LUDLOW, Vt. – The Ludlow Selectboard met on Monday, Jan. 6, for their first regular meeting of the new year.
The first topic the board moved to address was a request for a speed limit reduction on South Hill Crossroad, instigated by an accident on the road last summer in which a dog was hit and killed by a large truck. The board had commissioned a traffic study of the road in the fall, which was carried out by Logan Nicoll of the Mount Ascutney Regional Commission (MARC) from Sept. 7-12, 2024. Nicoll was present at the meeting to review the data from the study with the board, telling them that the average speed his equipment had registered was 22 mph, and that the 85th percentile speeds were 27 mph westbound, and 29 mph eastbound. Based on the data his equipment collected, Nicoll told the board, “It doesn’t seem like you have much of a speeding problem out there.” The current speed limit on South Hill Crossroad is 35 mph, which town manager Brendan McNamara explained to the board is a limit set by Vermont statute.
South Hill Crossroad resident Marcia Wemple, who said it was her dog that was killed, objected to the study’s conclusions, telling the board that she believed she frequently observed vehicles speeding on the road, and wanted to see the speed limit reduced to 25 mph. The board expressed sympathy for the loss of Wemple’s dog, but several members voiced hesitation toward lowering the speed limit on the road. McNamara explained that, in order for the limit to be lowered, there must be data supporting the lowering of the limit, which the traffic study did not provide. He also told the board that the only roads in Ludlow which currently have speed limits of 25 mph are in the village. Board members also voiced concern about enforcement, telling Wemple that the Ludlow Police Department is unlikely to be able to consistently enforce a lower limit on the road.
Nicoll admitted that the study period was short due to scheduling conflicts, and that a longer study would provide better data. The board agreed to conduct a longer study when weather and road conditions permit, and in the meantime told Wemple that they would direct the Ludlow Police Department to increase their presence in the area to the extent possible.
The board then moved to discuss the Black River High School building. Black River High School’s final class graduated in 2020, and the town has since been paying for the building’s upkeep. Currently, the town leases the building to the Expeditionary School at Black River (ESBR), which pays $6,000 per year. Total upkeep costs for the building, McNamara told the board, amount to $85,000 per year, leaving the town with a total share of $79,000. Patrick Pullinen, chair of the ESBR Board of Directors, was at the meeting to share in the discussion of the building’s future. Pullinen explained that ESBR would like to continue to utilize the building, as it left them space to grow the school. “As we grow,” Pullinen stated, “we’re in a better financial state to work with the town,” telling the board that ESBR would be happy to negotiate a new lease with the town. “We’re not looking for free rides, we’d like to pay our way,” Pullinen insisted. However, Pullinen explained that the school would prefer to negotiate for a multiyear lease, as that allows ESBR the stability necessary to continue to grow.
McNamara and the board agreed that the goal is not to remove ESBR from the building, as the consensus was that the school was important to the community, and that there had not been any other ideas brought forth for the building’s use that seemed appropriate. McNamara dispelled one particular use case that he said had been raised several times: housing. “You’re not going to put housing anywhere near an elementary school,” he said, referring to the Ludlow Elementary School next door to the building.
However, McNamara said, the concern is that “there’s a lot of room left in the building, how can that be utilized?” Ideas put forth were office space, a preschool, and a daycare, as well as municipal uses, though nothing concrete was settled on. Ultimately, the board agreed to continue the discussion at their next meeting and beyond.
McNamara also reminded the board that a selectboard and village trustees joint meeting would be held “within 2-3 weeks,” to discuss a draft of the new town charter, which would be enacted pending voter approval of a town and village merger. This meeting would also include discussion of the 1% local options tax. Both issues would be put to Ludlow’s voters on Tuesday, March 4.
The Ludlow Selectboard meets on the first Monday of each month, at 6 p.m., in the Heald Auditorium at Ludlow Town Hall.