Selectboard designates the Tractor Parade a ‘town event,’ and hears ideas for neighborhood composting project
The Charlotte Selectboard, at its Sept. 24 meeting, approved a motion to designate the annual East Charlotte Tractor Parade a town event. The event will be held this year on Sunday, Oct. 14.
Town Administrator Dean Bloch said the item appeared on the board’s agenda so that the parade can be covered by the town’s liability insurance. The designation also requires that committee members be named, and Selectboard member Matt Krasnow’s motion named Carrie Spear, Debbie Christie, Cindy Bradley, June Bean, Dave Denton, Margaret Roddy and Heather Manning as committee members. Spear said the group hasn’t formally met but has discussed the event informally.
The board also reviewed and approved a traffic management plan for the event. The following streets will be closed from 1 to 2 p.m. for the event: Spear Street between Carpenter and Prindle roads, and Hinesburg Road between Dorset Street and Guinea Road. This year’s 18th annual parade is expected to draw well in excess of 100 tractors.
Traffic is slated to be diverted Carpenter, Prindle and Guinea roads, and Dorset Street. Traffic controllers will be at the intersections of Spear Street and Carpenter Road, Spear Street and Prindle Road, Hinesburg Road and Spear Street, and Hinesburg Road and Guinea Road.
In other actions, the board rescheduled upcoming meetings that fall on days designated as holidays by town personnel policies. In observance of Veterans Day, which falls on Sunday this year, the board voted to shift its Nov. 12 meeting to Nov. 13. While the Town Clerk’s office will remain open on Nov. 12, the rest of the offices will be closed that day. The board also decided to move its Dec. 24 meeting up a week to Dec. 17.
Also, the Selectboard welcomed Abby Foulk to its meeting to hear her plans regarding the Northeast Recycling Council’s composting project, a multi-state proposal that’s set to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Solid Waste Management grant program. NERC is offering funds up to $1,000 to support the creation of local compost sites.
Foulk was instrumental in Charlotte Central School’s establishing a sustainability team seven years ago to serve as an advisory group that explored conservation and ideas regarding waste reduction at the school. An on-site composting shed was added at the school, which has processed over five tons of cafeteria food waste.
Foulk noted that both the Orchard Lane and the Champlain Valley Cohousing neighborhoods have expressed interest in participating in the project, and Bloch noted in a Dec. 20, 2017 letter to NERC that the proposed composting project would provide another option for individuals interested in composting. If Charlotte participates in NERC’s program, it would receive training and online technical assistance in establishing a composting site.