LONDONDERRY, Vt. – Sam Young from the FEMA Community Assistance team attended Londonderry’s Sept. 9 meeting, to assist the town towards long-term recovery. Young said the team has worked with a few other Vermont towns, while also working with other federal agencies, in a process that helps determine and prioritize what projects need to be completed.
The projects are state and federally supported, and the group is locally lead. Young said the FEMA Community Assistance team brought on Londonderry’s recently resigned town clerk Kelly Pajala, adding, “Sorry you lost her.” The town would appoint a committee of interested volunteers, likely with a selectboard member to help lead the group. The FEMA Community Assistance staff are then available to help guide the committee in the direction best fit for the town. Pajala noted, “Our enrollment will be time-specific, but that’s not to say the committee can’t make changes to the plan [thereafter].”
“This sounds like something that’s a great outline that every town is going to need,” remarked board member Taylor Prouty.
Board member Martha Dale, who was also leading the Sept. 9 meeting, agreed. “I worry that we’ve left the individuals on their own,” she said, and this community-wide program seems to help “bridge that gap.”
Prouty added that the committee could become a multipurpose group. He said the volunteers may not have a full list of tasks in terms of prioritizing and planning town recovery and mitigation projects, but they could add other similar items and community projects, and the committee could create a means of communication between each of the boards and the community.
The board agreed to put the topic on the next agenda, when Chair Tom Cavanagh and town administrator Shane O’Keefe return.
Short-term rental (STR) coordinator Andy Dahlstrom then spoke on obtaining a software subscription that helps the town generate a list of registered owners, and compiles the information of each. Dahlstrom spoke with a few neighboring towns, researched a few companies, and recommended Deckard Technologies to the board. He noted Chester spent about $14,000, which got them into a program immediately, while Woodstock spent $30,000 for a “whole suite” of services that Dahlstrom didn’t think Londonderry needed.
Deckard Technologies has an entry level service for $3,500, and Dahlstrom added all the time spent speaking with them has been professional, with excellent support. He also said the town may not need some of the higher-end services, such as automated uploading, as the town often gets paper documents instead of online registrations. Dale agreed that often, it’s nice to meet the registering owner and see what their plans are. Prouty worried about the initial fee, and considered adjusting registration fees to offset the cost.
The board moved to start with a one-year, entry-level service, and update and add services if and as needed.
On other agenda items, Prouty announced that paving of “a few aprons around town,” such as Windy Rise Road and Derry Woods Road, would begin the last week of September, and should be completed by the first week of October. He added that Cody Road is already near completion.
The board accepted the proposal from Everett Hammond for the Rinehart Road culvert replacement project. O’Keefe reiterated that it washed out twice during the July 2023 storm. He explained it is a public assistance project, and that FEMA will pay for at least 75%, and the state will kick in roughly 10%, leaving the town with around 10-15% to cover the project expenses. O’Keefe added a nice recommendation for Hammond, saying the town has worked with him before, he does a nice job, and his rates are reasonable.
O’Keefe then updated the board on the town hall renovation project, saying work began the week of Sept. 2, and thanked the road crew for helping town officials vacate the office building. There are project meetings every Thursday morning with the architect, clerk of the works, project management, and other teams to keep everyone updated. O’Keefe said they are still waiting on the office trailer, noting it’s been “a bit of struggle working with the supplier.”
O’Keefe announced they had heard back from the state on one of the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program applicants. The Rosses submitted an application to elevate their property, to which the state agreed, giving the invitation to officially apply for the funding. O’Keefe hopes to get letters like these for the rest of the applicants in town.
O’Keefe added, it’s going to be “a lot of heavy lifting” for the town and property owners. The town needs to hire an engineer to look at each applicant’s property, to determine the scope of each project for submission with with the application. If the funding is approved, those engineering costs would be refunded. However, if a property application is not approved, the town and property owner would be left to pay those fees. O’Keefe was not familiar with the exact engineering costs, noting that flood proofing would likely be more work and costlier than an elevation project, but each property could cost $3,000-$5,000.
“The nature of the situation is, we’re dealing with people that have already suffered,” said Prouty, struggling with the thought of adding more hardship to the property owners. O’Keefe agreed it’s a difficult choice to make, and after getting more information, property owners can decide whether or not they want to move forward with their application.
The next Londonderry Selectboard meeting will be held Monday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m.