By STEVEN JUPITER
PITTSFORD—The Pittsford Selectboard convened for its regular meeting on Wednesday, January 3.
As Town Manager David Atherton was not present, Assistant Town Manager Ann Reed presented an abbreviated Town Manager’s report to the Board which included the following:
- Water and sewer bills have been sent out and are due by February 2.
- A sewer clog on Route 7 had been cleared.
- The 2023 Equalization Study had been received.
- The town had received a $4,000 grant for an enhanced energy plan.
The focus of the meeting, however, was on finding $100,000 that could be removed from the proposed FY25 budget in order to minimize the percent increase over the current year’s budget.
After searching the budget for expenses to trim, the Board focused on the proposed $400k for paving. Discussions with the Highway Department had reassured the Board that a cut of that magnitude would not adversely affect the town’s ability to maintain its roads.
However, the Board ultimately decided to reduce the proposed $400k for paving by only $60k until it became clear how much money would be requested through special appropriations, in order to maintain some flexibility.
The proposed budget remains to be finalized by the Board and will ultimately be presented to the voters of Pittsford in March.
The Board also continued its discussion about designating Arch Street as a No Thru Street in order to deter drivers from using it as a shortcut to avoid slow traffic on Route 7. Ms. Reed stated that she had not been able to find an example of any other town in Vermont with an enforceable ordinance on the books that Pittsford could emulate.
Ultimately, the Board agreed to place signs stating that Arch Street was not open to “through traffic” but that there would be no ordinance that Pittsford PD could use to enforce the change. The biggest deterrent to through traffic, it was felt, would be the newly lowered speed limit on Arch Street, which would deprive the route of its primary advantage over Route 7. The new speed limit of 25, which matches Route 7, and the presence of stop signs, will hopefully make Arch Street unappealing as a shortcut.
During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, Doug Perkins, Jeff Schumann, and Steve Belcher of the Otter Creek Watershed Insect Control District spoke to the Board about the District’s work in 2023 and what lies ahead in 2024. Mr. Perkins, who recently stepped down as Chairman of the District’s Board to become Vice-chair, said that 2023 had been “less than successful” because of all the rain during last summer’s insect-control season. The rains created ideal conditions for mosquitos but prevented the District from carrying out its work as normal. Much of the District had not received the usual amount of spraying, though Pittsford received the most among the 6 participating towns (Brandon, Goshen, Leicester, Pittsford, Proctor, and Salisbury.)
Mr. Schumann, who is now the Chair of the District Board, relayed to the Selectboard that the District will begin quarterly invoicing this year. Up to now, the District received monies from the towns only once per year, forcing the District to borrow money to finance its operations until the funds were received. With quarterly billing, the District will be able to finance its work throughout the season without having to seek out loans.
Mr. Schumann also conveyed to the Selectboard that the Vermont Agency of Agriculture was demanding specific changes to the District’s equipment to monitor more precisely how much insecticide is being sprayed, changes which would cost the District $70k.
“We’d be out of business,” he said. Mr. Schumann also said the District was in discussions with the state to modify these mandates.
After the District finished its presentation, a former employee of the Town asked the Board to remedy a payroll situation in which he claimed that he and another employee had not been paid his accrued unused vacation time for 2023 despite the requests he’d made directly to the town manager. The men’s jobs had been terminated but they were still entitled to be paid for the vacation time they had accrued. After a brief discussion, the Board agreed to pay the men what they had accrued.
The Board’s final public business of the evening was to approve orders in the amounts of $66,551.82 and $7,990.91.
The Board has changed the date of its next meeting to Wednesday, January 24 from Wednesday, January 17 in order to accommodate the schedule for those needing to submit petitions for special appropriations, which are due on the 18th.
