CAVENDISH, Vt. – After returning from a 30-minute executive session to “discuss a personnel matter,” board member George Timko addressed those present at the May 8 meeting of the Cavendish Selectboard. “I’d like to make a motion that the board hire Rick Chambers as the new Town Manager, starting May 15, 2023.”
Previously, Chambers was the Water and Wastewater Superintendent in Springfield for 27 years, and is a resident of Cavendish.
A conversation between resident Margo Caulfield and Town Clerk Diane McNamara, regarding the removal of a pine tree near the Stone Church, revealed the issue was not yet settled. Caulfield asked what more was needed from her, and McNamara said the question remained as to whose land the tree is on. McNamara apologized that the item was not on the meeting agenda, but said she and Bruce McEnaney of the town planning commission had determined the tree sat right on the border. “There are no records,” McNamara stated, “and the town isn’t going to pay for a survey.”
Caulfield countered, “The thing is, if the tree goes down [landing on the church] it’s going to cost thousands and thousands of dollars.”
Board member Mike Ripley suggested waiting to hear from McEnaney, and putting the item on the next selectboard meeting agenda for further discussion.
Doris Eddy was at the meeting to request approval for the Cavendish Streetscapes Committee to use the Proctorsville Green on June 24 for an event. Eddy also reported that a professional arborist had offered to donate his time to trim the trees on the green, if the town could dispose of the limbs. The board agreed, and approved Eddy’s request to appoint Chambers as deputy health officer, now that former town manager Brendan McNamara had vacated the position.
McNamara introduced the discussion of town-wide concerns regarding continuing issues with the drinking water. “There are two separate issues going on,” McNamara explained. “The more important one is the elevated manganese level, which was detected in October but did not get reported until March. That delay is very concerning. The second [issue] is the yellow or brown colored water showing up in various places. That is being worked on.”
“Regarding the high manganese level, our water operator is of the belief that this was somewhat of an anomaly,” McNamara continued. “About the delay in reporting, I contacted the woman at the state, who said there was confusion as to how our lab was reporting the results, which led to a delay by the state to issue the public notice. I really do not have any other explanation than that.” McNamara said the state had since spoken with town water operations and the lab about how to be sure it won’t happen again.
McNamara reported, “The last manganese test, that was sampled on April 10, showed no detectable levels of manganese leaving the facilities, so any results between January and now have all shown normal levels.”
“There was a question about having the town’s water sample calendar schedule, and I do have that, which I can copy and give to people,” McNamara offered. She also mentioned a website with each state’s water testing results, including the town of Cavendish. “I think we should post that link on our website,” McNamara suggested, addressing the board.
One resident, Daniela Clark, pressed McNamara and the board on the water issue. “I thought you were going to bring one of the water department members in. It seems like someone needs to answer these questions,” voiced Clark.
“Well, you know, our water operator really is not a public speaker,” McNamara responded. “I really didn’t feel comfortable dragging him in front of the selectboard and having him on television, to try and explain something that he’s not really well-versed in speaking about.” McNamara mentioned the town was “town-managerless at the time,” and said the issue will be addressed once Chambers officially “takes over as town manager and is brought up to speed.”
“What about the tests Brendan said were done in-house?” Clark asked, and further questioned what type of tests were conducted, and on what schedule. McNamara reiterated that once Chambers had a chance to review everything, the issue would be revisited.
Martha Harrison of the Mount Ascutney Regional Planning Commission presented the board with a request to accept a municipal grant to update the Capital Budget Plan. Harrison articulated that Cavendish had been awarded the grant, for $17,280, stating she would do much of the work, and the town match would be 10%.
McNamara asked what the time frame was to spend the money, and Harrison said she believed it would be two years, but said she hadn’t seen the agreement yet. Harrison gave the board information on additional municipal energy grants they may be interested in.
The award-winning Grafton Cheese Company was granted a second-class liquor license to sell beer and wine at a new retail location at the old Black River Produce building on Route 103.
The board officially appointed Chambers to serve as representative of the solid waste management district, and John Saydek as representative to the MARC VTrans town advisory committee.
After approving a request to host a town Memorial Day event at Hillcrest Cemetery on May 30, the board motioned to adjourn. Next month’s selectboard meeting will be Monday, June 12.