LUDLOW, Vt. – At their Memorial Day, Sept. 4 meeting, the Ludlow Selectboard covered a wide range of topics, due in part to several concerns voiced by citizens of the town.
In particular, resident James O’Malley drew the board’s attention to the state of the Jewell Brook dams, specifically site number 5, located off of Route 100, which O’Malley told the board had a large cut in its spillway. O’Malley provided the board with several pages of photographs and research concerning spillway damage, telling the board that he felt that repairs to the spillway are urgently needed.
“Spillway erosion can happen very fast,” O’Malley explained. “If the state told us…we should just wait until this bigger project happens, that’s not correct,” he continued, referring to a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) report from January, indicating that the dams had enough service life remaining to allow for leaving them untouched until a larger project to reinforce all of the Jewell Brook dam sites had been commissioned.
Town manager Brendan McNamara thanked O’Malley for the information he provided, and told the board that the town had applied to have the Vermont Emergency Watershed Protection Program fix the cuts in the site 5 spillway, and had received approval, though he was not yet certain when that would happen. He noted that FEMA personnel and state mitigation specialists would be returning to town for an unrelated matter, but that, “I am going to drag them personally to these dams…because it’s a growing concern, obviously.”
McNamara also noted that a $40 million dollar federal project had been approved to address the dams more broadly, but that that project has a much longer time frame, and would not resolve the immediate concerns about the dams’ structural integrity.
Resident Eric Alden then spoke to the board regarding the difficulties he said local businesses were having reopening after the flood, specifically the burdens placed by the town on businesses attempting to rebuild. “In order to reconstruct what was previously there, we’re being required to go in front of the DRB, which is a long process,” Alden said, noting that the development review board (DRB) meets only once a month, and requires five or six weeks notice prior to the meeting to be added to their meeting agenda. Alden also explained that this process imposed significant hurdles, such as submitting elevations, floor plans, engineering reports, and other forms and letters. “The process is the same if you’re just trying to put up sheetrock, or if you’re trying to build a whole development like Jackson Gore…there has to be some consideration to reducing and relaxing those requirements so that folks can put their businesses back together,” Alden insisted.
Selectboard member Justin Hyjek agreed with Alden, saying he believed that “it is antithetical to any sort of common sense thinking” that businesses would have to reapply for permits they possessed prior to the flooding emergency. Selectboard Chair Brett Sanderson pledged that the board would look into removing some of the red tape, to allow for businesses to repair and reopen without unnecessary burdens.
McNamara then gave updates to the board regarding the town’s dealings with FEMA, saying that Ludlow had spent “just shy of $1 million,” and that the process now largely becomes recovering costs through reimbursement from the state and federal governments. Currently, reimbursement amounts are set at 75% from the federal government, and 12% from the State of Vermont.
McNamara also gave updates to the board regarding the flood recovery in general, saying that large portions of Ludlow are 80-90% restored to their pre-flood states, with some culverts having been replaced with larger ones, to allow for greater flow. However, McNamara cautioned that it is crucial to continue to aid those in need, and not become complacent now that the immediate stage of the emergency and repair effort has passed. “We were fantastic in the 60-day response period…now we need to continue that…we still have to take care of our community,” McNamara emphasized to the board.
The board then moved on to hear updates on the short-term rental (STR) data they have gathered in the last year through Granicus, a software which collects data on STR listings made on websites such as Airbnb and Vrbo, and compiles that data in order to be used by the town in its decision making process. Ludlow does not currently have an STR registry ordinance.
Hyjek told the board that, over the last year, the data suggested that there were between 800 and 1,200 STRs in Ludlow at any given time, though he stressed that any registry enacted would not be for the purpose of “restricting or punishing” STR owners, but strictly to allow the Town of Ludlow to “capture some of the money that is out there in terms of short-term rentals.” Hyjek recommended what he called a “no frills” permitting and registry process for Ludlow’s STR registry, including self-attestation by STR owners to health and safety regulation compliance, which would be investigated only if a complaint was filed.
STR owner Lynn Baldwin took issue with the fact that Ludlow was collecting data on STRs, and wondered what use the data would be put to. She also raised the issue of permit denial and restrictions on STRs in the future. While Hyjek insisted that the registry was not intended to limit or restrict STRs, “Permits can be denied,” Baldwin replied. Hyjek noted that, as a business owner, there are a number of permits he must maintain with the town and state. STRs are currently not regulated in the same way more traditional businesses are, and several members of the board and planning commission told Baldwin that any STR registry would be an attempt to rectify some of the safety and regulation issues surrounding STRs. Ultimately, the board agreed to look over the data, as well as STR registry information for Rutland and Killington, and continue the discussion at the next meeting.
The board then discussed extending the Expeditionary School at Black River’s lease on the former Black River High School. There was some controversy on this point, as the building is expensive to maintain. Alden spoke to the board, saying that when the town took possession of the building several years ago, they intended to discuss what would be done with the building in a public meeting, which has not happened. Gary Blodgett, chair of the ESBR Board of Trustees, noted that Ludlow voters had elected to fund the school with town funds last year, lending tacit approval to their use of the building. Alden insisted that there should still be a public discussion about the building itself. McNamara told the board he would work on a new draft lease, including a provision to hold a discussion concerning the building’s future.
McNamara then informed the board that he would be moving forward with instituting a town-wide emergency alert system which residents and visitors could opt into, noting that information is currently scattered across several social media pages. Emergency alerts would be issues via text, email, or phone call. The system would cost $4,000 to implement, and McNamara aims to have it in place before Thanksgiving.
Next, the board discussed reconstruction and possible relocation of recreation facilities damaged by the flood, most notably the little league field. McNamara made clear that his preference was for these fields to be relocated to higher ground, such as what used to be the softball fields for the high school. This will be an ongoing discussion as the town continues to rebuild.
Finally, McNamara gave updates on several other issues facing the town. While he told the board that the wastewater facility is operating at a sufficient capacity, he noted that FEMA has classified repair of the facility as “high priority,” and that the repairs would cost an estimated $9-10 million.
McNamara also stated that the State of Vermont had taken ownership of the Pond Street Bridge, which needs to be upsized, and that a project to do so would be undertaken in the future.
The next meeting of the Ludlow Selectboard will be held Monday, Oct. 2, at the Heald Auditorium in the Ludlow Town Hall.