WOODBURY – At the April 14 select board meeting, Emergency Management Director John Gordon reported two flood damage buyout applications he submitted to the Flood Resilient Communities Fund (FRCF) managed by Vermont Emergency Management (VEM) have been selected for funding. A budget of $537,368.42 has been approved to acquire, demolish and restore the site of the original fire station at 3664 Vt. Rte. 14 and the Shattuck residence at 3665 Vt. Rte. 14.Gordon said the budget includes money for project management.
Details will need to be worked out. Peduzzi will find an attorney who can do the title search in a timely manner and Baron will handle other requirements, including providing insurance certificates to the state.
The board accepted a proposal shared by Skip Marchesani to contract for a Microsoft 365 business basic service through RB Technologies to provide email addresses for select board members. It will include internet security and email security, preserving email records for as long as is necessary to meet state requirements. The cost is $72 per year per address, for a total cost of $216 per year to cover three addresses for the select board. Email addresses will be set up in the form of first name dot last name @woodburyvt.org. File sharing will be available and training will be provided.
Following a lengthy discussion about details of the new email service, select board Chair Chris Casey signed a document advising NEKCV that John Reed has been appointed the town representative and Michael Gray the alternate.
Paul Council was appointed for another term on the Conservation Commission.
Several other volunteer town positions remain unfilled, including a health officer that Chris Casey said is badly needed. In addition, a tree warden, solid waste district board representative and one or two planning commission seats are needed.
Town Clerk Robin Durkee reported dog licenses are way down from last year, with just 114 so far, 70 less than last year. She’ll be mailing notices to those who had registered dogs last year, but haven’t this year..
Town Treasurer Lilly Baron reported a final total of $4,722 was raised for the library at the Pie Breakfast for $4,722.
Baron is continuing her training and has started on-line accounting courses. She’s been working with John Reid to develop a reporting format that will be more user friendly for the board.
Gordon shared copies of the Local Emergency Management Plan that has to be updated, asking board members to suggest updates by their next meeting
Road Commissioner Alfie Larrabee reported the roads are holding up and the crew has been grading and adding gravel in muddy spots.
Larabee asked the board for guidance on who is responsible for driveway culverts that need to be replaced or reset. The board told him to judge whether the failure of a driveway culvert was due to town road runoff, and not just poor maintenance by the homeowner. If the town road runoff and storm damage has created the problem, he can offer to have the town replace the culvert if the homeowner will pay for the culvert, generally for a cost of a few hundred dollars. If it turns out that the policy is subject to abuse, the board will reconsider it.
Casey reported on a meeting of the scoping committee meeting with Larabee, Skip Lindsay and Gray to begin listing flood control projects that might be funded with FEMA available due to the two bridge replacements coming in under budget. Members have lists in mind, but nothing on paper yet.
Projects for the town office building, including a new roof, windows and a drainage ditch behind the building might be doable by the road crew sooner than waiting to hire a contractor, Casey and board member Lizzy Higgins said they would prepare cost estimates for those.
A second meeting between Larabee, Gray and Lindsay will take place next week to work on preparing a preliminary list for the next board meeting, said Casey.
Gray reported he and Larabee met with VTrans District 6 reps to go over a VTrans Structures grant application for the Valley Lake Road culvert replacement, March 27. Nate Sicard designed the culvert and suggested projects be put out to bid in the late fall or early winter when contractors are planning for their next season. His cost estimate from several years ago was $275,000. The VTrans cap on such projects is $200,000, so the town would have to budget for that match in FY 2027.
Casey continued a discussion from previous meetings about changing the format of select board meetings in the future, suggesting that the next meeting, on April 28, be held in the town office, with only essential reports. It would be more of a work meeting, with a lighter scheduled agenda and more time devoted to tasks the select board needs to address.
An executive session was called to review an employment application for a possible part-time addition to the road crew. No action was taken when the board exited the meeting 20 minutes later, after which bills and payroll orders were reviewed and signed.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
