LUDLOW, Vt. – The Ludlow Selectboard met Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, beginning with a discussion of a possible speed limit reduction on South Hill Cross Road. Municipal manager Brendan McNamara noted that this discussion was spurred by several recent incidents, including a dog being struck by a vehicle, and a truck colliding with a telephone pole. McNamara did caution, however, that enforcement would likely be an issue, and suggested that any action on the speed limit begin with a speed study, as his previous experience had indicated that perceptions of speed by those living along the road and the actual average speed of vehicles often differ significantly.
The board then heard Kelly Stettner, director of the Black River Action Team (BRAT) and district manager of the Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District, who gave her thoughts on future flood mitigation strategies. In her opinion, “Flooding in Vermont is not a problem to be fixed,” Stettner told the board, “it is a condition to be managed.” To that end, Stettner suggested several possible courses of action beyond digging deeper river channels, which she explained can often have the opposite of its intended effect, allowing more water into the channel which then moves faster during high water events, thereby increasing bank erosion and worsening the effects of flooding.
A major mitigation strategy, Stettner said, was to slow the water down, which can be achieved in part by planting native trees and shrubs along shoreline and floodplain areas. While Stettner acknowledged that trees often need to be removed for construction of homes, she believes that it was possible to promote the idea of planting more low-growing shrubs and vegetation among homeowners and property owners, which would contribute to slowing down floodwater. Stettner also believes that this strategy should be deployed on municipal property, “properties that we probably shouldn’t develop or redevelop,” such as the former sites of Ludlow’s dog park and Little League fields. These areas, Stettner explained, could be used as flood plain buffers, and could become what she called “working floodplains,” allowing the areas to be used as low-maintenance nurseries. Cuttings could be harvested from the trees and shrubs, which could then be used to propagate the plants in other floodplain areas.
Additionally, Stettner noted that reducing the volume of water entering the river, and promoting healthier soil to increase rainwater absorption, would also result in less flooding in the future.
The board then heard from Ryan Silvestri of New England Municipal Consultants concerning the forthcoming 2026 townwide reappraisal. The State of Vermont, Silvestri told the board, has ordered Ludlow to perform the reappraisal based on the town’s coefficient of dispersion, a number which reflects the quality of a town’s assessment data. A reappraisal is triggered when that number reaches 15%; Ludlow’s is currently at 22%.
Ludlow intends to perform what Silvestri called a “statistical reappraisal,” meaning that the appraisal will be based on data such as permits and other municipal records, and will not require full inspections of all properties in Ludlow. However, in order to perform a statistical reappraisal, the state requires Ludlow to validate its data by fully reappraising 10% of the properties in town, or about 300 properties, which will be chosen at random. Silvestri will then perform visual inspections of all properties from the road to confirm the data, which could lead to a full inspection of the property if there is any visible improvement which does not show in the town’s records.
Silvestri emphasized that “higher value does not equal higher taxes,” explaining that, at present, Ludlow’s common level of appraisal (CLA) stands at 77%. The CLA is determined by the difference between property valuations at the last townwide reappraisal, and the sale prices of any properties sold since then. This results in all Ludlow taxpayers’ state education tax rate being increased, to compensate for the difference in assessed value and current market value of the properties in town. However, this assumes an even increase in property values across all properties in town. In reality, certain properties will have seen a greater increase in their value than others, and the reappraisal will correct for this discrepancy. After the reappraisal, the CLA will be set at 100%, and the base education tax rate set by the state will not need adjustment until the CLA changes again.
Finally, the board allocated the remainder of Ludlow’s available ARPA funds, awarding $32,730.50 to Fletcher Farm School to fund their reorganization into a community arts space. Susan Balch, interim executive director of Fletcher Farm, and Pollyanna Sidell, development director, explained to the selectboard that the board of Fletcher Farm “recently came to a decision that we want to be a community arts center,” and that the ARPA funds would serve as “part of that transition,” allowing the organization to purchase equipment for four studio spaces, to be available to the local community. This would include equipment for ceramics, jewelry-making, and fiber arts, and would represent a restructuring of Fletcher Farms, necessitated by recent financial difficulties, towards a more community-oriented space for engaging in artistic practice. The selectboard was supportive of this effort, and awarded Fletcher Farm their requested amount of ARPA funds.
The remainder of the ARPA funds, $27,425.73, were allocated to Ludlow Area Sport Trails (LAST), as discussed at the board’s Aug. 5 meeting, to support their construction of mountain biking trails in Ludlow.
The Ludlow Selectboard meets on the first Monday of each month, at 6 p.m., at the Heald Auditorium in Ludlow Town Hall.