City Hall Reporter's Notebook
Critical library needs on agenda
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS Staff Writer - Published: January 11, 2010
The city's Board of Finance and Rutland Free Library trustees will meet this afternoon in the hopes of zeroing in on an exact cost for the most immediate repairs for the aging library building.
Today's meeting follows up on one held last Monday, when both groups agreed it would be best to bring in NBF Architect's Alvin Fiegiel and Peter Stevenson, a building cost estimator. The two men collaborated on the initial report that found the building needs upwards of $1 million in a variety of repairs.
"It's our intent to really crunch these numbers and see where the city wants to go" with repairs, said Paul Gallo, a library trustee who serves on the building committee.
Mayor Christopher Louras and Treasurer Wendy Wilton said they expect the figure to fall somewhere between $300,000 and $490,000, and hope to recommend to the city aldermen that a bonding question be placed on the Town Meeting Day ballot for the figure. They are two of the three members of the Board of Finance; the third is David Allaire, president of the Board of Aldermen.
According to Wilton, the preferred funding source for the project will be the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Facilities Grant.
Last week's weather was a reminder for Gallo of why the work is so necessary at the Court Street building, he said. As snow began to melt on the roof tops Thursday and Friday, the building interior took on water.
"It's just a never-ending battle," he said. "I'm anxious to see something done and see what the plan of attack is on the city side."
Water everywhere
Last week, Louras testified at the Statehouse before the House Committee on Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources on a familiar issue – his opposition to the riparian buffer zone currently being considered in the Legislature. The committee took testimony all week on the bill, which is sponsored by committee chairman and Westminster Rep. David Deen.
Two years ago, a similar bill looking to establish a 50-foot protective buffer around waterways throughout the state, preventing development within that proximity, was considered by the committee; Louras lobbied against it then, too.
In Rutland, he and the city engineering staff argue such a law would do more harm than good.
About 350 properties in the city would be affected by the buffer zone, meaning those property owners wouldn't be able to make changes anywhere on their property that sits within the buffer. Any additions built on lots that are even in part located within the proposed buffers would be capped in size to 50 percent of the current building's area and limited in their location on the property.
Louras argues those kinds of restrictions would lead some people to grieve their property values, leading to a diminished grand list.
"The City of Rutland recommends either that an outright buffer exemption be granted to municipalities that have adopted zoning standards that, coupled with proper flood plain management, already provide for responsible growth and development without further impacting the use and enjoyment of private property owners," he wrote in his testimony to the committee.
As of Friday, the bill was still in committee. Rutland City Rep. Peter Fagan is a member of that committee.
Let's meet
There are several aldermanic meetings slated this week. Public Works Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss how the city should plan for its 10 percent match for the Ripley Road and Dorr Drive bridge replacements and the routes 4 and 7 project. The Community and Economic Development Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the farmers' market and a potential ballot question that would poll residents on their stance for relicensing Vermont Yankee. Charter and Ordinance's form of government committees will also meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Residents will also have a chance tonight to comment on proposed charter change amendments slated to appear on the Town Meeting Day Ballot. The public hearing, the second of two, will take place in City Hall's aldermanic chambers at 6 p.m.
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com
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