Hinesburg Selectboard Meeting, May 7, 2025
Grants, Green Up, and Gratitude for a job well done
By Lynn Monty
Swift approval was given to appoint Selectboard member Paul Lamberson as Hinesburg’s new Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) representative just moments after he volunteered to fill the vacancy. Appointments are renewed every two years. He is replacing Michael Bissonette. The two will meet to discuss the transition. “I can't say that I fully understand yet what my CCRPC responsibilities will be,” Lamberson said in an interview with The Record. “But I do know that I have the utmost respect for the folks who have held the position in the past.”
As for his enthusiastic willingness to volunteer, he said that Hinesburg's participation in the CCRPC is essential. “Our Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager have countless other priorities in front of them right now instead of spending any excess time on getting a new representative to the commission,” Lamberson said. “… anything I can do to lighten the load for our busy Town staff.”
Lamberson explained that Town employees are heavily burdened with ongoing storm recovery, the new wastewater treatment facility, sidewalk reconstruction near the Waitsfield Telecom building on 116, new housing developments, the Town Common, and most recently, the "just shy of emergency" repair to Well #4 that provides water to the village.
“These are among countless things that residents expect to function normally, and only get attention when things go wrong,” Lamberson said. “Yet Todd, Joy, and their staff are vigilantly out in front doing their best to take care of things, without the benefit of a Public Works Director.”
To limit the growth of the tax rate, it was proposed and approved to not hire a Public Works Director at this time, Lamberson said.
Selectboard Vice Chair Maggie Gordon said the Town received a $128,000 Downtown Transportation Fund grant from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development for pathways, entryways, and additional parking for the Town Common. This is in addition to the $30,000 Urban Forestry grant from the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry program for trees to be planted on the Town Common this summer.
“Site work and grading will begin this spring to be followed by the tree planting,” Gordon said. “The Town Common Committee is currently reviewing plans for the pavilion and fundraising will begin soon.”
Phil Pouech, our Hinesburg State Representative and former Selectboard Chair, has organized Green Up Day for a few decades. Selectboard Chair Merrily Lovell lauded Pouech, residents and especially Jay Mitiguy of EastShore Landscaping for his help with tires.
Approval for a quitclaim deed for a Town-owned well off of Mechanicsville Road was granted for the Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity project. Selectboard member Mike Loaner recused himself from the vote due to business relations with developer Joe Laster. Loaner said the Town’s goal was to help unencumber the project. A quitclaim deed is used to transfer real estate ownership from one party to another. With this, the Town releases any interest they may have with the abandoned well.
Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) Executive Director Sarah Reeves gave a presentation on the FY26 CSWD budget before it was approved by the Selectboard. CSWD was formed in 1987 to manage waste in Chittenden County where there are currently 169,481 residents. Revenues and expenses are slated to break even at around $15 million. About 306,000 tons of waste is generated annually and of that, about 123,000 tons end up in the landfill. Fee changes include a $4 charge for a 18-gallon bag to reflect customer requests for a bigger bag. This will replace the $3, 13-gallon bag. Also, the Solid Waste Management Fee will go from $30 to $40 which is more inline with today’s industry standard. This is a per-ton fee charged to haulers.
“We need to make a big adjustment this year to help us close the funding gap for our new Materials Recycling Facility,” Reeves said.
CSWD doesn’t receive any direct payments from the cities and towns and there’s no municipal assessment, no per capita fee, no revenue from property taxes. “We don’t send our municipalities a bill, and we are committed to continuing that practice,” she said.
Since the Mason’s have vacated their building and relinquished it to the Town, the Hinesburg Nursery School will continue to operate on the premises and lease the building for $500 annually, and will now carry the property insurance. The low rent is due to their non-profit status. This preschool for children ages three to five has served local families for more than 35 years. The Mason’s had previously carried the insurance. This parent cooperative will also take over the costs of maintaining the building. Conversations will continue as to what the future holds. Paul Lamberson said maybe the school district will take the building over or it will be sold.
Andrea Morgante, who was on the Selectboard for more than 25 years, and is a landscape architect, had much to say about the Town Common Site Work Bid and the cleaning out the Rain Garden forebay. Poulin was the lowest bidder for the Town Common site work. It seems top soil was left over from another project and some bids reflected this, others did not. This $53,000 bid was considerably lower than the others. Assistant Town Manager Joy Grossman will check Poulin’s references and look into the bid specifics. Whitetail Landscaping was approved to clean out the Rain Garden forebay. A forebay is a reservoir used to hold water. The Lewis Creek Association requested that the Hinesburg Road Commissioner take on the task but he was short staffed. The cost to outsource this is $5,770. This needs to be done every five years and is delicate work, Morgante said. This work will be added to the budget as a line item.
Town Manager Todd Odit’s report updated the Selectboard on the all-encompassing infrastructure bond vote that includes getting Well #6 online, as well as bridge work on Beecher Hill and Hollow Roads. It is a $3 million request to voters. New housing developments will pay allocation fees to hopefully offset the bond cost, he said. This bond vote will likely happen in July. More information on this will be presented at the May 21 Selectboard meeting.
Odit mentioned a possible start date of June 5 for the new town planner; a contractor delay in getting the new treatment plant up and running; the realignment of the crosswalk at Lantman’s Market is out to bid; and repairs to Well #4 have been successfully completed. “We found that the pump was on its way out,” he said of the repairs. “It was a well-timed project that needed to be done.”
He expressed relief that everyone in village had water throughout the process. Next steps are getting Well #6 connected.