Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater Culverts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lawmakers tell Tinmouth residents new flood‑resiliency rules may force oversized culverts, could burden small towns
Summary
State legislators told Tinmouth residents that recent flood‑resiliency rule changes and grant timing can require much larger culverts and create substantial costs for small towns, and they urged local officials to flag priority sites for follow‑up with agency staff.
State Senator Terry Winn and State Representative Chris Pritchard told Tinmouth Selectboard members and residents that changes tied to a flood‑resiliency effort are driving requests from agency staff for much larger culverts on town roads and private driveways.
“Now they're not doing it … our town culverts, they're asking us to go way oversized,” Senator Terry Winn said, describing requests that in some cases would replace 24‑inch pipes with 5‑foot or larger cross drains. Winn urged the board to provide location details so his office could follow up with the stream‑alteration staff.
Representative Chris Pritchard said the rule/package came through this year as part of flood resiliency work and that some compliance money is tied to ARPA timelines. He warned of a long list of sites already identified and high projected costs for compliance: “the cost of compliance was gonna be $240,000,000,” he said, and noted that municipalities could face liability if enforcement is delegated to towns.
Board members pressed for clarity about whether the requests apply to state highways, town roads or private driveways, and whether the warranty of grants or rulemaking allows for local conditions such as ledge or historic performance. Senator Winn agreed to reach out to the agency (ANR) and one of its stream‑alteration staff to ask for an explanation and whether statutory or rule changes are driving the new sizing expectations.
Why this matters: Tinmouth officials said they lack funding and capacity to implement large hydraulic projects; residents and legislators both expressed concern that small towns could be compelled to take on engineering and excavation costs they cannot afford. Lawmakers recommended the town identify the worst‑priority sites and communicate them for targeted assistance.
