Derry board indicates support for speed limits along Middletown Road

By Bruce Frauman
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC

At their Feb. 17 meeting, Londonderry Select Board members Bob Forbes, George Mora and Tom Cavanagh all expressed support for imposing speed limits on Middletown Road.

Based on engineering and traffic studies, Town Administrator Shane O’Keefe proposed a 30 mph speed limit from the intersection of VT Route 11 south for 500 feet, then 40 mph to  200 feet north of Crescent Street, when it would drop again to 30 mph. A full board vote on the proposal will be on the next Select Board meeting agenda. O’Keefe said the state can provide warning signs, but the town must provide speed limit signs.

The board agreed to spend up to $250 to send postcards with links to a broadband survey to all non-residents with houses in Londonderry.

Resident Toby Fitch had asked the board to support the Windham Regional Commission’s efforts to get at least 20 percent of households to participate in a survey on broadband by March 17.

He said the goal is to tap into fiber optic lines already in Vermont, including along the West River Trail, to provide service first to those who don’t have it, then to others who want it. Fitch plans to rent a kiosk to set up an iMac computer to get skiers at Magic, Bromley and Stratton mountains to fill out the survey.

Fitch, who volunteered to be the contact between the WRC and Londonderry on the broadband project, said once the survey is complete, the WRC will use it to design a business plan to connect communities into Communication Union Districts — or CUDs — to provide the fiber optic service.

He said there are too many variables to really know what the business plan will look like. One possibility is for all the participating towns in Bennington and Windham counties to join together into one CUD.

Derry Woods culvert project gets one grant, waits word on another

Bids will be sought for the Derry Woods culvert project —  an 8-foot-wide, 6-foot-high, 44-feet-long culvert between the West River and a wetland. O’Keefe said the town secured a $175,000 structures grant and a $60,000 Better Back Roads grant has been applied for. Treasurer Tina Labeau told The Telegraph that the total cost for the project is $321,061, so the town cost will be either $86,061 or $146,061 depending on the outcome of the Better Back Roads grant application.

O’Keefe said he will send out a package on Tuesday to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide additional documents about the elevation of the former Post Office building owned by Tom and Judy Platt on Route 11. Because bids to raise the building came back higher than expected, the cost to the Platts — which is 25 percent of the total project — had risen to $33,000 from $20,000. O’Keefe said the Platts have said that they could pay their portion so that the project could move forward.

Londonderry Town Meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3 in Town Hall, 139 Middletown Road in S. Londonderry. You can read the warning by clicking here. Residents will have the opportunity to vote for the Taconic and Green Regional School Board budget and board candidates as well as in the presidential primary election. Early voting ballots are available from the clerk’s office.

The board went into executive session to discuss a Notice of Appeal that was  filed over the Development Review Board’s decision to approve Vermont Woodchips use of land to crush, hammer, screen and stockpile stone under specific conditions.

Lastly, the board approved resident George Legace’s request to set up a boot drop for Ruck Up Inc. on Route 11 on May 16, with May 17 as a rain date. Legace said the boot drop last year yielded over $3,000 and the organization has “helped 53 veterans maintain their housing, or get into housing or get off the street.”