LUDLOW, Vt. – The Ludlow Selectboard met for their regular monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 4, beginning by discussing a potential grant proposal for the Dorsey Park playground. Ludlow Parks and Recreation director Nick Miele spoke to the board, asking them for permission to apply for a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to replace the aging Dorsey Park playground. The grant, Miele said, is a 50-50 matching grant, meaning that Ludlow would be on the hook for half of the total amount to replace the playground. Miele told the board that he had investigated the cost of the project, and that the high-end estimate was $200,000 for all-inclusive services. With about $60,000 in ARPA funds remaining which had been allocated to Dorsey Park, and $57,000 in the recreation capital fund, Miele believed that Ludlow had the money to fund their half of the project if the grant is approved, and requested permission to apply for the grant. The board agreed, and gave approval to apply for the grant, though board member Scott Baitz urged Miele to think about how to fund the project if the grant application is rejected.
The board then revisited the notion of a short-term rental (STR) registry, a topic which has been long-discussed in Ludlow and many surrounding towns. A 2-2 tie vote led to the abandonment of a previous STR registry effort in January, but since the recent Trailside fire at Okemo, town manager Brendan McNamara said he had been receiving “a lot of feedback from the public regarding the town and short-term rentals, and a rental registry.” Echoing his sentiments from the previous meeting in October, McNamara insisted that the purpose of the registry would not be “town over sight” or “permit fees,” but safety, specifically fire safety.
On hand for this discussion were Landon Wheeler, regional manager of the Springfield office of the Vermont Division of Fire Safety, and Ben Whalen, Ludlow’s full-time fire chief. Wheeler spoke to the board first, explaining that his office handled fire inspections for buildings which need to adhere to fire codes. “We find all kinds of uses in all kinds of places that they shouldn’t be,” Wheeler told the board, saying that he believed the first resort for correcting such violations should be education, with enforcement only being used in the event that education efforts fail, saying “I guarantee that there are some of these owners who are ignorant to the fact that they are breaking laws.”
Whalen also spoke to the board, expressing that he was glad the town was reconsidering the STR ordinance in light of fire safety issues. “I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Whalen said, “I’m glad we’re having this conversation.” Whalen said that he would like any STR ordinance to ensure that STR owners are aware of fire safety regulations, and are getting the proper fire safety inspections. Inspections are required if an owner is renting to nine or more people.
Some discussion of the logistics followed, and board member Noah Schmidt noted that he had seen an STR ordinance from Dover which he felt could serve as a model for Ludlow. The Dover ordinance, Schmidt said, only addressed fire safety and trash, without adding significant restrictions on STRs otherwise. Wheeler urged the board to consider what their goals for the ordinance are, and to work backwards from there, rather than taking any other town’s model directly and applying it to Ludlow.
Whalen also spoke to the board about the potential purchase of a new fire engine and tower truck, to replace Ludlow’s current Engine 3 and tower truck. Whalen told the board that the MSRP for both vehicles totaled $4 million, though he believed that the total price could be reduced by buying the vehicles together and through several other means. The board agreed to discuss the possible purchase, which would likely need to be put to the town for a vote at Town Meeting in March.
The Ludlow Selectboard’s next regular meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 2. A second local options tax public forum will also be announced in the near future, to take place either in December or January.