Selectboard Defers Discussion of Turf Field
Board decides to have public conversation on CVU field controversy at its Aug. 5 meeting.
By Claire MacDonald
Hinesburg Record Staff Reporter
The selectboard meeting room on July 15 was nearly full, with 11 members of the public joining in person and a handful more on Zoom. Several were there with the hope of discussing the installation of the artificial turf field at CVU.
Chairperson Merrilly Lovell asked the public to refrain from commenting on the artificial turf field until the selectboard’s next meeting, August 5, when the topic will be on the agenda.
“It’s not really appropriate to discuss it. I feel it’s not fair, in the first place, to discuss it when it’s not on the agenda because it’s not public,” she said. “[However], I feel that as a selectboard, it is our duty to represent the residents of Hinesburg and to make sure that you feel heard.”
Geri Knortz, speaking for the Campaign to Keep Real Grass at CVU, gave the only statement regarding the turf. On behalf of the group, she urged the selectboard to request that the school board immediately release a copy of their Memorandum of Understanding with the Community Field Project. (The MOU was released yesterday, July 15, to the public. Click this link to read summary and see a copy.)
Additionally, she requested that the selectboard ask the school board to
receive an independent product sample from the turf company before moving forward with the project;
ask the town legal counsel to review the hydrogeology report; and
invite the Campaign to Keep Real Grass at CVU to give a comprehensive presentation to the selectboard.
“We are also very concerned that the community now lacks trust in the school board following their blatant failure to answer any community questions, be transparent about their deliberations, or allow reasonable questions to be asked of their hydrogeologist,” she added. “We also have not seen any response from the school board to the selectboard, the Hinesburg Planning Commission, [or the] Hinesburg Conservation Commission. Nor have they responded to committee statements from neighboring towns whose water supply could also be impacted.”
In other action
Additionally, the board listened to a presentation from Zach Nersinger of the Planning and Zoning Department, Christine Ford of Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, and Chris Clow of the Vermont Agency of Transportation (via Zoom) regarding the Route 116/Riggs Road intersection.
The presentation showed the selectboard three viable options for the future of the intersection and asked them to endorse a preferred option – right in/right out, a roundabout, or a traffic signal. The board’s endorsement is noncommittal as of now.
The purpose of the project, Nersinger said, is to address “existing congestion and future growth as well as the mobility, safety, and connectivity for all roadway users.”
The selectboard adopted the roundabout as their preferred option.
Additionally, the board:
Interviewed and approved Ed Sengle for a Chittenden Solid Waste District Alternate position, for a term of two years;
Interviewed and approved Steve Barnard for a Planning Commission position, for a term of three years;
Approved the replacement of one police Dodge Durango with a 2026 hybrid Ford Interceptor. This purchase comes a year earlier than anticipated. The replaced Durango will go to the fire department to replace their “Car One;”
Adopted a FY2027 town tax rate of 0.4035 and a local agreement rate of 0.0005;
Adopted a local option tax increase of 1 percent;
Approved a line of credit with Northfield Savings Banks for $1.2 million for the Beecher Hill culverts project;
Accepted a bid from Neagley & Chase Construction Company for $653,889 for completing work to install filtration/water softener equipment and to connect Well #6 to the town’s water system; and,
approved a preference for a contract with Parent Construction for Bridge #9 improvements.
The selectboard then moved to go into two different executive sessions.
The first session was called based on “premature public knowledge of a potential separation agreement with an employee [that] would clearly place the public body of a person involved at substantial disadvantage,” according to Lovell.
The board reconvened after the first session, approved an agreement between the town of Hinesburg and Mitchell Sipes, the Development Review Coordinator, and authorized Town Manager Todd Odit to execute the agreement.
The board then entered its second executive session to consider the contract. No conversation was required afterwards.