Solar project complaints received
GUILFORD — GUILFORD - “I have received a number of phone calls, e-mails, and letters” from people in town about the Tinker Hill Road solar project, Board Chair Sheila Morse told her colleagues at the April 25 regular Selectboard meeting.
Morse explained the project, performed by GLC Powersmith, had gone through the Act 250 public hearing process last year, but now “we see the steel structures go up, [and] people are sort of worried how it looks and what's going to happen.”
In response to Morse's communications, Dan Ingold of GLC Powersmith sent a letter detailing the planned solutions to residents' aesthetic concerns. Some of those include removing construction equipment upon project completion, planting grass and trees and installing a fence around the perimeter, and bringing in sheep to graze on the meadow.
Morse reminded residents it will take time for these fixes to “mitigate the starkness of the project.”
According to the draft minutes of the Board meeting, Ingold contacted town officials with an update. As per the minutes, “The construction of the solar array will be completed in mid-May. Landscaping elements will be added and completed in mid-July.”
Board member Dick Clark said, “I think it's coming along nicely... It's green!”
Road crew gets a new truck
GUILFORD - Road Commissioner Dan Zumbruski brought details of the bids he received for a new truck to the April 25 regular Selectboard meeting.
Zumbruski received two bids for the 2017 International Model 7600 SBA 6x4 Heavy Duty cab and chassis.
After some discussion, including Zumbruski's recommendation, the bid was awarded to Jericho-based Clark's Truck Center for an amount of $143,106 by unanimous Board vote.
The truck should arrive by the end of July, and Zumbruski noted this model is identical to the truck the town recently purchased. When Board member Gabrielle Ciufredda asked if Zumbruski was happy with the truck, he replied, “it's working out real well.”
Zumbruski said he “heavily negotiated” with the salespeople at Clark's, and this bid came in under the amount budgeted for the truck. Board member Gordon Little thanked him for his efforts.
Zumbruski also shared his crew's plans for seasonal road work. Because of the recent dry weather, Zumbruski temporarily stopped grading the town's roads because “it's been so dry and dusty.”
Zumbruski assured them he will resume grading “once we get some moisture.” Meanwhile, he and his crew are cleaning out the town's roadside ditches.
His “summer project” is to finish grading the roads, then “chloriding afterwards,” then work on culverts, Zumbruski said. He also plans to lease a small excavator for blacktop ditching. “Some hasn't been done in years,” he told town officials. Zumbruski noted the cost of leasing the excavator is within his budget.
Town Administrator Katie Buckley and Zumbruski are working on grant applications to help maintain the town's roads.
Buckley said the grants from the Agency of Transportation's (AOT) Vermont Better Roads Program, if received, will fund ditch work and replacement of 12 culverts on Stage Road, and ditch work on Sweet Pond Road. Buckley also submitted a grant application for the AOT Town Highway Class II Roadway Program to help pay for paving. The three grants total $221,000.
“If we get funded, it'll all take place this summer,” Buckley said.
Board chooses roof color for Green River bridge
GUILFORD - Selectboard members passed around paint chips at the April 25 regular Board meeting to select the color of the new Green River covered bridge roof.
Board member Gabrielle Ciufredda suggested matte black or charcoal gray to “keep the same character” among other buildings in Green River Village.
The Board unanimously voted to have the new bridge's roof painted charcoal gray.
Work session planned on roads policy
GUILFORD - At the April 25 regular Selectboard meeting, Board member Dick Clark suggested his colleagues schedule a work session to discuss the procedure for establishing new roads and discontinuing obsolete ones.
The work sessions, which occur in the Town Offices at 8 a.m. most Thursdays with Town Administrator Katie Buckley, were created as informal orientation sessions for Board members. They are warned and open to the public. No decisions will be made at the sessions.
Clark proposed changes to roads as a topic because, as he learned at a recent seminar, the multi-step process can be confusing. Clark said he will present “the nuts and bolts of it.” This work session is scheduled for May 5.