Dear Editor,
I have a B.S. in civil engineering, married for 37 years, and have lived in Springfield for the past 34 years with two kids that graduated from the Springfield School District. I worked for the town of Rockingham as the public works director and engineer from 1994 to 2010 and from 2018 to 2020. That position was eliminated both times, against the wish of the voters; however I started up Hammond Engineering in 2010 with 95% of my work from the town of Rockingham and village of Bellows Falls for a period of 3.5 years due large projects and Hurricane Irene. I am now working for the city of Lebanon as assistant director of public works. I am a professional engineer in civil engineering and look to utilize tax dollars wisely and efficiently to get the best quality possible out of the available budget.
I have the following experience that can help the town of Springfield:
- Five years of construction experience with Frank W. Whitcomb building roads, parking lots, paving roads and parking lots, and milling asphalt. While working at Whitcombs, I had the pleasure to work under Bob Funk, a former resident of Springfield.
- Over 20 years of municipal experience in management; design; preparing RFP’s; bidding; construction oversight; planning; obtaining and managing grants; capital plans; construction of roads, parking lots, water lines, sewer lines, sidewalks and bridges and working with many state and federal agencies.
- Technical expertise to help give a check and balance on infrastructure needs at the right time, while pushing for as many grants and low interest loans as possible. There is grant money out there, some of it will take years of planning to obtain.
- Volunteered with Springfield Trails and Greenways app 25 years ago to design and organize the reconstruction of the first four tennis courts and basketball court at Riverside Park.
- Member Springfield Budget Committee in the early 2000s and chairman of the Budget Advisory Committee for the FY14, FY15 and FY16 budget.
- Completed the evaluation of all of the town roads in 2015 with the assistance of the Public Works Department and wrote that Road Surface Management Plan that the town is using to bring the funding up to where it is today.
I would like to see the board work on the following improvements:
- More transparency with the full agenda, financials, and policies posted on the internet.
- Infrastructure Condition: The 15-year road plan that I developed is located on the town website has seen great support among the voters. I want to make sure the intent of the plan is followed and we begin to see the benefits of capital improvements.
- As we address the road conditions, we must also make sure we address necessary water, sewer, drainage, and sidewalk issues. This will take some planning and timing in order to make this affordable. Let’s make sure we are also going for all available grants to help fund this work.
- Work to see what the town can do to help the Springfield School District and vice versa. The rehabilitation of the Riverside Parking lot will be a step in the right direction.
Improvements to the infrastructure and working with the schools as a community will help lead to new businesses and further development to increase the grand list, aid in tax stabilization, and the long-term economic vitality of Springfield.
Sincerely,
Everett Hammond
Springfield, Vt.