TOWN = NEWS

TOWN=20 NEWS=20

By Carol = Bam

The=20 Select Board recently welcomed aboard Jim = Callahan.=20 The Board considered three applicants who expressed interest in the seat = vacated=20 by Joe Dicton. Board = Chairman Stan=20 Rhodes said Callahan was appointed unanimously. =93He is a good fit for = the board=20 and the Town, and adds a new dimension to the experience represented by = the=20 current board members.=94 Callahan had run unsuccessfully in March for a = two-year=20 Board seat. His candidate = statement=20 in The=20 Circle said=20 he and his wife moved to the Town in 2005 when he began working for = GE. He is a UVM graduate and = formerly a=20 resident of Lamoille County. Recently, he has been involved in the Town = as a=20 Justice of the Peace, filling Dick Del Bianco=92s term, and as a member = of the=20 Board of Civil Authority hearing property tax = appeals.

The=20 Town held a dedication of the Richard DelBianco Park at Dewey Field in=20 May=20 (see Rec Chairman Jode Hall=92s write up on Page 8). DelBianco, who died last fall, = served=20 the Town for over 30 years, including the last 12 years as Selectman. = DelBianco=20 and his wife raised their family across from Dewey Field and helped = maintain it.=20 Rhodes said, =93The ceremony was well attended and well deserved.=94=20

The=20 Highway Department will close Mc-Kinley Ave. off Route = 7=20 during=20 July while=20 the bridge deck replacement is underway. The project will require = traffic to=20 enter McKinley Ave. from North Grove Street until construction is = complete. (See details in Road Commissioner By Hathaway=92s report on = this page.)=20 Federal Stimulus funds will pay for most of the = project.

The=20 Army Reserves are preparing to put up a building off Post=20 Road=20 near the CVPS access. Currently located on North St. Extension in = Rutland City,=20 the Reserves=92 new facility will be used to store heavy equipment and = stage=20 physical training exercises. For now, the road to their new building = will be=20 maintained by the Army Reserves. = Eventually, as other parcels=20 are developed on the Thomas property, the=20 Town may assume maintenance of the road.

Chairman Rhodes has met with state and local officials in = Montpelier on=20 the long stalled railyard relocation. The=20 HDR Engineering firm is winding down its investigation of what started = out as an=20 EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) and is now an EA (Environmental = Assessment)=20 of the = proposed site=20 south of Holiday Inn. Rhodes points out, =93It has taken 8-10 years and over $1 million = in=20 expense trying to find a preferred location for the railyard. Neither = the Town=20 nor the City favors the location and it seems imperative to reestablish = the need=20 for relocation.=94 The Select Board has begun discussion in order to = give VTRANS=20 (Vermont Department of Transportation) a formal opinion. The project has = taken=20 so long that many of those with considerable knowledge of the original = plan are=20 no longer in place.

One=20 year has passed since the Town began receiving 1% surtax revenues on = taxable=20 sales. Since the = April 1, 2009=20 implementation of the tax, $944,000=20 has=20 come back to the Town. Rhodes reiterated the Board=92s intention for the = revenue.=20 =93Our commitment is to utilize funds generated from the tax to lower property = taxes.=94