Select Board reorganizes, dives into top issues
March 24, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiMeeting for the first time since the March 5 election, the Waterbury Select Board last week reorganized and turned its attention to many of the issues the group is likely to deal with for the coming year.
Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The board welcomed new member Ian Shea who won election to a one-year seat on Town Meeting Day. The group then voted to choose Roger Clapp as chair for the third consecutive year. Alyssa Johnson was named vice chair and Kane Sweeney was picked as secretary.
Sweeney also was elected on March 5 to a second one-year term and Clapp was elected to a three-year seat that was vacated by Dani Kehlmann, who did not run for re-election this year.
The board voted unanimously to designate the Times Argus and Waterbury Roundabout as newspapers of record to carry town public notices for the coming year.
During public comment regarding items not on the board’s agenda, Cheryl Gloor, who was a candidate for Select Board in the election earlier this month, asked Municipal Manager Tom Leitz for an update on potential housing development projects on two sites in the downtown – the State Office Complex site where the former Stanley and Wasson Halls were located and a town-owned property on Armory Avenue behind Brookside Primary School.
The state legislature in 2023 authorized the state Department of Buildings and General Services to sell the Stanley-Wasson site to the town of Waterbury. “It’s still owned by the state,” Leitz reported, although the state is working to subdivide the parcel so it may transfer it to the town.
Town officials requested the state relinquish the parcel in order to pursue a potential housing development there. No plans have begun to move forward on that yet. “We can’t do a whole lot until we own the property,” Leitz said.
The other spot Gloor inquired about was discussed at the Select Board’s Dec. 4 meeting. It involves the roughly 3-acre parcel that the town owns on Armory Avenue between High Street and Hillcrest Terrace. Part of the parcel is preserved under prior arrangements for parkland conservation and there is a walking path to it; the building on site is used for storage; and the parking area is sometimes used for school events. Despite those uses, town officials believe there are two approximately half-acre areas on the property that could potentially be developed for housing. The site also is served by public water and sewer.
Leitz answered that Grenier Engineering has been hired to examine the property to determine suitability for development there. Any proposals to move ahead to seek a developer for a project would go through a public process, he said.
Johnson, who is also on the town’s Housing Task Force, noted that that group is looking at a number of suggestions around creating more housing development, particularly in the village. That board meets on the third Thursday of the month, she noted.
Format for future town meetings
The board briefly discussed Town Meeting held on March 5 noting it was well attended with over 150 people. They thanked various individuals for their roles. Former board member Kehlmann, who was on Zoom for the discussion, raised the topic of “how to make town meetings as equitable and accessible for as many Waterbury voters as possible.” The topic has come up at both Select Board meetings and at Town Meeting in 2023. Kehlmann asked if there might be a way to do outreach to residents who either cannot attend the meeting because of its timing on a weekday morning or who simply choose not to attend.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Vermont communities have altered their town meeting formats, with some moving to all-day balloting on all business so that more voters may participate. That decision often eliminates in-person meetings where business is discussed and decided by those in attendance.
Duxbury, for example, has moved from its pre-pandemic format of doing all business including elections at an in-person meeting to voting 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. using paper ballots in a drive-through voting format on Town Meeting Day. In place of the in-person meeting, Duxbury in 2023 began holding a town meeting-style gathering in early January to discuss the town’s draft budget, upcoming elections, legislative issues with state representatives, etc. Both last year’s and this year’s meetings included lengthy detailed town budget discussions with no requests for the selectboard to make any changes to the draft budget before it was put on the Town Meeting Day ballot. In 2023, about 100 people attended; this year about 80 took part.
Sweeney noted that any changes to the annual meeting format would need to be decided at an in-person town meeting. Board member Mike Bard said he would like to see an in-person traditional meeting remain part of Waterbury’s format as it enables changes to be made to the budget if citizens request them. “And it’s our responsibility to participate,” he said.
The board did not reach any consensus but agreed to keep the topic on its list of future discussion items.
Funding request for town pool rehab
Recreation Director Katarina Lisaius and Leitz brought a request to the board to submit an application to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office for potential federal funding to rehab the town swimming pool at Anderson Park.
Lisaius said a deadline for requests is approaching in early April. Leitz noted that work by Alec Tuscany to explore the condition of the pool to recommend repairs or replacement was recently completed. Tuscany looked into several scenarios to both replace and renovate the pool. The resulting detailed options could be used for a grant application, Leitz said.
The study’s preferred recommendation would rehab the existing pool and construct a new building with an estimated price tag of $4.5 million, Leitz said. The option does not include adding a cover for year-round use, but Leitz said that could be added to the designs if the community supported it.
The board agreed with the request to submit the federal funding application. Should the town be awarded a grant, Leitz speculated the project could possibly come together by 2026.
Road closure ahead of eclipse
The board briefly discussed one request related to the April 8 total solar eclipse that will be visible in Vermont including Waterbury. The state and town are anticipating large numbers of visitors that could meet or exceed levels of peak fall foliage tourism weekends.
Ice Center board member Jonathan Siegel addressed the board asking the town to close the River Road access to the rink overnight on the weekend ahead of the eclipse to discourage visitors from using the parking area there for overnight camping. The rink has activities scheduled on Saturday and Sunday of that weekend, Siegel said, and having available parking will be important.
Leitz and Lisaius noted that overnight camping is not allowed on town property but that will be difficult to enforce. The town is not anticipating any road closures related to the eclipse, Leitz noted. Depending on weather and conditions, some roads may be posted due to mud season circumstances, however.
The board agreed to allow River Road to be closed overnight on Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, with it open during the daytime when the rink is open.
Sweeney also suggested to town staff that there be a designated parking lot for workers at downtown businesses such as restaurants on April 8. Parking at 51 South Main Street was suggested and Lisaius said she would look into how to coordinate that with businesses.
Sally Dillon with the Waterbury Fire Department also confirmed that one of the Vermont State Police troopers assigned to Waterbury would be working on April 8 during the shift when the eclipse happens. The eclipse period in Waterbury is expected to be between 2:15 and 4:30 p.m. with totality lasting 2 minutes and 30 seconds just before 3:30 p.m.
See more about eclipse preparations here.
Popular June weekend
Another discussion involved logistics for another busy weekend in Waterbury. The board heard from Ashley Metevier with an Entertainment Permit request to hold a craft fair at Dac Rowe Park on Saturday and Sunday, June 29-30, with approximately 100 vendors. Metevier said she has held several such events indoors at Crossett Brook Middle School and this would be the first she is organizing outdoors. In addition to craft vendors, the event would include a half dozen food vendors, live music and bounce houses for kids, according to her application.
The concern involves the annual Not Quite Independence Day celebration and parade which is scheduled for June 29 this year. Those festivities are scheduled for late afternoon with the parade starting at 4 p.m. Board members questioned how it would work as the parade typically ends at Dac Rowe field with parade groups and large vehicles using the park to turn around and disperse.
Board members had questions about parking, traffic and congestion with Clapp saying they needed more information before acting on the application. Bard, who is a member of the Rotary and its NQID organizing committee, suggested the event planners discuss their plans with Rotary members.
Also in attendance were Scott Culver and his wife Dona Culver, who also runs a business that holds craft vendor fairs. They held a similar event to what Metevier described at Dac Rowe Park in 2023 on the same day as NQID with just 32 vendors “and it was an undertaking,” Scott Culver said. He opposed the request for June 29-30.
The applicants agreed to put together additional information and the board said it would take the matter up again at its April 15 meeting.
The board’s last item of business was an executive session. Afterward, the group voted to authorize the municipal manager to levy fines when he acts in the role of animal control officer. The town currently does not have an animal control officer, so those duties by default fall to the manager.
The board meets next on Monday, April 1. Among the items on its agenda will be interviewing candidates for three open Waterbury seats on the Harwood Unified Union School Board and discussing a proposed housing rental registry that the Housing Task Force is working on.