LONDONDERRY, Vt. – Londonderry Recreation Director Liam Elio proposed a change order for the Pingree Park tennis court project at the Sept. 8 Londonderry Selectboard meeting. Elio stated that the parks and recreation board had already voted to approve the change order of $71,059, to include a second designated court for pickleball and tennis players.
Elio reported that the foundation of the court was evaluated, and is in much better shape than anticipated. And, given that crews will already be on site, the parks board agreed that a second court would be a good use of the extra funds, without changing the overall project timeline. The renovations will include a fabric base, 12 inches of subbase on the current tennis court, and 24 inches on the new court, “to make sure we’re not dealing with this problem for decades,” Elio stated.
The parks board put $40,000 towards the project, and another $40,000 is available in the Pingree Park fund, so on behalf of the board, Elio sought to borrow just over $100,000 from the cemetery commission. The selectboard approved the change order for the additional court. The project budget, originally at $111,000, will not exceed $182,895.
The selectboard also accepted a resignation from Kelly Pajala from the parks board, who is moving out of Londonderry, and appointed Christine Blaylock to fill the open seat.
Town Administrator Aileen Tulloch announced there was some correspondence from resident Barry Randell, who was “accusing town staff of misinformation and misconduct.” Tulloch expressed, “I just want to say that Tina and Ali work really hard to accommodate the public, and they don’t purposely mislead anybody, and they’re definitely not engaging in misconduct…Members of the public come to them and they’re angry sometimes…but just be kind. We’re all human.”
The email correspondence from Randell regarding the tax rate increase can be found on page 113 of the Sept. 8 meeting packet, at www.londonderryvt.gov.
Short-term rental (STR) Administrator Andy Dahlstrom discussed an administrative fee for declined rental applications, as well as adding a nonrefundable clause to the fee schedule and application. Dahlstrom continued to explain that, after research of wastewater permitting, fire marshal regulations, or for various reasons, someone may wish to withdraw their application if their house is deemed to be in noncompliance, or too much work needs to be done to bring the home into compliance to be rented. Dahlstrom felt that in some cases, the fee should be returned to the applicant.
The board generally agreed that clearly stating the application is nonrefundable will encourage applicants to do their research before submitting the documentation and paying the fee, to avoid having people returning for a refund.
STR appeal board members were then appointed for a term of one year: Allison Marino, Maureen Cronin, Paul Hendler, Rich Phelan, and Leanne Alexander.
The board also appointed Taylor Prouty as the selectboard representative to attend the upcoming tax sale. Tulloch recommended Prouty, in the event that the town wants to purchase any of the properties, because he is on the land acquisition task force. The tax sale will be held on Sept. 16, at 10:30 a.m., at the town office.
Elio, now representing the town hall renovation committee, requested approval to apply for a MERF loan. Elio said MERF is a 0% interest loan, not a grant, which would give the committee more flexibility to continue moving renovation projects forward. He noted that the basement, ADA bathroom, roof, siding, and paint were all issues which still needed to be addressed.
Tulloch stated that the board was previously looking for a proposal from the committee, and a specific budget. The selectboard approved the request for the MERF application, pending their approval of the loan amount.
The board then approved the updated proposal from Hunter Excavating for town hall general contracting services, not to exceed $284,771. Tulloch reported that figure is close to what is left over in the town hall renovation fund, and recommended having conversations with Hunter along the way to stay in budget and complete as many line items as possible. Tulloch added that the roof project is a separate component and is already under contract.
After an executive session, the board moved to have Tulloch discuss with the state the reallocation of a portion of the North Village ARPA funds to the South Village Phase 2 project, and to seek additional grant funding for the North Village as appropriate.
The Londonderry Selectboard meets on the first and third Mondays of each month, at 6 p.m., at the town office and on Zoom.