Selectboard Reassured about FEMA Money
Town Manager Todd Odit says federal disaster relief money will be coming, just a question of when.
Click the above video to watch the April 1 selectboard meeting, courtesy of MediaFactory.org, a nonprofit that broadcasts and records municipal meetings.
Record Staff Report
In his report to the selectboard on April 1, Town Manager Todd Odit refuted a story in The Citizen, which was reprinted in vtdigger.org, that seem to indicate that Hinesburg was in danger of losing FEMA money for reconstruction of two bridges on Beecher Hill Road that washed out in the summer of 2024. The story carried the headline: “Hinesburg bridges beset by FEMA fund shortfall.”
Odit said the reporter misunderstood. He said that after it appeared he heard from someone at the state who checked in with FEMA and assured Odit that the wheels are moving, though slowly, despite the shutdown in Washington that has shuttered much of the agency.
Odit said he continues to have no worries about actually getting the federal disaster money to cover the $1.2 million cost: “It’s just a question of when.”
The meeting opened with two former selectboard members – Andrea Morgante and State Rep. Phil Pouech – urging the board to dive into the issue relating to a proposal to install a $5.5 million artificial turf field at CVU.
For The Record’s Special Report on the issue, click here.
They both told the board that there are many questions – and concerns – about the fields in terms of potential contamination of Hinesburg’s water supply and potential injury to students. And while the proposal is touted as “privately funded,” they also worried about the eventual public cost of maintenance.
The board also considered and approved the following:
Reappointment of these volunteers to various town boards: Caroline Carpenter (Affordable Housing); William Scott (Conservation Commission); Richard Jordan, Ted Bloomhardt and Branden Martin, (Development Review Board); Karen Tronsgard-Scott and Rachel Sellers (Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Board); Becky Alfred (Planning Commission); and Maggie Gordon and Rachel Kring (Town Common Committee).
A leasing agreement with Municipal Leasing Consultants for a seven-year term with an interest rate of 4.48 percent for purchase of the new $850,000 tanker/pumper firetruck the voters had approved in 2023 (it has taken three years for the truck to be ready and will be delivered next month).
In the final major part of the town’s new wastewater treatment plant, accepted a bid from Ethos Environmental to remove 1,100 dry tons of sludge from existing and abandoned lagoons 2, 3A and 3B and allow for lagoon demolition and restoration of the wetlands; the work is projected to take 20 weeks and cost about $2 million.
And extended the current lease to the Hinesburg Nursery School for five years.