Commission approves $4,960 Brownfields grant for Wolcott parking plan; authorizes staff to leverage funds for buyout site assessments

The Lamoille County Planning Commission approved a $4,960 Brownfields grant for a corrective‑action and community‑relations plan to support converting a former fuel‑service lot next to the Wolcott post office into a gravel parking area.

Commissioners heard that the site has historic fuel‑service uses and that the corrective action plan follows earlier Phase I/II work; the request covers the final report that will document how the selected corrective action will be implemented.

The board then considered a second Brownfields item related to properties being acquired through FEMA buyouts after recent flooding. Staff explained that Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recommended Phase I assessments for buyout parcels that either had prior potential sources of petroleum or other hazardous materials or are adjacent to such sites, so municipalities retain access to liability protection and potential cleanup funding if needed. Staff said DEC’s recommendation is a due‑diligence step, not a finding of contamination, and that, where cleanup is required, the most likely remedy would be removal of impacted soil.

Commissioners voted to authorize staff to use available Brownfields funding (federal EPA and state pots) to provide technical support and to pay for Phase I assessments as needed to assist towns pursuing buyouts. Staff noted the commission has historically used a mixture of federal EPA Brownfields funding and state DEC funds and expects to apply for new federal EPA funds in the fall; staff said the commission anticipates roughly $50,000 in state Brownfields funding next year and that the most recent federal EPA grant was about $300,000.

Motion and vote details recorded at the meeting: - Approval of $4,960 for the Wolcott parking lot corrective‑action/community relations plan; outcome: approved by voice vote. - Motion to authorize staff to leverage available Brownfields funds to perform Phase I assessments for buyout properties; outcome: approved by voice vote.

Clarifying details discussed at the meeting included the DEC recommendation to run Phase I assessments as due diligence for buyouts, that Phase I assessment work would be subject to municipal approval, and that potential cleanup actions would likely be limited to soil removal in the typical scenarios described by staff.