courtesy photo
HARDWICK — The April 3 Hardwick select board meeting began with town manager David Upson’s reporting that the town are just waiting for contract approval and a notice to proceed from USDA regarding the pedestrian bridge. Upson said although crews can’t get in the river until July 1, there is a lot of work to be done and preparation to be done prior to it.
Board member Danny Hale expressed concern about future construction, saying “I don’t think the town of Hardwick has any idea what this summer is going to be like.” Others present agreed.
Hale continued, saying “There’s going to be no parking from the red light to Mill Street. There’s one sidewalk. It’s going to be noisy and loud and dusty, and traffic is going to be zooming through. It’s a big impact. I think it’s going to be a big surprise when the majority of the town has no idea it’s coming.” Upson added that West Church street will have a boom in traffic, and it will be an absolute mess.
Board member Shari Cornish remarked, “But we’ll have a new bridge in the end.” The board was in agreement that area residents will need to be warned beforehand.
Upson said work is underway to find additional stormwater projects. Caspian Avenue and Putnam Avenue are high-priority areas that are not covered under FEMA funding, however, so grant sources like state grants and aid are being explored for those efforts.
Upson said “I want to pay attention to the stormwater, and hardening our assets around the stormwater, because that causes runoff, that causes erosion.” Upson used the stormwater system at the Jeudevine mansion as an example, saying “The whole wall has come off due to one of the overflows, that’s a FEMA project. It’s just that water is going to continue running everywhere for a while.”
Upson told the board they have begun a collaborative beautification project at the Memorial Park in partnership with the Sons of the American Legion.
Moving on to the Municipal Energy Planning grants (MERP), Upson said the requests for bids for insulation work will be published on the state bid registry soon and should be advertised next week. This includes the public safety building, the depot, the townhouse, but not the library as it has been excluded from the grant agreement. Upson said they will likely spend the most money at the public safety building on the oil furnace, which will hopefully be shut off and insulated in the coming weeks.
The TextMyGov system is receiving ongoing improvements. The town has begun to use it for dog licenses and weather alerts. “I think this is going to be a good opportunity to use it for letting people know about construction projects such as the pedestrian bridge, so we do have a tool to get messaging out to the public,” said Upson.
The town manager’s office will be closed on April 10 so staff can attend a capital plan training exercise. The session will provide guidance on a year long capital plan development project.
Moving on, Upson delivered the road foreman’s report. Aside from plowing, the crew has Bridgeman Hill, West Hill, Bunker Hill, Lamoille Avenue, Caspian Avenue and part of Hopkins Hill graded. “All in all, I think the roads are in pretty good shape,” Upson said.
Police Chief Mike Henry then provided the board with some updates. Officer Dan Brunell has been promoted to Sergeant. Brunell has been with the department for just over a year, and will hopefully take on some of the major cases that come in. “We’re having trouble meeting those needs sometimes, so he’s going to be covering the road. He’ll be in charge of the field training for other new officers as well.” Henry reported Officer Joseph Donna has completed the level one into level two training, and now must complete the requisite field training hours.
The board moved on to discuss additional revising the annual appropriation for Hardwick Rescue. Michael Lew-Smith, representing the organization, said there was a minor clerical error when calculating the appropriations for all the towns. The correct percentages would result in a $5,600 increase from the town of Hardwick. Board member Shari Cornish said “I think if they need it, they should have it. It’s rescue, who’s going to say no to that?”. The board was unanimous in their agreement, approving Ceilidh Galloway-Kane’s motion to increase Hardwick Rescues FY2025 from the amount of $90,220 to the amount of $95,820.
The board then appointed Joseph Donna as a part-time officer, with Chair Eric Remick thanking Chief Henry for continuing to recruit and retain. “I just love that we’re getting locals to sign up for the job. I mean, this is what policing is, community partnership,” Upson added.
Next, the board considered approving several liquor and tobacco licenses. Second class liquor licenses were approved for Tops Market, D&L Beverage and Deli and Dollar General. A tobacco license was granted to those businesses as well, with D&L receiving a tobacco substitute endorsement license.
The board discussed the purchase of a new police cruiser, comparing quotes from Lamoille Valley Ford at $47,840, McGee Ford at $46,684, and McGovern Ford in Massachusetts at $45,486. The board agreed on the McGovern quote, citing the lower price. The motion passed unanimously.
Next, the board discussed the ongoing water meter project. “I’ll take the blame for not getting this out last year, the last two summers. Typically, with any water or wastewater project we have an onsite engineer. Aldrige and Elliot usually provide someone onsite to manage the project. I don’t know enough about installing water meters,” Upson said. He said, should the town hire someone individually, they will need some sort of oversight to ensure installations are being done correctly and up to standards. Upson said he will reach out to Aldrige and Elliot to see if they can recommend someone for onsite management.
In other business, all board members have completed the new ethics training required for all those who hold public every three years.
Chair Eric Remick said “I thought it’s good that the state is providing a framework for people to take training on stuff that’s been assumed to have been happening all along.”
Upson recommended making the board of civil authority the body that would hear a case of a code of ethics violation in an effort to avoid conflicts of interest.
The board discussed the job description for the new public works director position. Danny Hale felt the proposed description more closely resembled a project manager’s position. Hale said, while it’s a great part of a public works director’s job, the description needs more oversight and a better explanation about the function of the department.
Board member Ceilidh Galloway-Kane added it may be worth describing the town’s water and wastewater a little more for prospective applicants. After a lengthy discussion, the board agreed to discuss the position further at the next meeting.
Concluding the meeting, the board unanimously approved a downtown transportation fund grant proposal for the pedestrian bridge in the amount of $200,000.
Raymonda Parchment is a Hardwick Gazette reporter. She recently graduated from Vermont State University - Castleton with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. She is a strong supporter of freedom of speech, and the right to publish information, opinions, and ideas without censorship or restraint. She is a lifelong lover of the written word, and is excited to join the team as a staff member.
