LUDLOW, Vt. – The Ludlow Selectboard met on Monday, Oct. 2, to hear updates on several ongoing situations in the town.
Giving the board the most recent information on Ludlow’s dealings with FEMA, town manager Brendan McNamara said that Ludlow has, so far, spent $1.1 million on flood damage. After the projected 75% reimbursement from FEMA, and 12% from the State of Vermont, this would leave the town on the hook for $154,000, though McNamara noted that there were still more repairs to be done, and that number would therefore increase. Ludlow is working to thoroughly document and repair all flood damage, and McNamara informed the board that a consultant with experience dealing with FEMA had been brought on board, to ensure that all expenses would be reimbursed.
Moving on to their short-term rental (STR) agenda item, McNamara told the board he felt that, at this point, the topic was more appropriate for a wider town meeting focused specifically on STRs. “I do not feel that this is a topic that should be discussed and debated at a selectboard meeting, I think this should be done at a topic-driven meeting, call it a public hearing if you want, where that is the only thing people are here to talk about,” McNamara said. The board gave consensus to the idea, and planned to schedule an STR-specific hearing in the future.
Revisiting the issue of the Jewell Brook dam site spillways raised at the previous meeting, McNamara told the board that a repair project for spillways on dam sites three and five had gone to bid, and that the project should be completed by the end of October. He also explained that a state periodic rapid inspection report on the dams had been issued after the flood, which rated the dam sites as being in “satisfactory” condition, though the report did state that the dams had “safety concerns which have to be addressed,” including the spillways and dredging.
The board also heard McNamara’s thoughts on reconstruction of Ludlow’s recreation fields, specifically relocation of the Little League field, which had previously been located along the banks of the Black River, across from the wastewater plant. The field was destroyed by the July flood, and McNamara felt that, rather than reconstruct the field where it was, the best course of action would be to move it to higher ground. His preferred site for this was the site of the former high school baseball field, which he said already has lights, and could be easily converted to a smaller field for the younger age group. The board agreed, and gave McNamara consensus to take steps to make the proposal a reality.
The Ludlow Selectboard meets on the first Monday of every month, at the Heald Auditorium in Ludlow Town Hall, at 6 p.m.