PLAINFIELD – As the town grapples with the big issues of its response to flooding with the East Village Expansion Project and delays in work to improve sight-lines at the Main Street intersection with U.S. Rte. 2, discussion at the May 27 select board meeting veered into discussion of derelict housing and rabid raccoons for well over half an hour.
In an update from the East Village Expansion Advisory Committee (EVEAC) Jared Birchmore said the most likely funding for the project will come from the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) fund. That grant could likely fund most, if not all, of the project.
A second scenario could come into play if the town does not receive the amount CDBG-DR of grant money they hope for in the first scenario, said Birchmore. Funds raised for land sales could be combined with whatever is received from the CDBG-DR and smaller grants.
The Construction and Permitting group, a subgroup of the EVEAC, plans to create a sketch that accommodates 10 acres of saleable land (vs. the current scenario’s 8.2 acres).
Michael Billingsley mentioned a conversation he had with Arion Thiboumery regarding runoff from the meadow. With heavy rains, that runoff might exceed the capacity of the existing culverts, flooding nearby backyards, particularly at 99 Brook Road. They are considering a catch-pool, which would be harder to fit in if more of the land becomes allocated for sale.
The next EVEAC meeting is June 12.
Karl Bissex, reviewed the three VTrans options for addressing the Main Street and Rte. 2 intersection that were presented by Ken Robie from Dubois and King at the select board‘s May 12 meeting. There he outlined the history of work with the intersection, including a scoping study that started in 2014 with a construction cost estimate of $750,000, an alternative plan developed in 2015 with an estimated cost of $1.6 million and that ballooned to $4.1 million last year.
Since then, VTrans has had budget shortfalls that have knocked the Plainfield project off the schedule.
In light of these developments, Robie identified three options: To cancel the project completely and start over from scratch at some future time, wait while it competes with other statewide priorities or move forward with a project of lesser-scope that can be done in a more timely manner.
Peter Youngbaer proposed the select board offer a formal response to the VTrans proposal and include modifications, to include those suggested by Patti Jamele to create crosswalks, add street lighting for safety, potentially add a traffic light system and identify what parts of the project can be completed immediately.
Frances Rose asked about the possibility of resident initiatives that could include hand-painted signs to slow traffic, noting that painted murals are proven to slow traffic, but aren’t appropriate on a federal highway. The discussion identified that signs cannot be placed in the right-of-way and their size is limited according to billboard laws.
Bob Atchinson, the property owner at 99 Main St., agreed to hire a professional exterminator to eliminate the problem, and possibly rabid, raccoons, while expressing concern that measures be taken to prevent them from being attracted to the area by food scraps in the nearby neighborhood.
The select board will look into ordinance options for vacant and dangerous property, including health ordinances, though it is a large project and will not happen overnight, noted the meeting minutes.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
