City Hall Reporter's Notebook
Clarendon closer to city sewer hookup
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS STAFF WRITER - Published: April 13, 2009
A city sewer ordinance revision is one vote away from opening the possibilities for new connections outside Rutland City and Rutland Town.
Last week, the aldermen's charter and ordinance committee voted to strike from the sewer ordinance the three words – "design service area" – that restrict the locales which the city's plant can serve. Next week, that decision will go to the full board for approval.
The issue arises out of Clarendon's now year-old request to tap into sewer service along Route 7 in order to aid the village of North Clarendon, which is fraught by failing septic systems.
Throughout the past year, this ordinance revision has been described as the greatest roadblock stopping the city from selling a share of its plant capacity to Clarendon, but on Thursday action was taken in a meeting that lasted little over an hour.
Mentioned in the discussion was Mayor Christopher Louras' concern that opening the ordinance through this change could lead Clarendon – or other municipalities – to seek a sewer connection for commercial use, which he's described as a threat to the city's economy.
Board President David Allaire pointed out, however, that each potential connection to the system would still need the approval of the Board of Sewer Commissioners (comprising the full Board of Aldermen), which he said he thought was set up exactly for this reason. Allaire questioned whether the mayor has veto authority over the sewer commissioners, but the city attorney didn't have an immediate answer to that question.
On a related note, Department of Public Works Commissioner Alan Shelvey also informed the committee that the city's computer system can determine the capacity of the plant currently in use, specific numbers the department will soon have for the board. Shelvey did say the plant has an 8.1 million gallon-a-day capacity, about 4 million of which is currently in use. In addition to the city and town, the plant currently services the Alpine Pipeline in Mendon and Killington and the Airport Industrial Park.
That wasn't the only ordinance change the committee passed on Thursday. It voted unanimously to extend the city's current ban on firearms in schools and parks to all municipally owned buildings. According to several aldermen, the desire to make that change arose more than a year ago, when a resident attended a board meeting outfitted with a visible hand gun.
Rutland will receive visits from several of the state's elected leaders this week, including Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., and Gov. James Douglas. Welch will be in town today to visit the Vermont Achievement Center at 9:15 a.m. and to attend a forum on the economy at Three Tomatoes Trattoria at noon. Sanders will stop in on Tuesday to hold a 2:30 p.m. news conference at the Rutland Boys & Girls Club to announce funding for the organization. Meanwhile, Douglas will attend Friday evening's Marble Valley Friends of National Rifle Association Banquet and Auction at the Howe Center.
The Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce is also active this week. At 7:30 a.m. today it will hold its final Legislative Breakfast, "Proposed Legislation: Positive or Negative to Small Business?" featuring Sens. Bill Carris, Hull Maynard and Kevin Mullin and Reps. Bob Helm and Megan Smith, at the Franklin Conference Center. The cost is $10 and the public is invited to attend.
On Tuesday, the chamber will hold its April mixer from 5 to 7 p.m. at Collaborations at Gilmore Home Center on Route 4A in Bomoseen.
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com
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