Reimbursement sought for TransCanada legal fees
PUTNEY — PUTNEY - Town attorney Lawrence G. Slason recently requested reimbursement from the state for legal fees incurred during the TransCanada lawsuit.
The hydroelectric utility has contested the assessment of property on which it has easement rights in 10 Vermont towns along the Connecticut River, including Putney.
At stake is millions of dollars in property taxes the towns say the utility owes.
Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard told the Selectboard at the September 9 regular meeting the state sent Putney a check for the full amount Slason billed so far: $1,244.80.
She said the town may rack up more legal fees as the case progresses.
Invasive species need curbing on Hendricks Land
PUTNEY - After the town discovered the presence of the invasive buckthorn plant on the land that Nat Hendricks donated to Putney earlier this year, the Selectboard weighed options for paying for its eradication.
Board member Josh Laughlin told his colleagues at the Sept. 9 regular meeting there is no federal money available for the project as long as the land is owned by the town.
“If the land was in the hands of a nonprofit and not a municipality,” federal money would be available, Laughlin said.