Good Morning Neighbors:
I am writing to provide you information about our upcoming Selectboard Meeting, tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall. There are many items on our agenda. Three of the items include: (1) a report from the storm water committee; (2) review of the Colleen Haag award for 2018; and (3) discussion of a timeline and processes with the Planning Commission. We will also be appointing new members to commissions, boards and committees. Finally, we will likely be going into executive session to discuss the town manager's contract. The town manager has been offered a position with the Town of Hanover, Massachusetts, subject to background check and further negotiations. Though it looks like he will likely be moving on, the town manager has assured us he will continue to give Shelburne 100% of his effort. Judging from the number of emails I received from him last week, I have no doubt that is true!
The storm water committee report will be important. The town is required by law to make improvements to its storm water runoff systems. In particular, the Monroe Brook watershed has been identified by the state as "impaired". The town has until 2031 to complete this process, but it will be expensive--nearly doubling our yearly costs. Currently, the town spends about $250,000 in storm water control. This is paid for by our property taxes. To meet the new requirements, our costs will be $400,000 per year. The storm water committee (completely volunteer and advisory) has been working hard to determine the best way to address this issue. One way is to create a utility to pay for the costs, rather than using the property tax. Many view this as more equitable because it will apply to all town users, not just tax payers. Other towns, such as Williston, South Burlington and Burlington have created storm water utilities. Here is a link to a thorough article that ran in the Shelburne News last October: http://www.shelburnenews.com/2017/10/19/shelburne-considering-new-stormwater-fee-vs-tax/.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I will report back with the outcome of Tuesday's meeting.
Enjoy this beautiful day!
Mary Kehoe
Dec 28, 2024, 10 AM to 2 PM
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