draft town budget, with revenue showing an increase of 8%, costs up 12%, at their regular meeting Thursday, Nov. 11.
In other business, the board heard from the new state representative, departments offered updates with news from Hardwick Electric and updates on the Pedestrian Bridge.
Recently-elected state representative Mike Southworth expressed his desire to provide the board with a weekly update once the legislative session begins.
Southworth said he’d like to include his contact information for inquiries and questions as well. “I want an avenue so the select board knows what’s going on, and the people in town know what’s going on, so that it’s readily available to everyone. I’m going to do that with all three towns.”
The board agreed to post an addendum to their meeting minutes with Southworth’s attached update, as well as post it on the town website.
While the primary topic of the meeting was the budget, there were reports from Hardwick Electric, the Hardwick Police Department and the highway department update.
Town Manager David Upson provided an update on a number of projects and grants. Upson is reviewing the Act 250 gravel pit submission for the town. Small corrections were made to the application.
The town no longer owns the Carey Road property, with the real estate closing on November 18 having gone smoothly.
Upson announced the town has received the Municipal Energy Resilience Program (MERP) grant amounting to $250,455.79 to perform energy improvements to four town-owned properties. Upson is working with the state regarding specifics.
The sewer department will be working on Route 14 in coming weeks to perform some control work and equipment repairs.
Pedestrian Bridge rebids went out on Thursday, Nov. 22. Upson said the project is over budget on pre-construction costs. If a contractor is selected by the end of January, the town is positioned to begin the wall and bridge work in the spring.
Road Foreman Tom Fadden said the crew is spot-grading with ditch work complete on Richmond Hill and West Hill. Fadden said Christmas lights are strung up and ready to go. A streetlight has been moved up by Positive Pie. Fadden said the crew is waiting for parts on one truck.
Police Chief Mike Henry said Officer Scott Gagnon deployed the auto-defibrillator successfully that same day, reviving someone. Recruit Robin French will graduate in the coming weekend, he added.
Henry warned the board about scam calls using artificial intelligence to mimic familiar voices, asking for bail money. He emphasized the potential dangers of these calls, with special consideration to Hardwick’s elderly population.
In Hardwick Electric (HED) Interim Manager Scott Johnstone’s update, he told the board a new general manager has finally been hired, He expressed appreciation for Chair Eric Remick and Town Manager David Upson’s participation in the interview process.
HED has a full crew working again and Tuesday evening was the last day of contract work, said Johnstone, adding contractors had focused on getting the fiber installations and FEMA work done and allowing the crew to get caught up on customer work.
“Groton Electric, one of those contract crews, was here for about eight months. So we really owe them a debt, even though we paid them richly.”
“Stowe Electric, Orleans, and Morrisville, they all helped with on-call and other projects. The best of the best of the whole region came together and helped us through a rough patch.”
Johnstone said they’ve been working on a lot of deferred maintenance projects as well.
“For the first time in quite awhile, the building across the street doesn’t leak. For the first time in four decades, the garage down on 15 South doesn’t leak. That building literally had water pouring on the lunch table for four decades. That’s all taken care of.”
Johnstone said a couple of the trucks are in “really bad shape.”HED will be looking to replace them in the next couple of years.
The Wolcott hydro dam faces an 18- to 24-month repair window before the facility is running again. Johnstone said it will take at least a year to fight with FEMA, because “it’s mitigation not recovery.”
“My gut instinct says it’s about a two-, three-million dollar project when we get to doing it. So we have to go slow and make sure we extract every dime we can out of the FEMA process. Otherwise, it’s on all of our backs.”
Chair Eric Remick expressed his concerns with the lengthy repair window, “It’s just frustrating because that produced 10 to 15% of our power.” Johnstone said replacement power will be costly, with additional fees but long-term the investment will be worthwhile.
“Once we get a new penstock, we’ll have that for 100 years.
Board member Ceilidh Galloway Kane thanked Johnstone profusely for his leadership during this interim period. “We’ve heard from so many people that have been appreciative of everything you’ve done. So we’re really thankful that you’ve helped us get back on our feet, and we’re excited to meet the new manager.”
Budget discussions dominated the remainder of the evening with draft budgets for the trails and library presented.
Town Business Manager Casey Rowell reported a decrease of $28 for the Hardwick Trails budget. Upson said the Pumpkin Walk was the most popular activity hosted by the trails, with roughly 500 community members in attendance. Board member Shari Cornish said the LVRT committee is disbanding, potentially being absorbed by the recreation committee. The board discussed at length whether or not the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail should be included in the recreation budget, but did not come to a point of resolution. Further discussion was postponed regarding the trails.
Daphne Kalmar, representing the Jeudevine Library, informed the board that the new addition will hopefully be operational in March. She asked for an overall 17% increase for the library budget, totaling $27,000. Kalmar further explained, “We’re asking to increase the library assistant’s pay to $20 an hour. He’s been there a lot of years and combines the tech and library assistant, and $20 an hour is pretty bare minimum these days for anybody working in that kind of position. We are also asking to increase the hours of the youth librarian up three hours a week, and for the library assistant up five hours a week. This is primarily to take advantage of the expansion.”
Kalmar said ideally if a youth librarian is running a program, then another body will be available to man the desk. “We want to fulfill the mission of the library by providing more programs, and that’s really only possible with extra people available.”
Board member Danny Hale expressed his concerns about the increases, in consideration to potential increases for other departments’ budgets. A lengthy discussion followed, with some board members expressing hesitance about the proposed library budget increases.
Kalmar added, “It seems crazy to pour a million dollars into a building, then not use it to its full potential.”
Galloway-Kane said she recently toured the new addition with Kalmar, and she felt the library is handling the staff increase very conservatively, and wants to offer an employee who has taken on a lot of responsibility fair compensation.
Chair Eric Remick said salaries are the largest cost to the library, Upson responded; “The long game with this building is our children, and how they utilize it. It is invaluable.”
Galloway suggested the library revise the budget to slim down potential increases. The board did not come to a resolution on the matter, and will continue budget discussions as various departments continue to present their draft budgets.
The board reviewed line items in the town budget, increased by 11%. Office and payroll expenses proposed a 28% increase, due to health insurance premiums, and salary and benefits to the new project manager position the town would like to add to existing staff. Revenue shows an increase of 8%. Currently, the first draft shows a 12% increase to the overall budget.
Rowell said as the town has now reviewed every department aside from Recreation, the next meeting should be a working meeting. Rowell said they should be able to start working with the numbers they have to make priority decisions.
In other business, the board unanimously approved Gillian D’ Acierno to serve a three-year term on the Development Review Board.
The Department of Health requires a renewal of the deputy health officer position every three years so the board voted unanimously to appoint Upson to the post.
Raymobda is a VTSU - Castleton English Major interning with The Hardwick Gazette.
