Select board calls special meeting Wednesday on armory shelter’s Friday opening
October 29, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiThe state of Vermont plans to open the Waterbury armory on Friday as a shelter for up to 40 people from 10 families and the Waterbury Select Board will hold a special meeting Wednesday evening to learn more, according to town officials who received confirmation of the plan on Monday.
The public meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Steele Community Room at the municipal offices. It also will be available via Zoom with a link on the agenda which will be posted on the town website.
Waterbury Select Board members (seated) ask questions of Chris Winters (standing), commissioner of Vermont Department for Children and Families, at a public meeting in January regarding a state proposal to use the former Vermont National Guard armory in Waterbury as a homeless shelter. Photo by Gordon Miller
On Monday, Municipal Manager Tom Leitz met with Chris Winters, commissioner of the Vermont Department for Children and Families. Afterward, Leitz outlined the main details in an email to select board members, the town zoning administrator, and the town’s two state representatives.
The state intends to operate a shelter at the Waterbury armory from Nov. 1 until April 1, Leitz said. Some modifications have been made at the state-owned facility to make it suitable for families, he noted.
Used for decades by the Vermont National Guard, the armory was decommissioned nearly two years ago and upgraded earlier this year with new heating, ventilation and cooling systems, electrical, bathroom and shower facilities as well as a new water line and upgrades in its kitchen. As of this fall, however, the interior space was not configured in a way to provide enclosed rooms for shelter occupants. Leitz said Winters indicated additional work has been done in recent days to ready the space for families that the state department would select to move in.
Select Board Chair Roger Clapp said holding a special meeting ahead of the shelter opening would be an opportunity for town officials and the community to learn more specifics about the proposal that was just shared with the public two weeks ago without any advance notice to town government.
“We’re trying to make sense of the situation and the lack of clarity,” he said. The situation is similar to the state’s proposal in January to open a 40-bed shelter for individuals at the armory by April 1. Ultimately the plan was dropped when changes were made to extend the state’s motel and hotel emergency housing program, but that announcement also came without advance notice to local officials.
“It seems as though they’ve been piecing this together,” Clapp said, adding that communication is a “persistent concern.”
But those in town government are eager to learn more. “We are a compassionate community,” Clapp said, pointing to Waterbury’s century-long history of hosting the state hospital which closed in 2011.
Some details shared
Leitz in his summary from meeting with Winters said that he learned staffing at the armory would be a combination of contracted employees and state workers. “At least two staff persons will be on at all times. They will provide the families with health care, job search assistance, and their full array of economic services,” Leitz wrote to town officials.
As of Monday, however, some key details were not yet resolved. “They would like to provide food, but haven’t identified vendors as yet,” Leitz said, noting that he suggested the state contact the Waterbury Area Senior Center to possibly assist on some level. The center prepares meals daily for the Meals on Wheels program and for lunches at its facility on Stowe Street.
The state also did not have a security plan for the shelter to share yet, Leitz said, nor had Winters indicated that his department had discussed the matter with Vermont State Police regarding increasing their presence in Waterbury. Since Waterbury closed its village police department several years ago, the town contracts with the state police for coverage from two state troopers each week. In recent months and as recent as last week, the select board has discussed public safety and whether police coverage is adequate given an uptick in crime.
The issue of security was an important consideration raised by both town officials and town residents during public meetings earlier this year when the state first proposed using the armory as a shelter.
This latest armory shelter proposal is designed to serve families with children who have exhausted their eligibility for the state’s motel-hotel program but who still need housing.
Leitz said Winters noted the state plans to continue to transport children in the affected families to the schools they have been attending this school year. That would mean that school-age children moving into the shelter would not need to enroll in local schools in the Harwood district. Harwood Superintendent Mike Leichliter, however, said recently that the district would accommodate any new students that moved into the community via the shelter program.
Presumably families chosen to move to the armory would be coming from other locations in Central Vermont, Leitz said, noting though that he does not know specifically which schools children are attending.
“We haven’t heard much about the children,” Clapp said. Families also may decide that local schools are a better option, he pointed out. “People can make decisions and will,” he said.
And although the state says it aims to operate the shelter until April 1, it’s not clear how long families would choose to remain in the new Waterbury facility if other options become available. “The motel program is due to open up again in December,” Clapp pointed out. “We don’t know how that will impact this.”
Winters during a recent press conference with Gov. Phil Scott emphasized that his department is working with individuals and families leaving the motel-hotel program to help them find permanent housing. Leitz said Winters explained that the state would assist those at the shelter with transportation during their stay and that a state staffer would organize donations from the community to help the families in the shelter with essentials such as winter clothing.
Zoning issue remains
What is still unclear is whether and how an ongoing legal dispute with the state will be resolved regarding a town zoning requirement. The state has filed an appeal in state Environmental Court challenging the town’s interpretation of its zoning regulations as they pertain the the armory. While the regulations say that the property may be used as an emergency shelter, its designation states that it is to be operated by state, federal or local government. Town officials have told the state that should a private contractor be hired to operate a shelter in the facility, the state would need a change of use permit. The state has disagreed and has challenged that interpretation in court.
Leitz on Monday said he did not get into “the details of the permit issue” with Winters. “He did acknowledge there would be a third party on site, with staff overseeing the operation,” Leitz told the select board.
Whether the state’s set-up for the new shelter complies with town regulations is a matter for town Zoning Administrator Mike Bishop to determine, Leitz said. Bishop will review the arrangement with state officials and would decide whether to issue a notice of a zoning violation to the state. “He has that authority,” Leitz said. “He will do his job.”
Clapp agreed pointing out that matters of zoning violations are separate from the Select Board or town manager. Based on his initial meeting with Winters, Leitz said he’s hopeful the state will meet the town requirement. “I think the intent is to avoid [a violation],” he said.
On Tuesday, Bishop shared a statement regarding the armory and the zoning requirements.
“The State is permitted to open this shelter provided it is ‘directly operating’ the facility in compliance with the Town’s Zoning Regulations. Should the State wish to engage a vendor to directly operate the shelter, it must
apply for a change of use permit for the facility,” he wrote, noting that would likely involve review and approval by the town’s Development Review Board.
Bishop acknowledged that Commissioner Winters shared with the town manager that the state “proposes that its employees would be on-site at all times alongside other ‘vendors.’ However, the extent to which the State intends to ‘directly operate’ the shelter remains unclear at this time,” he said. “However, based on past statements, including those from the Governor, I am confident that Commissioner Winters and other State staff are fully aware of the Town of Waterbury’s zoning requirements and will adhere to them accordingly.”
Select Board member Kane Sweeney who has been pushing for more housing initiatives in the community said he credits the state for returning with a shelter proposal for families which better fits the setting and acknowledges the security concerns the community raised regarding a shelter for individuals last winter. Still, Sweeney said he hopes the state would observe the town regulations regarding its operation so local officials aren’t faced with the decision of whether to take legal action to enforce the zoning measure that could leave families without a home.
“I will not support the town blocking families from having shelter,” he said.
The tension over the new use of the armory comes as town officials are growing frustrated with the slow pace of negotiations with the state Buildings and General Services Department on another state property issue in Waterbury. In 2023, the state legislature authorized the buildings department, which oversees management of state real estate, to sell the 2.5-acre parcel at the State Office Complex near the end of Randall Street to the town of Waterbury. The site is where the former Stanley and Wasson Halls were located at the complex. Damaged by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, the buildings were demolished in 2021.
Town officials view the property as a possible location to build up to 75 apartments. In the town’s annual report ahead of Town Meeting Day this year, Leitz wrote: “The site was recently surveyed, and we are actively working with developers on proposals to construct apartments. The current plan is for a mix of market rate and affordable or senior housing. We hope to hold public meetings in the spring or summer to present conceptual plans, and believe this proposal would be a significant boost to our rental housing stock.”
Despite the town expressing its interest in buying the parcel, the target date for the property sale remains unclear. Town officials say the state has not yet proceeded with subdividing the lot from the main campus. Meanwhile, leadership at the state buildings department recently changed with the appointment this month of new Commissioner Wanda Minoli.
In his communication with town officials on Monday, Leitz said he shared with Winters the town’s frustration with the slow progress on the Stanley-Wasson sale as well as the state’s court challenge of the town zoning regulations regarding the armory. “I was also pretty frank about Stanley Wasson and told Chris it was increasingly hard to believe their lack of inertia on Stanley Wasson was unrelated,” he wrote.
Leitz asked the select board members, Bishop, and state Reps. Tom Stevens and Theresa Wood to share questions about the shelter plan that he could forward to Winters with the hope that the state officials who attend the Wednesday evening meeting would address them.