Speed-limit study required
DUMMERSTON — DUMMERSTON - If resident Steve Tavella and his neighbors get their way, drivers on Wickopee Hill Road may soon get counted.
In response to Steve Tavella's request to the Selectboard last month to lower the speed limit on the road from 35 mph to 25 mph, Board member Hugh Worden researched if and how they can make the change. [See “Slow-down sought on Wickopee Hill,” The Commons #365, July 13, 2016].
At the July 20 regular Board meeting, Worden shared his findings, citing three handbooks he used to assist him, all issued by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, and all referred the reader back to Vermont statutes.
According to Worden, petitions and requests from citizens can result in a Board conducting or contracting for a study, but shouldn't automatically lead to a speed limit change. State law dictates the legislative body of a municipality - in this case, the Selectboard - may establish a speed limit on any part of a public road in its jurisdiction “on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation.”
Although the Board has some latitude in changing speed limits to promote safer driving, Worden said, the statues are clear that an engineering and traffic study must occur if the new speed limit is below 35 mph or above 50 mph.
After Highway Foreman Lee Chamberlin suggested the Board reach out to Matt Mann, planner at the Windham Regional Commission, to conduct a traffic count, the Board agreed, making a motion and voting in the affirmative. Tavella asked to participate in choosing the location for the traffic-counting mechanism.
Windham waste billing update
DUMMERSTON - Changes to how the Windham Solid Waste Management District bills its member towns aren't likely to happen any time soon, according to Michelle Cherrier.
As part of her duties as the town's representative to the District, Cherrier regularly visits the Selectboard. She was there at the July 20 regular Board meeting to provide updates and answer questions.
In response to Board Chair Zeke Goodband's query about possible alternatives to how the District assesses the towns' fees, Cherrier referenced the research recently completed by the District's committees. It turns out the current assessment - based on population - is the best option right now. Although the research included a fee-for-services option, the results pointed to it costing too much.
Cherrier reminded the Board that District officials have been contemplating closing the materials recovery facility portion of the District's building.
Citing “no good market” for many of the recyclable materials, Cherrier said, “there is no value in [recycled] glass. It costs us money to take it in, separate it out, and crush it. We just paid taxes to crush glass for no reason.”
Plastics aren't much better, she said, noting the recent change in which plastics the Distric accepts: only plastics labeled “1” or “2."
But, people are still tossing their 3-7 plastics in the roll-off bins the District operates. This costs the district, and the member towns, money, Cherrier said.
She explained the district pays threefold: once to pay people to remove the unwanted plastics from the bins, then to put the plastics in the waste bin, then to the trash hauler to take them to the landfill.
Goodband asked Cherrier for a sort of “crib notes” of plastics to help residents quickly discern what should get recycled and what goes right in the trash.
Plastics labeled “1” and “2” are familiar to most people, Cherrier said. Those are plastic milk jugs and clear water bottles.
The biggies are “5s,” Cherrier said. Those are yogurt containers,” she said, and although some claim there is a market for them, she assured the Board if there was, the District would be on it, trying to raise more revenue.
Park Laughton Road closed
DUMMERSTON - Residents and visitors relying on Park Laughton Road to get them to their destinations are out of luck for about a month, according to information supplied by Highway Foreman Lee Chamberlin.
At the July 20 regular Selectboard meeting, Chamberlin noted the road is closed for approximately five weeks to allow for culvert replacement.
On the town's website, dummerston.org, a detour is suggested: “Please use Bunker Road to enter the northern end of Park Laughton Road to access Spaulding Hill and Evans roads.”