LUDLOW, Vt. – Having cancelled their meetings on July 10 and 11 respectively, the Ludlow Selectboard and Trustees held a joint meeting on Monday, July 24. Town manager Brendan McNamara updated both boards on the ongoing flood response and recovery efforts, noting that in the two weeks since the major flooding event, “We’ve had to transition from [the] emergency response phase…into [the] recovery period.”
McNamara reiterated his praise for Ludlow’s handling of the emergency response during and immediately after the flood, and its emergency department personnel. “Our response, overall, I don’t think could have been much better,” he told the boards. “We avoided some very, very, what would have been difficult situations.”
He also praised the response of the volunteers who have staffed the Ludlow Community Center, which was opened as a shelter, and continues to distribute donated supplies to those in need. FEMA, the Red Cross, and several state agencies are currently operating out of the community center, and can assist those who need help in reporting damages, registering for unemployment, and other flood-related issues. Property owners are now in the process of trying to have official personnel from these agencies look at and assess damage to their properties, but McNamara noted that, “you’ve got to go down and talk to somebody, because they’re not going to come to you.”
The wastewater plant was heavily damaged by the storm, and is operating at a very limited capacity. Initial assessments are continuing to be taken at the plant, but restoration of full operational capacity is likely to take significant time.
As time progresses and the town transitions into the recovery phase, McNamara explained, more and more issues caused by the flooding are slowly coming to light, what he called “those problems that are off on a side road that you didn’t think about when the water was on Main Street.” Many of the repairs which have been made in the weeks since the flooding are “temporary emergency fixes,” with full repairs needing to wait for official documentation and approval in order for the town to be properly reimbursed by FEMA or the state. As noted at the previous emergency meeting on July 12, any repair project which costs over $250,000 must go to bid, adding to the time it will take before a permanent repair can be made.
McNamara also told the boards that Shaw’s, Ludlow’s only supermarket, is preparing to put up a tent in the parking lot of the shopping plaza, which will operate as a pickup location for orders placed online or though the Shaw’s app. He also briefly discussed the idea of facilitating ordering for those who are less technologically inclined, possibly in person at the community center.
Addressing future flood mitigation, McNamara said that one of the major issues causing increased flooding is the amount of silt and debris built up on riverbeds, and was hopeful that some material could be removed during the recovery process in order to keep water levels lower down in river channels, and lessen the possibility of future flooding. There was also discussion of how, moving forward, to rebuild or relocate some facilities, such as the little league field, to avoid them suffering the same damage in the inevitable next flooding event. Selectboard member Justin Hyjek noted that, while FEMA reimbursement currently sits at 75% of the costs of repairs, an additional 17.5% can be garnered from the State of Vermont if the town meets certain flood mitigation standards, of which Ludlow currently meets at least three out of four.
Selectboard Chair Brett Sanderson thanked McNamara for his hard work, noting that the town was without a town manager not long before the flooding.
McNamara also sought and received consensus from the board to go ahead with planning to attach the new restroom at the transfer station to the existing office structure. This is a discussion which has been ongoing for several months, and previous concern had centered on whether the restroom could or should be attached to the office, or needed to be its own freestanding structure.
The Ludlow Village Trustees will next meet on Aug. 1, at 6 p.m., and the Selectboard will next meet on Aug. 7, at 6 p.m.