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Residents press selectboard for clearer flood accounting and update on $2M industrial park
Summary
Residents questioned a $50,000 deficit shown in the town report related to July 2023 flooding and asked for a more detailed update on an almost $2 million industrial park project; town staff said large federal/state funds await environmental review and that most large expenditures have not yet been incurred.
Walter Pomeroy raised a series of questions about the town report’s accounting for the July 2023 flooding, pointing to a line that shows a $50,000 deficit and asking whether FEMA or state legislative funds remain to cover outstanding costs.
"It shows a $50,000 deficit," Pomeroy said, asking where the money came from and whether the accounting is final. Town staff explained that three FEMA‑related projects remain obligated but are not closed out: a skate park (about $161,000), flood mitigation around the municipal building held up while the village addresses its sewage treatment facility, and library contingencies kept open pending the move. Staff said reimbursable costs cannot be claimed until projects are complete, which accounts for the $50,000 gap.
Pomeroy also asked for a fuller accounting of the industrial park, which he described as a nearly $2,000,000 project. A town official told the meeting that only a small portion of the industrial park budget has been expended so far: environmental review contracts and related pre‑procurement tasks (contract amounts in the low tens of thousands). "We're still in environmental review," the official said, and the notice to proceed that will unlock larger federal and matching funds is not expected until around September of the year.
Officials reiterated that FEMA typically reimburses 75% of eligible costs and that the town had state legislative funds committed to cover additional matching amounts, but the timing of reimbursements depends on closing the outstanding projects and receiving the formal notice to proceed.
