FEMA Shutdown Impacting Hinesburg's Projects
Selectboard learns that the Washington fight over the Department of Homeland Security budget has delayed final approval of funding level for bridge projects on Beecher Hill Road.
Record Staff Report
Town Manager Todd Odit told the selectboard March 4 that the town had put out for bid the reconstruction of the two bridges on Beecher Hill Road that were damaged by the flooding in the summer of 2024. However, there’s a curve.
Odit explained that with the Department of Homeland Security shut down the town doesn’t know how much money FEMA will actually give the town, nor when. (DHS is shut down because Congress has yet to approve a continuing budget for the agency. It oversees FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Administration.)
Odit explained that FEMA had approved the project and awarded the grant for engineering; the town had then obtained the necessary permits from the State of Vermont and had submitted the required “scope of work” to FEMA. But then FEMA was closed pending the budget resolution.
“We submitted it in what seemed like was going to be a reasonable” amount of time in advance, Odit said, and “that we would not necessarily have the money, but at least we’d know the amount of funding were going to get. But now that’s probably not going to happen.
“I’m hoping there’s still time for it to work out because [the winning contractor] can’t work [on the bridges] before June or July. But it’s just one of those things that is just bad timing. You do everything you’re supposed to do, but it’s something that’s totally out of our control.”
In further discussion with the board, Odit explained that while it’s “nerve-wracking,” he will be talking with the Vermont Bond Bank that oversees the town’s several approved bond issues to determine whether some of that money can be redirected temporarily to ensure the cash flow needed to pay for the bridge work as it gets underway, at least until the FEMA money arrives. Odit said he is not worried that the money wouldn’t arrive, it is just a question of when.
Board member Mike Loner wondered whether the project should be delayed, but Odit explained that “FEMA expects the town to move forward regardless of what FEMA does because their view is, ‘if you don’t [move forward], well then it must not be that important.’ So I’m just going to continue crossing my fingers and hoping that we’ll still have the money before we start construction.”
Further, he said, there is a risk “with not proceeding” because the Beecher Hill Road bridge near the North Road “is being held together with bubblegum right now.”
In other action, the selectboard:
Approved a letter of support for the Carpenter-Carse Library’s application for a grant to repair their roof and their HVAC system.
Talked about about the Feb. 9 informational meeting and how it might be improved next year. Town Manager Todd Odit explained why some of the audio-visual problems occurred and others noted that the CVU library needed to be opened earlier, noted that the tech person had to leave before the meeting started and perhaps the vantage point of the public speaker should be changed so people in-person and on Zoom could see their faces. They also discussed the possibility of making the meeting a little later. The board also talked about moving it next year to Town Hall. Approximately 40 people attended in person and about 50 checked in via Zoom.
The board also clarified the procedure for town residents to reserve Town Hall, noting that it will be up to the Town Manager’s discretion as to whether to require insurance coverage and will depend on how many people are expected to the event and what type of event it is. Odit said small groups are free to use Town Common but, in the future, if they wish to reserve the pavilion (to be built this year) they should notify the town manager’s office.
And the town’s website has undergone an overhaul with a new platform and slightly new look:
