Town reports are printed, town meeting is around the corner and the countdown to spring has started!! I hope that everyone has found a way to stay warm and safe this winter. Fortunately, I have found a few days to get outside and snowshoe around the woods but those days have been few and far between and I am really looking forward to the warmer weather.
I hope that you will be able to join us at the Annual Town Meeting this year, it is held on Tuesday,
March 3, 2015 at 10:00 AM at the Putney Central School. Town reports are available at the Town Office or you can get a copy online at www.putneyvt.org. It is so important to attend this meeting, it is where decisions are made regarding the business of the Town and School. Please feel free to call me with questions regarding the process of voting, speaking or just general questions of what goes on at town meeting. I want everyone to feel welcome and no one should ever feel uncomfortable attending or speaking at Town meeting.
Road reminder!!! We are all waiting patiently for the warm weather but with that warmer weather comes mud season. Last year was difficult and we are predicting that this year could be the same if not worse. Our road crew works very hard to keep the roads in the best condition they possibly can but please remember that Mother Nature, dirt and heavy trucks/equipment do not always cooperate. Lots of patience and planning are needed on your part to help get through this tough season. I will do my best to keep informed of the road conditions so that you can call my office with questions or concerns regarding the condition of your road. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding, we will get through it, we always do and better weather always eventually comes our way!!
What else we are working on:
TOWN HALL -We are working on the finishing touches to the Insulation project at the Town Hall. The Town was awarded a $10,000 grant as a result of the Vermont Home Energy Challenge through Efficiency Vermont. This money allowed us to insulate the space between the lower and upper floor of the Town Hall. Once that work was done we needed to have the ceilings and walls patched and finished to hide the holes that were created when the insulation was blown into the building. The end result has been a noticeable difference in temperature, the comfort level of the office staff this winter, mostly in the big meeting room and a great finished look of the ceilings and walls. Thanks everyone for your patience while this work has been going on.
PUTNEY CENTRAL SCHOOL-The Safe Routes to School project, which has been an ongoing proposed project for several years, will improve the pedestrian walkway around the front of the school, add some radar speed feedback signs on Westminster Road, and some much needed lighting. The project is out to bid right now and we are hopeful that we will get several competitive bids and that the project can be completed this summer. If you would like to see the plans, please stop by my office. I would be happy to show them to you.
SIDEWALK – We are hoping to have the Phase 2 of the Putney Village Sidewalk, Putney General Store to Putney Friends Meeting House, out to bid soon so that construction for that phase can be completed this summer. Right now it is in a review step at the State of Vermont Transportation office, we are scheduled to meet with utility companies to discuss the relocation of a utility pole and Right of Way documentation to be completed and filed at the Town Office. I will continue to update the sidewalk progress and please if you have any questions or comments let me know.
ROADS – We were awarded a Better Back Roads Grant from the State of Vermont in the amount of $2,993 in July of 2014. This grant allowed us to start a road and culvert inventory project which is almost done. Once complete we will have an updated list of all of our culverts and bridges, documented erosion issues and GPS locations and map of those structures. We will also have a capital planning budget to aid us in completing the annual Structures Grant application. Completing this project helps us reduce the Town match for a structures grant from 20% to 10%. The road foreman and I work closely to prioritize the infrastructure projects and having this complete will help us plan ahead instead of always trying to play catch up.
We also are waiting on bids for the painting of the Town Hall and Water Pump Building on Sand Hill, painting will be done this spring/summer. The planning for the opening of the Town Pool is underway, we will be looking for a pool manager and lifeguards for the summer. Zoning questions are starting to come in, with spring comes building activity. Property taxes are past due and as Collector of Delinquent Taxes, I will be receiving the list for collection soon. If you haven’t paid your taxes and would like to come sit and talk with me about it, please feel free to stop by or send me an email. Notices will soon be mailed to the property owners who are delinquent.
A big THANKS goes out to all of the people who volunteer in any capacity in our Town. I know how difficult it is to find the time and in the winter, with the cold and dangerous driving conditions, it is especially hard to even get out of the house sometimes. Our community is definitely better because of all of you and I personally want to thank you for all that you do.
My office hours are Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm and I can be reached at (802) 387-5862×11 or at tm@putneyvt.org. Thanks for reading, Cynthia Stoddard, Putney Town Manager