ROCKINGHAM, Vt. – Board Chair Rick Cowan opened Tuesday night’s Rockingham Selectboard meeting by thanking those in attendance, and inviting anyone who wished to contact the board to visit the town website for members’ email addresses. “We all have email addresses, and we welcome emails from constituents,” Cowan announced.
The board voted on a long list of committee appointments, with Cowan stating, “There are over 76 community-spirited people on this list, and 22 different boards, committees, and commissions.”
These included the appointment of Diana Jones as town animal control officer, Ray Perry as tree warden, and Elijah Zimmer as selectboard liaison to the Great Falls Regional Chamber of Commerce (GFRCC).
Selectboard member John Dunbar was appointed to the Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation (BFADC), while Zimmer was reappointed to the same. Other positions were confirmed in the cemetery commission, Connecticut River Joint Commission (CRJC), energy commission, conservation commission, design review board, planning commission, and others.
Development director Gary Fox, who had been filling the position of interim E911 coordinator since Chuck Wise stepped down last year, will continue in the role full time, as well as his part-time post with Community Economic Development and Grants Management.
The board voted to designate The Shopper as the official paper of record, and agreed the Brattleboro Reformer would serve as alternate.
Zimmer and Dunbar volunteered to collaborate on updating the Waypoint Center Use Application, which Zimmer described as “convoluted and difficult to understand.” The two board members will review and edit the application, then bring their recommendations to the board.
The public comment period for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Relicensing Bellows Falls Hydro Project #1855 has been extended through May 22. Fox explained that, since the 2013 Island Revitalization Study, there were requests to mitigate recreation and land use issues on the island, and Cowan made clear that it was important for the town to gather all pertinent information and present their input to Great River Hydro (GRH), the company managing the Bellows Falls facility, and 12 others along the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers.
Pickup had registered Rockingham as a “commenter,” allowing the town to have an official voice regarding the project’s impact on the town and the Village of Bellows Falls.
Cowan mentioned that he and Pickup looked at what other towns have done, including Lebanon, N.H. and Norwich, Vt. Cowan told the meeting GRH asks for this feedback just once every 40 years, adding, “So, this is our moment.”
Cowan admitted in some ways GRH has been very helpful and cooperative, and in other ways, not as much. One example given was that, in their application, GRH stated they do not intend to make any changes to recreation, yet Rockingham will have “pretty extensive recreation requests,” Cowan said, “as do many other towns up and down the river.”
Discussion continued regarding three upcoming bridge projects the town has planned, all of which will impact the operation of the hydro plant in some way. Pickup agreed to be the point person for any infrastructure concerns, and will facilitate communication between the town, VTrans, and GRH.
One aspect being considered is environmental, and Cowan said, “We’ve had a lot of great research done by ornithologists Cat Abbott and Colleen Lawlor.” Lawlor was at the meeting, and stated that she lives on Darby Hill Road and is a local bird advocate who, since 2018, has been studying grassland nesting birds in the Upper Meadows. She clarified that she is a conservationist, not an ornithologist, and an expert in the conservation of the Upper Valley Meadows area.
The State of Vermont has identified certain birds that nest in the meadows as species of special concern, and Lawlor explained that they would be asking GRH to continue the delayed mow contract that preserves 80 acres for the safe nesting of bobolinks and eastern meadowlarks for the next period of 40 years. The contract is set to expire in 2025 without the extension.
Public comments on environment, infrastructure, and recreation can be directed to developmentassist@rockbf.org or development@rockbf.org.
Town manager Scott Pickup reminded everyone that sidewalk repair work to complete the Pine Street project had begun, and that repairing the sidewalks in Saxtons River would be next up, the job awarded to Springfield Paving for an approved bid of $33,600.
Pickup also reported that the town was currently accepting bids for downtown crosswalk painting and covered bridge repairs, hoping to award those by the end of May.
After receiving multiple bids for the School Street and Atkinson Street paving project at Central Elementary scheduled for 2025, the board voted to award the job to Springfield Paving, for $625,287.
The board scheduled a special meeting for June 22, at 2 p.m., at the Bellows Falls Middle School, to consider the permanent rescheduling of Town Meeting to the Saturday immediately preceding the first Tuesday in March, beginning in 2025. An updated warning for the special meeting will be presented to the board at the next regular selectboard meeting on May 7.
Additional items expected at the May 7 meeting are updates to financials and FERC comments, and a review of selectboard rules and procedures.