By Lisa Loomis
At Town Meeting this year Waitsfield voters peppered their select board members with questions about whether an article asking to borrow $75,000 to shim Joslin Hill Road meant that something would happen to the very debilitated road this summer.
Voters also wanted to make sure that when the road is finally reconstructed that the town works with road residents and others to improve the safety of the road.
Town resident and chair of the conservation commission Phil Huffman received a round of applause when he urged the select board to undertake the shim this summer and start working with voters on a comprehensive fix.
"We have to buy some time to get it done the right way; we want to have a thoughtful, inclusive process where everyone gets heard. Let's take the time to do it right. Even if we have a plan for next year, let's go to the end of the lifetime of the shim before doing the reconstruction," Huffman said.
Select board member Logan Cooke, in response to questions about the road, said that it was possible the town could or would receive some grant funding and undertake a reconstruction this year, but it would probably happen next year.
"The shim seems like an obvious solution, but for me it's not obvious. If we put $75,000 into a shim this year and tear it up next year, we've torn up $75,000," Cooke said.
"All the decisions haven't been made yet. The idea that everyone is OK with the shim gives us the authority to do this fix. If we're going to rebuild that road we're going to need another vote from you guys," he continued.
"So, you're saying it's a Band-Aid?" asked a voter.
"Yes, it could be," Cooke said.
Town resident Leo Laferriere, who earlier received a round of applause for his service as chair of the conservation commission, asked the board if more money were authorized for Joslin Hill Road, would more work get done? He was told it would not.
He asked about the life of the shim, generally estimated to be five years, and was told that it could last one year or it could last seven.
"There are no guarantees. It could look like it did before in one year, or it could be fine for seven years," board member Scott Kingsbury said.
"So we're talking about a shim that has a 12- to 60-month life. What would cause it to go in a year?" Laferriere asked.
"How long a shim will last is an inexact science," Cooke said.
Chris Badger was applauded after he told the board that one of the reasons townspeople were so interested in the select board's intentions regarding Joslin Hill Road was because people want to know whether the select board will make good on its stated intentions. He referenced the fact that last year there was a discussion of the town getting a grant to study how to improve safety on that road and the town did get the grant, only to have the select board reject the grant last summer.
"It's a question of voters authorizing things and the select board not making good on those commitments," Badger said.
"How come for 23 years we haven't had a plan to rebuild this road?" asked resident Michael Sharkey before the article was passed on a voice vote.
State Representatives Maxine Grad (D-Moretown) and Adam Greshin (I-Warren) waited patiently through part of the discussion and, finally, the voice vote approving the article.
Grad explained a bill that she authorized regarding when sex offenders must register after they are released from prison.
"I was happy to see so many people from The Valley at the bill signing last week," Grad said.
Greshin discussed the workload for the Legislature this year, noting that in the six years he has served he hasn't seen a workload that heavy. He told voters that he was working on education funding, clean water and general budgeting issues.
Regarding a bill that the House education committee passed last week, he explained that it was only a starting point, calling it more of a "sledgehammer than a scalpel."
After a break for lunch, about 50 Waitsfield voters returned to vote on the school budget and hear a presentation about the school from Waitsfield Elementary School principal Kaiya Korb. Korb explained the school's philosophy and the student performance matrixes. She told those present that 90 percent of school staff have a master's degree or higher. She also told those present that the school's PTA provides between 1 and 2 percent of the school's funding.
Town resident Deri Meier asked school board chair Rob Williams about consolidating local schools. Williams said yes, and added, "The funding mechanism for education is broken and consolidation is not the fix."
By a voice vote, voters approved a budget of $2,433,540, up 1.9 percent, with staff reduced by one full-time teacher and preschool spending increased.
Before lunch voters approved funds to buy firefighters new breathing apparatuses as well as $165,000 to pave Tremblay and North Roads and the $75,000 for Joslin Hill Road shim and still had time to discuss the Australian ballot items.
The Australian ballot items all passed. An article calling for voters to adopt a charter which took from voters the authority to elect the town clerk and treasurer, giving it to the select board instead, passed 250-226 with 23 blank votes and one spoiled vote.
Voters also approved a request for $400,000 for work on Bridge Street and the covered bridge by a vote of 407-86.
During Town Meeting that article prompted a question on a related and nearby project from Michael Sharkey about how the plan to build a pocket park at the site of the former Birke Photography Studio on Bridge Street had gone from a $20,000 project to a $450,000 project.
The studio was destroyed during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and the town purchased the property the following year with plans to create a pocket park at the site. The park idea was part of the work that V-DAT (Vermont Downtown Action Team) consultants considered during their 2013 work with Waitsfield.
Board member Logan Cooke said that the park was now subject to a V-DAT grant and asked Joshua Schwartz, director of the Mad River Valley Planning District, to explain further.
Schwartz said the park was subject to a Community Development Block Grant for $200,000 with a 10 percent local match and noted that last year voters approved $20,000 for that project.
"The final design for that project is not done. It's a grant application that has been submitted. We find out at the end of April if it is funded," Schwartz said.
"No matter who is paying, how did it get from $20,000 to $250,000? What are you going to put in that park besides grass and plants?" Sharkey persisted.
Schwartz explained that the scope of the work had changed and said that there were a lot of requirements that had to be met because of the location of the park next to the Mad River and the need to make it flood resilient.
In other Australian ballot votes, Barclay Rappaport was elected to the school board as was Jonathon Goldhammer.
After a break for lunch, about 50 Waitsfield voters returned to vote on the school budget and hear a presentation about the school from Waitsfield Elementary School principal Kaiya Korb. Korb explained the school's philosophy and the student performance matrixes. She told those present that 90 percent of school staff have a master's degree or higher. She also told those present that the school's PTA provides between 1 and 2 percent of the school's funding.
Town resident Deri Meier asked school board chair Rob Williams about consolidating local schools. Williams said yes, and added, "The funding mechanism for education is broken and consolidation is not the fix."
By a voice vote, voters approved a budget of $2,433,540, up 1.9 percent, with staff reduced by one full-time teacher and preschool spending increased.
