RUTLAND — At the Sept. 19 meeting of the Select Board, Michael Moriarty, Director of Communications for the Regional Emergency Communication Center, brought good news of grant money.
The center has received a state development grant of $619,741. That will fund Moriarty’s salary at $92,000 and the deputy director’s salary at $70,000, he said.
Also, $328,000 will be used to replace the department’s records management system, which includes all police, fire and accident reports, Moriarty said.
In personnel matters, the center has received one qualified candidate’s application for the open position of deputy director of the center due to the retirement of Phyllis Chartier in July. She has remained on in a parttime position.
Michelle Sabourin, a 12year veteran with the department, has applied for the deputy director’s position.
Moriarty said she would be a great asset to the position, and he will bring forward a contract for her to the board in the future. Sabourin cannot be slotted into position at the moment because the dispatch center is not fully staffed and she cannot be taken away from the desk, he said.
Three people are completing the dispatch training program, and when they are brought on board, the department will be almost fully staffed, he said, adding that another dispatch employee is taking a full-time job as a firefighter with the town, opening up another position at some point.
With news on the American Recovery Plan Act funds, interim town administrator Gary Kellaher told the board that the deadline to commit to projects is Dec. 31, 2024, with the payments being made one year after that.
“We have a balance of roughly $987,000 in ARPA funds,” Kellaher said.
He recently attended a regional town administrator conference at which Paxton’s town administrator expressed interest in the towns sharing services for animal control and a conservation agent.
Police Chief Nicholas Monaco supports the idea, Kellaher said, but there is a very limited need for a conservation agent in town. He will get back in touch with the Paxton administrator, he said.
Kellaher also told the board he had had a discussion with Department of Public Works Director Joseph Buckley about getting a school bus turnaround on Glenwood Place.
Currently there is no room for school buses to turn around there, since they would need to use private property, requiring the need for extensive hold harmless agreements or waivers, Kellaher said.
“The bus company feels that because of those limitations at this time, they cannot bring a bus down there,” he said.
Talks with bus provider AA Transportation and the school district will continue on the matter.
For future planning, Kellaher said that some of the debt the town carries for capital improvement projects will be falling off in the next two or three years, and town officials are looking to line up future projects that will require borrowing.
Right now, purchasing land for town parking lots is being considered, he said.
“We allow ourselves debt of 2 percent of the town budget, but we’re eligible for 5.9 percent,” he said.
The Capital Planning Improvement Committee has agreed it does not want any future borrowing for debt exclusions to increase the tax dollar, Kellaher said.
“We want to keep it at the same rate, so it doesn’t put any burden on the tax payer,” he said. “So they won’t see it as far as their taxes go, but we’ll be able to do some improvements.”
The treasury warrant was approved by the board, with a word of caution from Kellaher about some fully funded, but out of the ordinary expenses.
These include the water system improvement project on Pommogussett Avenue for $275,207, payable to RFS Corp. Also included is $119,748 paid to Tosco Construction (out of the state’s Chapter 90 payments to the town) and $36,585 to Elevated Consulting for the shared dispatch emergency communication tower in Hubbardston. The tower payment has already been reimbursed by the state’s 911 emergency communications department. Election wages for the state primary were also approved at $3,720.
Board chair Carol Benoit read a proclamation designating the month of September each year as Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month.
Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death among adults and the second leading cause among people ages 10-34.
“Rutland is seeking to support those in our community and beyond who are struggling with mental health,” Benoit read from the certificate.
A certificate was presented to Patty Inwood, founder of Hope Lives Here, a community support group for people who are struggling with loss of a loved one.
“That our town is coming together to do something like this is really important and really means a lot to me,” Inwood said.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Louis Cornacchioli of Blueberry Lane came forward to again discuss naming the intersection at Campbell Street and Glenwood Road as Fred and Shirley Warren Square.
Cornachioli said he had spoken with members of the Historical Commission, who told them they did not have the ability to place the article on a town meeting warrant.
However, they did take a vote to recommend that the select board place the request on the warrant for the special town meeting that will take place in November.
