Dawn Poitras returns to Duxbury Selectboard; board renews push to bond for Town Garage repairs

November 28, 2020  |  By Jacob Dawson

A familiar face is returning to the Duxbury Selectboard.

Duxbury resident Dawn Poitras was appointed on Monday to fill the vacancy created by the abrupt resignation of Richard Charland last month. Poitras will hold the seat until Town Meeting Day in March.

“I’m interested in coming back on because I do have budget experience with the state and with towns,” Poitras explained to the board during its meeting via Zoom video conference. “I know you’re going into budget season and as a taxpayer, I’m going to look at it for all, not just for a few select.”

The role is familiar for Poitras who in October 2012 was appointed to the selectboard to fill a vacancy. She ran in 2013 and was elected to the seat. She said Monday that she decided not to run again after being appointed to Gov. Phil Scott’s Marijuana Advisory Commission in 2017 where she worked on education and abuse prevention. She said late nights prevented her from committing to the board.

Another Duxbury resident, Mike Moratto, attended Monday’s meeting interested in joining the board. He explained how he’s been a registered voter in Duxbury for 12 years and he would like to get involved in local government. 

“Prior to the pandemic, I had work commitments which kind of prevented me from this kind of role,” Moratto said. While admitting he doesn’t have direct budget experience, Moratto said he felt his role at Keurig Dr. Pepper working on project management, code compliance, and sustainability initiatives could carry over to ongoing or future projects in Duxbury. 

But after hearing Poitras’ experience, Moratto told the board, “I think you should give it to her.”

Board Chair Kevin Garcia then asked Moratto and Poitras if they would be interested in running for a seat on Town Meeting Day. Moratto said he would. Poitras hesitated, adding she was nominated to another Governor’s Council position and is unsure of how that will play out.

Board Vice Chair Mari Pratt highlighted Poitras’ budget experience and Moratto’s project management experience as unique assets each could bring.

After a short deliberation, the board ultimately voted to approve Poitras with Garcia, Pratt and board member Dan Schillhammer voting in favor. Board member Jerry McMahan abstained.

The board doesn’t meet again until Dec. 14; Poitras is expected to be sworn in by Town Clerk Maureen Harvey before then.

Revisiting the bond question for Town Garage repairs

Structural issues have plagued Duxbury’s Town Garage on Vermont Route 100 for years and the selectboard in various configurations has postponed repairs. Meanwhile, heavy storms, flooding from spring runoff, and the test of time have taken their toll on the building which serves as the base of operations for the town’s road crew.

In 2019, the Waterbury Record and the The Valley Reporter weekly newspapers both reported on problems with the structure’s roof and wall supports; there was overall concern with it holding up when snow accumulated on it in wintertime prompting town officials to hire contractors to shovel snow from the roof periodically. Estimates for fixes ranged from $260,000 to $500,000 depending on the extent of the repairs. 

The selectboard has been grappling with how to fund the repairs for many years – wrestling with line items in the town budget to fix it in stages or appeals to voters to approve a bond to tackle the project all at once. 

In November 2019, the selectboard held a special election and proposed a $300,000 bond to address the issue. The idea failed 102-53, with fewer than 14 percent of the town’s 1,120 registered voters at the time casting ballots. Another attempt to pose a bond question to voters at Town Meeting in March failed because it was not properly warned.

After he was elected in March, Charland advocated getting started on the garage project in stages and potentially using funds voters approved for work to the town’s salt shed to get started. That suggestion failed to get support. At the board’s Oct. 26 meeting, Charland’s last, Pratt again suggested a bond this time for $200,000 to be paid off at $15,000 a year for 13 years. 

In an email to The Waterbury Roundabout, Charland explained that his frustration with the board again entertaining an idea of a bond for the garage work contributed to his resignation.

The board took up the topic again at its most recent meeting on Monday. Garcia began by explaining the two previously discussed options to the board again. He said he would prefer a bond, but cautioned as to how to pose the question to voters.

“I don’t think we want to go with a whole Cadillac - repairing all the walls, replacing all the panels - maybe, maybe not,” he said. “My jaw hurts from going down this same path.”

Schillhammer and McMahan, who stressed they are not in the construction field, agreed with Garcia that it would make more sense to make all the repairs at once. “Just, mobilization of the equipment and such, it doesn’t make sense to move it twice,” Schillhammer said.

“That is my gut feeling,” Garcia replied.

Poitras remained on the call for the rest of the meeting and commented during the garage discussions. Saying the board has put off a decision on funding for too long, she said, “I would encourage this not be delayed anymore just so that you can pull together as a board and come up with that action step.”

McMahan agreed: “This decision has been put off for going on seven years now so we need to do something.”

The board voted unanimously to move forward with preparing a bond question that would address garage repairs to present to voters on Town Meeting Day in March. Garcia said at the next meeting the board would discuss specific cost estimates. The question would require a public hearing before a vote. 

Garcia said he hoped a decision on the matter can be “wrapped up by town meeting.”

Salt shed construction a go

Garcia also reported on progress with the project to replace the town’s salt shed that stores road salt. He told the board that the contractor DuBois & King is working on preliminary drawings which he had hoped would have been ready for Monday’s meeting. He said they should be ready for the board to review soon with the goal of the project happening in 2021. 

The town has been awarded a $358,000 state grant for the new shed; it calls for a 20% match, or about $70,000, which voters approved on Town Meeting Day in March.

The new 30-by-60 foot building with a single-slope roof will replace the current, dilapidated salt shed, which is also in violation of state regulations as its contents regularly leak into nearby waterways.