Selectboard authorizes VTrans emergency grant submission after Route 132 edge wash

Highway Supervisor Allen Wight told the Selectboard that Route 132 suffered edge-wash and subbase undercutting during heavy rain on June 10 and again overnight on June 14–15, 2026, and that several hundred feet of pavement along the road’s edge has been compromised. Wight said he met with District 4 representative Michael Blakslee to assess the damage and that the primary issue appears to be an undersized culvert (Culvert 48). "The culvert did not fail, so it is not eligible for emergency grant funding," Wight said, but he described the undersizing as the likely cause of the repeated overtopping and erosion.

Town Administrator Nicola Shipman told the board the Town can apply for a VTrans Emergency Grant because the road was damaged on two separate dates and she believes the Town meets the minimal damages threshold following conversations with District 4. The Selectboard voted unanimously to authorize Shipman to submit a VTrans Emergency Grant application on behalf of the Town. Shipman also reported the Town secured Temporary Lights so the road can remain open as a single lane while stabilization and repair planning proceed.

The highway department temporarily postponed previously scheduled Grants-in-Aid work on Beaver Meadow Road to prioritize repair planning for Route 132; Wight said he hopes to resume Beaver Meadow work within two weeks and will post road-closure notices when a start date is set. The Selectboard did not commit to a repair contract at the meeting; funding and any required bids will follow the grant application and further engineering assessment.