Quechee
In September, after years of public discussion, the Selectboard voted to create a pocket park at the site, which looks down upon the Ottauquechee River from between the Quechee Covered Bridge and the Simon Pearce building on Quechee Main Street.
But after March elections changed the Selectboard’s composition, the decision to build the parks was revisited in the wake of reports from staff members that the project faced potential objections from: the Federal Emergency Management Agency about flood risks; the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development about possible contaminants; and from those with concern that the lack of wheelchair access to the lowest level of the park might violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
During a Tuesday meeting of the Hartford Selectboard, interim Town Manager Patrick MacQueen, Planning Department Executive Director Lori Hirshfield and engineer Peter Holden told the Selectboard that none of those concerns were likely to prevent the more expensive plan from being implemented.
“As a staff, we feel that that concept is reasonably close to being approved,” MacQueen said.
He said the staff was “certainly” not recommending the lower-cost plan, which would simply stabilize the site, cover it with grass and erect a barrier to restrict public access.
“If we were to do that, we don’t think the savings would be that great, and we would have to start over again in terms of approvals,” said MacQueen.
Peter Holden with Holden Engineering said that he had received assurances from the Department of Justice that the plan would meet requirements under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
To make the lowest level of the park accessible, planners would have to include so much ramp that it would eat up nearly all of the space in the park, a requirement that would not be reasonable, Holden said.
Because of that, he said, he was told “that all the land below this walkway is exempt from the ADA regulation.”
Hirshfield said new information has come to light that lessens concerns about potential environmental contaminants being in the ground from fuel tanks and a mill that used to be on the site. A resident came forward with pictures that demonstrate that there was a 14-foot excavation on the site in the 1970s, which has lessened the possibility of risk. A meeting of regional and state officials will be held next week to evaluate what measures need to be taken.
Hirshfield said many communities with flood-damaged properties that received federal assistance are facing similar questions.
“It’s across the board, all over the state, with reuse grants,” she said.
Talks with FEMA were ongoing, and it was expected that they would be resolved soon in a way that would preserve the plan, staff members said.
After hearing the reports from MacQueen, Hirshfield and Holden, the Selectboard asked for more information before choosing between the two options.
Public opinion has been sharply divided over whether the site’s remediation should include ramps, walkways, benches and landscaping. Some have decried it as a waste of money at a time when other needs of the town are going unmet, while many Quechee landowners have said the park would bolster both the village’s tourist traffic and area property values.
Last year, the Quechee Lakes Landowners Association halted negotiations with the town over public use of Quechee Green Park and other amenities, a move Selectboard members said was done to increase the village’s leverage on the pocket parks question.
Quechee resident Lannie Collins expressed frustration that the question was being revisited.
“The previous board has voted on this,” he said. “The money is in the budget. … How many more times is this going to be hashed over by this board? … Put this dog to bed and get this thing done.”
Selectboard Chairman Dick Grassi said the federal concerns needed to be taken seriously in order to avoid a possible fiscal disaster.
“If we went forward with a project without knowing … we subject the town to a civil suit and tremendous costs,” he said. “Nobody is more frustrated about the time it’s taken than this board.”
Two members of the Selectboard — Sandy Mariotti and Alan Johnson — were not present at Tuesday’s meeting. Grassi said he would prefer to have all members present before calling for a final vote on the issue.
“It is a process, a continual process,” he said. “But nobody on this board or the past board has any reservations about (the fact that) we’ve got to do something, because it is ugly.”
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.