By STEVEN JUPITER
PITTSFORD—The Pittsford Selectboard convened for its regular meeting on Wednesday, December 4.
Syndicate Road
A contingent of Brandon residents were in attendance to discuss Brandon’s proposed closure of Syndicate Road (known as Carver Street when it crosses into Brandon). The Brandon town management team had proposed closing the road to vehicular traffic in order to cut down on illegal dumping along the roadside and in Otter Creek. The restricted stretch of the road would extend from the bridge to the railroad overpass near the intersection of Carver and Nickerson Road.
The Brandon town management team had proposed the idea directly to Pittsford Town Manager David Atherton, who brought the issue to the attention of the Pittsford Selectboard earlier this fall. While the Brandon Selectboard has already discussed the matter at one of its meetings, Pittsford Selectboard Chair Alicia Malay said on Wednesday that no one from Brandon’s Selectboard or town management had yet approached Pittsford directly.
The contingent of Brandon residents had come to Pittsford to dissuade the Pittsford Selectboard from agreeing to the closure. Many of these residents had also voiced their opposition to the plan directly to the Brandon Selectboard at that board’s last meeting. Brandon Selectboard Chair Doug Bailey had stated his intention to attend Pittsford’s Selectboard meeting but was not present on Wednesday.
The main argument presented to the Pittsford Selectboard against the change was that it would prevent people from enjoying the natural area that the road passes through without doing much to deter illegal dumping.
The Brandon contingent suggested that the solution to the dumping is increased police presence on the road.
“I just can’t see closing the road,” said one Brandon resident who had been using the road from the age of 15 to his current age of 70. “Are you going to close every road with trash on it?”
“I don’t think anyone on this board is interested in closing down the road,” said Ms. Malay.
Pittsford board member Tom Hooker said, “Once you close a road, you never get it back.”
Pittsford board members also expressed concern that Syndicate Road/Carver Street is sometimes used in emergencies as an alternative to Route 7 and/or West Creek/Florence Road as a means to travel between Brandon and Pittsford.
If Brandon chooses to move forward with the plan, public hearings would need to be held in both Brandon and Pittsford before either town’s board could formally vote on the proposal.
Pittsford Selectboard Vice Chair David Mills did not participate in the discussion because he owns land along the roadway in question.
CEDRR
Lyle Jepson of the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region (CEDRR) asked the board to include $3,000 for CEDRR in Pittsford’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which will be voted on at Town Meeting in March.
Mr. Jepson explained that CEDRR has been working to bring new residents to Rutland County, including through a program that invites people from around the country to spend a weekend discovering the Rutland area.
The discussion drifted from CEDRR’s specific programs to a general conversation about what Pittsford needs to do to attract new residents and businesses.
Mr. Atherton stated that Pittsford could use assistance expanding its water and sewer networks in anticipation of new housing construction. He also stated that Pittsford could use more buildings that were suitable for industrial/manufacturing use and that designating certain areas of Pittsford as neighborhood zones could exempt them from some “red tape” that might hinder their development.
Board member Mark Winslow asked Mr. Jepson how CEDRR was addressing what he described as overregulation of childcare facilities and septic systems. Mr. Jepson replied that CEDRR was trying to tackle the issue and that pushback against overregulation was needed.
After Mr. Jepson left the meeting, the Board continued to discuss the possible “ripple effects” of new development in Killington and downtown Rutland, which Board members believed would benefit Pittsford.
Mr. Mills expressed his support for CEDRR, saying that helping economic growth in Rutland County overall will help Pittsford.
The Board unanimously approved the $3,000 allocation for CEDRR in the FY26 budget that will go before voters in March.
Personal Property Appraisals
Pittsford’s Assessor, Lisa Wright, asked the Board to renew an annual contract with Gail Gantick of G & K Associates to conduct the town’s annual appraisal of taxable business equipment. Vermont law allows towns to decide whether to tax business personal property. Not all have chosen to do so.
Pittsford requires businesses within its jurisdiction to submit inventories of “all furniture and fixtures, apparatus, tools, implements, books, machines, boats, construction devices, and all personal property used or intended to be used for the production, processing, fabrications, assembling, handling, or transport of anything of value…” (as per a letter sent to Pittsford businesses by Ms. Wright on February 15, 2024). The tax does not apply to a business’s inventory of produced goods.
According to Ms. Wright, the value of such property accounts for over 10% of the town’s Grand List ($48 million out of $397 million overall) and brings in almost $260,000 in tax revenue annually. Ms. Wright also stated that the 2024 tax rate for personal property was 0.6744%, which means that for every 100 dollars of value, the business owner would be taxed 67 cents.
Ms. Wright oversees the appraisals of the town’s real property—houses, buildings, and land—and informed the Board that she did not feel qualified to oversee the appraisal of personal property. Instead, Ms. Gantick of G & K would be preferable, in Ms. Wright’s estimation.
The Board discussed whether the appliances of a short-term rental (e.g., dishwashers, refrigerators, etc.) should be taxed under this program.
Ms. Malay also noted that many business owners find the requirement “invasive.”
Ms. Wright added that Pittsford would likely be facing a town-wide re-assessment of all real property because the value of the town’s Grand List was now significantly less than the fair-market value of the property. The state requires a re-assessment when a town’s Grand List drops below a certain percentage of fair-market value, which is based on actual sales over a 3-year period. The earliest a re-assessment could be carried out would be 2028 or 2029, according to Ms. Wright.
The Board unanimously approved the renewal of the contract at $12,000.
Fire truck lease payment
The Board unanimously agreed to spend $180,000 to pay off the remainder of the town’s obligation on the Pittsford Fire Department’s ladder truck. The $180K will come from the Vehicle Replacement Fund, which already has $409K in it. This payment allows the town to save $22,000 in interest payments annually and, according to Town Manager David Atherton, will keep the FY26 budget only 1.4% higher than the current year’s budget.
Warrants and Orders
The Board approved an order in the amount of $453,088.34 to cover the town’s obligations and expenses. This amount included $271,134.86 to Pike Industries for paving.
