HARDWICK – The Thursday, March 20, select board meeting began right on time, with Chair Eric Remick counting down to 6 p.m. Items were moved through quickly with approval to proceed with submitting a grant for repaving Center Road a highlight of the meeting.
Amanda Fecteau gave the road foreman report for Tom Fadden, who was reported to be under the weather. Mud season has been mild, she said. Three- to four-hundred feet of Stratton Road broke up, but was quickly repaired and other minor areas have been taken care of. Roads. Half a dozen culverts and three catch basins have been thawed and the drew has begun hauling sand for next winter.. Banners on downtown lamp posts have been switched for the spring season
Sarah Braese was on hand to give her first report since joining the Hardwick Electric Department (HED) as general manager in January. The department is working to report on metrics affecting service quality and to prepare its Integrating Service Plan for the next three-year cycle. The budget passed at the HED meeting Tuesday and Braese is looking at staffing to take the best advantage of employee skill sets and at succession planning for employees approaching retirement.
Select board member Danny Hale said he thought it was a good sign he’d recently seen a bunch of young guys working on an HED project; a big improvement on limited staff in the recent past. Braese said HED commissioners will continue to regularly attend select board meetings in response to a question from board Vice-Chair Ceilidh Galloway-Kane. It was noted NEK Broadband will soon be installing fiber internet service at the HED office to facilitate VOIP telephone service, offering the department greater flexibility.
Police Chief Michael Henry reported one officer is in the part-time academy and work proceeds to upgrade a repeater to improve mobile communication and it was reported NEK Broadband is working to provide service to the site as soon as possible.
A $15,000 investment was approved to replace 10 year old water meter reading equipment, with Hale objecting and making a statement about 80 water meters, including his own, that remain uninstalled after those same 10 years. Remick commented that most, if not all, people in that situation are likely paying more for their service than they should. There was a discussion of creating a real, real plan to complete that work this summer.
Liquor license renewals were approved for The Cork and Fork, Caja Taqueria, American L:egion Post No. 7 and Jiffy Mart
Community Development Coordinator Tracy Martin gave an update on a $200,000 grant application for the Pedestrian Bridge project that has already received $200,000 from the same program. A decision on this second grant won’t be available until April 28, so Martin asked the board to approve obtaining a notice to proceed from USDA now. That will allow work to be accomplished this construction season, in conjunction with repair of the Main St. wall using FEMA funds, and allowing a single permit for work in the river. While the town hopes for grant approval, funds for the project will be found in other town funds if it’s not.
Paul Fixx gave a report as Hardwick’s representative to NEKCV Broadband, sharing delays in connecting customers, with Bridgeman Hill, West Hill and along Route 16 and Pumpkin Lane now scheduled for fourth quarter 2025. He encouraged those interested in broadband to sign up at get.nekbroadband.org to check service availability, receive newsletters and be notified for technicians to receive free training.
Board members signed a letter in support of a NEKCV BEAD (Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment) grant that will bring 28.7 miles of fiber serving 137 customers.
The town’s annual plan for state highway aid was approved as was a grant in the amount of $200,000 for a municipal highway grant to help pave Center Road. $300,000 has already be set aside for the project, but the additional funds will likely allow the paving of the entire Hardwick portion of the road this summer.
A letter was approved in support of a Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE) grant to add solar panels to the roof of the new building. Remick explained how the project was developed, with Hardwick owning the building shell and CAE renting it with space on the roof that was designed to accommodate the solar panel load. CAE is paying to outfit the facility with refrigeration and other amenities, including the panel at a cost of many millions of dollars.
Fecteau reported the new alert system worked well with weekend alerts about potential flooding and has been well-received.
The need for Remick and board member Tim Richardiello to complete ethics training in preparation for a discussion at the next meeting was discussed.
Board member Shari Cornish laid out changes to plans for Springfest and discussed with Hale whether there will still be a truck pull.
Hale commented on a police cruiser parked near the elementary school with an officer providing safety for wagon rides offered to students earlier in the day. Henry said the weather was so good that the two-day event took only one-day.
Martin shared that the Better Connections planning project for East Hardwick village is wrapping up and the consultant will give a special presentation at the next select board meeting.
For the last agenda item, the board went into an executive session to discuss contractual matters, after which Remick said he didn’t expect they would be making any decisions.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
