Residents and Neighbors,
Although it’s been two years since we have celebrated the Barre Heritage Festival, the Barre Partnership has still been working hard to expand the Farmers Market and Food Truck Thursdays with the Concerts in the Park series. About a year ago, in an effort to help restaurants stay open, Keith Paxman along with Tracie Lewis proposed establishing Food Truck Thursdays in Currier Park and it has been a great addition to events here in Barre City.
Paving has been able to happen on Perry and Camp Streets but, with the rainy July weather, the painting of crosswalks has yet to be completed. Weather was good on the weekend of July 24th and 1,141 tires were turned in during the free tire disposal day for City residents. Council is seeking residents to participate in both a new Manager’s Search Committee and Homelessness Task Force. These bodies of the city are limited in service and outreach will continue until August 27th to fill the seats.
Council received a presentation from Lisa Liotta and Brenna Toman from the CVSWMD. They plan to create a household hazardous waste facility to consolidate their one-day collections held throughout the district. Tammy Menard also spoke on living in local motels through the state’s homelessness program during the pandemic. She expressed concerns with violence in the motels, the upcoming end of the voucher program, and need for people to have safe access to sanitary facilities, water, Wi-Fi and electricity. She stressed the need for police as well as mental health and drug counseling as part of the services moving forward.
Council approved Resolution 2021-11 Reductions in the Motel Housing Program, creation of Homeless Task Force, FY22 Municipal Property Tax Rate of $1.9578 (which is about a 1.4% increase), changes to the Council ground rules, perpetual easement with Metro 159, LLC., extension of Civic Center special promotion, Mayor VLCT stipend donation to the Community Visit dinner, ratified allocation of Hollow Inn donations, letter of support for Vermont CWIP/DIBG Stormwater Treatment Grant Application, accepted resignation from Scott Bascom from the Paths, Routes and Trails Committee and appointed JD Fox to the Diversity and Equity Committee.
Upcoming items include discussion on the TIF audit, contract extension with White + Burke for TIF Services, process for selecting ARPA-Funded Projects, ERSA Trail Grant for the Cow Pasture, Emergency Housing Program Update by DCF Commissioner Brown, strategic planning, and the VCRD Community Visit on August 25th. Council will also receive updated from the Aldrich Library, Barre Area Development, Barre Partnership, Animal and Fowl Task Force on ordinance changes, DPW Campus design bids, and recruitment of an Assessor.
Be well,
Lucas J. Herring
Mayor, City of Barre