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Town of Plymouth, Vermont Select Board – Regular Meeting Monday, March 18, 2024 @ 6:00 PM Municipal Building Meeting Room Agenda

Topic: Plymouth Select Board Meeting
Time: March 18, 2024 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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1. Call to Order and Introduction of Those Present:
2. Consideration of Any Changes, Additions or Removals to Agenda:
3. Approve Meeting Minutes:
   1. February 5, 2024 Regular Meeting
   2. March 4, 2024 Town Meeting
4. Leslie Wright, Civil Engineer – Natural Resources Conservation Service (via zoom):
5. Appoint/Sign Southern Windsor/Windham Counties Solid Waste Management District Rep:
6. Board to Appoint Town Officers:
7. Board to Discuss Constable Position/Duties:
8. Board to Review, Approve, and Sign Town Road and Bridge Standard Documents:
9. Board to Vote on Community Center Director Position:
10. Board to Review and Possibly Approve Day Care / Community Center Usage:
11. Board to Review and Approve Vermont 100 on 100 Relay Scheduled for Saturday, August 10th:
12. Discussion About 553 Echo View Drive – Property Taxes:
13. Review and Possibly Approve the Vermont Journal for Legal Advertising:
14. Mail and Warrants:

a. Receipt of P&Z Ordinance Changes

15. Other Business:
16. Possible Executive Session:
17. Adjourn:

Reprinted with permission from The Vermont Standard

3/11/24

This changeable weather has been quite challenging. Friday was so delightful that I walked twice. Saturday morning was a bit breezy, but the walk was still enjoyable. Then by the afternoon we were back to winter! Snow totals seemed to vary considerably. I cleared 5 inches from my deck Saturday before bed and another 8 had accumulated by late morning on Sunday. The totals were less in other places, a few inches in Bridgewater and not much at all in Rutland. By Sunday afternoon, walking was pleasant in Woodstock.

I attended the Yoh theatre production of Little Women on Sunday. A lively cast of various ages and amazing singing in addition to the animated acting. Many local people were involved with making the sets and costumes, plus handling the sound and lighting.

The town website has the election results. Financial concerns were on the minds of most folks and that seems to have been influential in their voting choices. Back to the drawing board on some issues.

The Plymouth Historical Society is seeking new members. If you have never been into their space at the Community Center (the former elementary school), you will be impressed by the collection. It will be open and volunteers will be on hand Sunday, 3/17 from 2 – 4 PM to help with genealogy exploration.

Ludlow, VT: The Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce recently celebrated the grand opening of Yeah Wine Shop, a natural wine store, in Lamere Square in Ludlow, Vermont. The ribbon cutting event was accompanied by a wonderful wine tasting afternoon. Yeah Wine Shop has a vast variety of natural wines made both locally as well as from around the world. Stop by to browse their unique selection of natural wines with both big and subtle flavors.

For the ribbon cutting ceremony, Karen Kraut, Owner, and Eric Kraut cut the ribbon together with Chamber Executive Director Carol Lighthall holding the ribbon on the left and Assistant Chamber Director Leah Krieble on the right.

Images by Donald Dill.

For more information, visit our website http://www.yourplaceinvermont.com.

The Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit, member-driven association and the voice of 300+ businesses and the communities of 12 Towns & Villages in South Central Vermont from the VT Scenic Route 100 Byway to Interstate Route 91, and surrounded by Okemo, Ascutney & Magic Mountains. OVRCC provides advocacy, support, and unified regional marketing to promote and enhance businesses in the region as well as the four-season economy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Carol Lighthall, Executive Director, Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce

clighthall@yourplaceinvermont.com 802-228-5830

—
Leah Krieble
Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce
57 Pond Street Ste #8 – PO Box 333
Ludlow, VT 05149
802-228-5830
lkrieble@yourplaceinvermont.com
http://www.yourplaceinvermont.com

Reprinted with permission from The Vermont Standard

3/3/24

So, here we are in March and the shift to Daylight Saving Time happens on 3/10 – spring ahead! I read recently that getting up a little earlier than usual the week before the clocks change can help to make the transition easier.  It might be worth a try.

My article is going out before Town Meeting voting and the Tuesday Australian ballot items. The weather will be good, so there that is no excuse to avoid voting!  My hope is that there has been thoughtful consideration of the proposals and that differences of opinions can be presented calmly and respectfully.

Grandparents. Jeri and Mark Savery are excited about the arrival on 2/13 of Chase Stephen Titus Savery weighing 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 1/2 inches long, born to Tyler Savery and Leah Titus. Congratulations!

There is an exciting program taking place on Friday, 3/15at 6:00 PM at the Ludlow Auditorium on Depot Street. Karen Land, a three-time Iditarod participant, will be speaking about her experiences in the sport of mushing and she will also be bringing two of her dogs with her. it is a collaboration of three local libraries: Fletcher Memorial, Cavendish and Mt. Holly libraries.  This free and family friendly event should be fun for all ages.

 Plymouth Historical Society Annual Meeting will take next Sunday afternoon, March 10 at 2pm.  All are invited and new members are encouraged to attend.

Will you be prepared in the event that a family member, friend, neighbor or stranger goes in to cardiac arrest in front of you? Or what if any of those same people people suffer from a significant cut, wound and blood loss; do you know what to do in case of either of these emergencies? Your quick action can definitely save a life! Learn how to identify a cardiac arrest, do ‘Hands Only CPR’ and how to use an AED. Learn how to prevent further blood loss, use a tourniquet or even make one in our free classes to be held Tuesday night, March 19 at the Plymouth Town Hall. The Hands Only CPR class will start at 7 pm and the Stop the Bleed class will begin at 8 pm that night. These classes are free and conducted as a community service by the Plymouth First Response Team.

To register for either class you can sign up at the town hall or email Sue Poirier at spcolby@gmail.com. Registration deadline is Friday, March 15th. Spaces are limited so please sign up early.

For further information call Sue at 802-236-2683.

The Plymouth Town meeting will be Monday March 4th, voting will occur the following day, March 5th.

Dear readers,

The Plymouth Town meeting will be held on March 5, not March 4 as previously mentioned. Sorry for the confusion.

Reprinted with permission from The Vermont Standard

2/26/24

The month is coming to a close although February has an extra day this year. The full moon has dominated the night sky making it particularly bright with the snow. Several people have told me it has disrupted their sleep!

There does not appear to be much snow in the forecast, but many of us are enjoying snowshoeing while it lasts. I did not see them on Patch Brook Rd on Sunday, but have been told there were two coyotes feasting on prey down by water there.

I have been remiss in noting birthdays. I see that I missed former resident Eric Johnsen (2/2), Scott Hepler (2/17) and Naomi Moyer (2/25). Hope they have all celebrated well! If you would like to be included, just let me know.

Lauren and I have tried to use the Plymouth Press to provide information that can be useful to our community. It seems that opinion pieces are better suited to Facebook, so we have not included them.  I have attempted to ask pertinent questions that might be on the minds of others, then include factual information.

In response, Elliot Rubin, one of our MVSU representatives has provided resource material. Tesha Buss, our representative, has included her articles. With so many financial requests coming at us, I decided to ask Brandon Bergey, Bethany Birches Camp director to provide tax implications for the upcoming vote to be relieved of the education portion of the Camp’s taxes. Below is his response:

The rate is $0.0081 or $8 per $100,000 of value. So, if your assessment is $500,000 your share of the BBC education tax is $40. If your assessment is $1,000,000 your share is $80. And so on. BBC is paying all of our municipal tax.

Our Town Meeting is at 7:00 PM on Monday, 3/4 and as noted on the Website and in the Town Report, some voting takes place that evening. Voting by Australian ballot for other items and elected officials will be from 10 AM until 7:00 PM on Tuesday, 3/6 at the Town Building. You can ask for either a Republican or Democratic ballot for the Presidential Primary there as well.

House Education is working on a school construction bill.

The first part of the bill will be to create incentives for district-wide planning grants to assess all buildings and programs, study enrollment, promote collaborations and explore and identify cost saving measures.

The second part will be to create a working group that will make recommendations to next year’s new legislature for the creation of a new state supported school construction aid program.

The task force this year was not as effective as it could be due to the July flooding. The new program will be quite different from what we had before and careful consideration is needed. The new working group will have to address the details of governance, prioritization criteria, bonding capacity, funding streams and more.

To obtain future state aid, a project will have to meet numerous criteria such as a district-wide plan, proper project planning, architecture and design work and the choosing of a vetted construction company to manage and complete the project.

The state is also aware that many projects cannot wait for the creation of the program. The current recommendation for how long the state will look back to cover qualified portions of projects that began prior to the launch of the program is five years.

Here is the link to the full Task Force Recommendations:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Education/School%20Construction/2024/W~Jill%20Briggs%20Campbell~The%20School%20Construction%20Aid%20Taskforce%20Report~2-1-2024.pdf

Here is the link to a shorter slide deck:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Education/School%20Construction/2024/W~Jill%20Briggs%20Campbell~School%20Construction%20Aid%20Taskforce%20Report~2-1-2024.pdf

The bill is still in committee and will come to the floor of the house prior to March 15. You can follow the work of the legislature here: https://legislature.vermont.gov/

You can view reports on education from the Joint Fiscal Office here: https://ljfo.vermont.gov/subjects/education

Tesha Buss
State Representative, Windsor – 5
Plymouth, Reading, Woodstock