LONDONDERRY, Vt. – The Londonderry Selectboard received two resignations, hired a new minute taker, and heard continued concern on the assistant town clerk position at its Oct. 19 meeting.
Chad Stoddard submitted a one-line letter of resignation from the planning commission, and Jen Greenfield wrote a detailed resignation from her many volunteer roles for the town, including the planning commission, land acquisition task force committee, and publishing the Doings in Derry monthly newsletter. Both resignation letters can be found in the Oct. 19 meeting packet, on page 67.
Greenfield wrote, “When I began volunteering for the planning commission in 2024, we wanted our $3,000 in planning commission stipends allocated to the town hall renovation for the upstairs chairs…Instead, we were told the money was quietly shifted to the general fund.
“Then I dropped everything to work on the town plan – because it mattered, because it helps secure grants, and because the state required it. When I later tried to finalize the zoning bylaws fiasco, you told me I was ‘personally and legally responsible for it and that I better have it right.’ …That level of pressure was absurd, and it’s exactly why I left the planning commission.
“The Doings in Derry newsletter existed to keep residents informed…yet in the entire year and a half I produced it, your office never once reached out to include anything…You then placed it on the selectboard agenda for the Sept. 21 meeting without contacting me at all. It was obvious the plan was to kill it. And now it’s dead.”
Greenfield concluded, “I care deeply about this town, but I will not continue volunteering under leadership that treats volunteers as disposable and transparency as optional.”
The board hired Angie Perry as the minute taker for the selectboard, to begin at the Nov. 2 meeting.
Citizen Rachel Febbie then questioned why, at the previous selectboard meeting, it was stressed how urgently town documents needed to be digitized, yet Assistant Town Clerk George Mora had said that the process could take years. Febbie suggested that, if it would take so long, the town should be looking to outsource this position so that it does not lose the documents.
Chair Tom Cavanagh explained that the cheapest option that Town Clerk Allison Marino found was, from his recollection, $350,000. Board member Taylor Prouty voiced that outsourcing the tasks looked to be far more expensive than adding hours to someone who is already in the office, and also more familiar with the documents.
Febbie reiterated that, given the importance of the documents, the town should not take years to digitize them. She urged the board to look into other options to expedite the process.
Town Administrator Aileen Tulloch clarified that the town clerk is an elected official, and the selectboard doesn’t have authority over the vault, the town clerk does. Prouty added this is why the selectboard is taking direction and guidance directly from the town clerk on the needs of the town office and how to pursue the digitization.
Febbie also questioned why the assistant town clerk could not take on the minute-taker tasks for which the town had hired Perry that evening. Tulloch explained that the previously rejected general office manager position could have reported to the board to put together meeting packets and possibly take minutes, but that the assistant town clerk is under the direction of the town clerk only.
Patty Eisenhauer, housing commission chair, later updated the board on the commission’s progress with town zoning bylaws over the last few years, including increasing the flexibility of housing types and unit sizes, allowing more diverse housing in the community, and more closely monitoring short-term rentals to ensure they are safe.
Eisenhauer also reported that the emergency repair program was highest ranked by citizens. The commission secured $300,000 from the Holt Foundation to conduct emergency repairs for homeowners in the Mountain Towns, with grants up to $25,000 per household. Projects could include heating, septic, well, and water repairs.
The board then approved a change order in the amount of $865,515 for the South Village wastewater project. This change order allows the town to add Phase 2 of the South Village project to the existing Phase 1 contract with Hunter Excavating.
Chrissy Haskins, of Dufresne Group, reported that a new state grant agreement is forthcoming to add funding to the South Village project to cover the added work. Haskins said that the change order allows for materials for Phase 2 to be ordered right away, and will help spend the South Village project federal ARPA funds that would otherwise expire on Nov. 30. North Village state ARPA funds have a different deadline of August 2027.
The board clarified that moving money between the federal and state funding sources would hopefully result in no taxpayer money spent. The town will continue to utilize available grants, and if grant funding runs out, the town has already approved a bond vote, which would be taxpayer funded.
Haskins explained the benefit of the change order versus bidding out Phase 2 of the project, including avoiding the potential for having two contractors working in the same area in the spring, a saving on the costs of construction and engineering, and eliminating duplication of administrative work. She added the town would also eliminate the need for a second bid phase, which saves time, and that Hunter Excavating is already in the process of efficiently installing the pipes of Phase 1, and could easily continue from there.
The approved change order includes nine additional service connections in Phase 2, and credits two properties that opted out of connection. The board confirmed that Phase 2 ensures that all of those interested will be able to connect to the system.
The Londonderry Selectboard meets on the first and third Mondays of each month, at 6 p.m., at the town office and on Zoom.