News

West Windsor continues analysis of parcel, may buy

By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
WEST WINDSOR, Vt. — The select board has decided to proceed with additional environmental reviews of the Burke property on Route 44. The town is proposing to purchase the lot, and will apply for a grant to offset the cost.

The March town meeting approved the purchase of the parcel, which the town intends to use for highway department storage and other possible uses in the future. The deal is not yet done, however. Some environmental remediation may be needed, and the select board took its first steps in its April 8 meeting.

A consultant, LE Environmental, conducted an initial environmental site assessment but recommended additional work, referred to as “Phase II.” The cost estimate to do that, according to the select board, is $6,000.

Members of the select board joined LE Environmental for a site visit on March 14, prior to the Phase I environmental study. LE Environmental’s review of the site turned up at least two issues at the property, but as discussed at the April 8 meeting they are complicated and subject to further consideration in the Phase II study. 

The state of Vermont has a limited liability program called (BRELLA) from the Brownfields Reuse and Environmental Liability Limitation Act. The idea is to provide the purchaser of a possibly contaminated property with liability protection, in the event that any subsurface contamination is discovered.

The select board talked over with Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation manager Shawn Donovan whether the town should enter the BRELLA program, and if the town should do so before or after the Phase II work. Joining the program, Donovan said, would make West Windsor eligible for a state grant, possibly through the regional planning commission.

The board eventually approved, unanimously, a motion to approve the money for a Phase II study, while asking the RPC for funding, subject to current owner Gary Burke’s permission to do the site work.

The work is expected to take 60 days, and if it goes longer the board said it may wish to review its position.

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