Londonderry Select Board moves forward on salt and sand shed

By Bruce Frauman
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The Londonderry Select Board moved forward on plans to build a new salt and sand shed at a special meeting this past week.

Earlier this year, the state Department of Transportation told the town of to remove by July of 2017 the salt it now stores at the DOT facility in Londonderry.

Road Foreman Duane Hart told the board that due to the mild winter there are budget surpluses in the sand and salt budgets and that he would be in favor of using those funds toward a new salt and sand shed.

“I’m not interested in trying to cover the salt up with a sheet of plywood and a couple of two by fours,” Hart joked. He suggested that the salt surplus alone is around $28,000. The sand stored at the AOT facility was removed this spring and now is piled outside the town garage.

The Select Board asked Enman-Kesserling Consulting Engineers to propose a fee schedule for services related to the site design and permit applications for a sand and salt shed on the Prouty property on Route 100. Blair Enman responded with a letter and a work authorization that lists meetings and communications, preliminary design, permit design, and town permit applications and hearings, and expenses totaling $6,725.

At the Aug. 8 special meeting, board member Paul Gordon moved “to approve $6,725 for Blair’s services to begin the process of getting permitting and early engineering for a salt sand shed on the Prouty land.” The motion was approved unanimously. Hart told the board he would approve of the estimated $6,350 in added engineering fees listed in the work authorization for the bid and construction phases to also come out of the salt surplus.

Enman Engineering will contact the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources to seek advice on the necessary state permits.

“Where are we going to go from here as far as looking at types of buildings?” asked Gordon. “While Blair starts the engineering portion, we need to be deciding on size and type of building so that we can get that information to him as he moves forward.”

Hart offered to look at vinyl-covered Quonset huts, pole buildings and stick-built structures with members of the Select Board to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each. Board members Bill Wiley and Will Reed will arrange with Hart to do the site visits next week. Wiley will look into pricing of a stick-built building and Gordon will continue to get more information on the costs of vinyl-covered engineered buildings and pole buildings.

Enman suggested that the shed foundation be constructed of poured concrete, 42 feet by 80 feet with 8 foot-high concrete walls. The building would be open on both ends. The board had previously also considered a 42 by 60-foot building.

Gordon also told the board he has “made several inquiries as to solar options” to provide electricity for the required LED flood lighting and a block heater for the loader. Gordon said that solar power “has the potential to be significantly less expensive, than getting power run by Green Mountain (Power) to the site.” Wiley agreed to call GMP to get a price to provide electricity to the site either above ground or underground.

In other business, Gordon said the town website “is suffering again.” He and the town staff cannot access the website to make updates. He will talk with state Rep. Oliver Olsen,  an IT specialist who offered to help find a solution.

Roger Delgiorno of the Rotary Club was given a permit to hold a beer festival and scholarship fund-raiser on Saturday Sept. 3.