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18 The Valley Press April 4, 2013
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The rendering above is of the southeast view of the possible highway garage that is part of the preliminary plans
for locating the highway garage at 325 Commerce Drive. Preliminary plans were developed to indicate the feasibility
of the site. According to Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner, the final plans will vary based on a
number of considerations, including citizen comments, land use regulatory process and the design/build competitive
selection process. Courtesy image
Selectmen refer EDA involvement in proposed
highway garage project to ethics board
By Sloan Brewster
Senior Staff Writer
CANTON – Canton’s selectmen
have some ethical concerns
about a town commission.
At the March 27 Board of Selectmen
meeting, Chief Administrative
Officer Robert Skinner, at
the request of First Selectman
Richard Barlow, handed board
members copies of a memo Skinner
had drafted and forwarded to
several town officials. In the memo,
Skinner advised the officials that
the Economic Development
Agency was conducting a study of
the financials of the proposed town
highway garage and the proposed
location for it on Commerce Drive.
EDA member Glen Arnold
met with Skinner for two hours
earlier in the week to discuss the
By Sloan Brewster
Senior Staff Writer
BURLINGTON – e town of
Burlington is applying for another
year of funding for Dial-A-Ride.
At the March 26 Board of Selectmen
meeting, the board signed
off on Burlington’s Director of Senior
Services JoAnn McBrien’s application
for the Elderly and Disabled
Demand Response Transportation
Grant.
e town has applied for the recurring
matching grant for many
years and has offered transportation
services since 1985, before the grant
was available, McBrien said.
“e funding is available to provide
newer or expanded transportation
services to seniors or disabled
[individuals], or [people with] special
needs,” McBrien said. “You don’t
necessarily have to be a senior. If you
are disabled or in a wheelchair, we
can transport you.”
In 2014, the state will offer a
maximum of approximately $21,000,
proposal and issued him a Freedom
of Information request for
certain information, Skinner said.
“I guess there are a couple of
concerns. At the last EDA meeting,
there was a vote to do a study of
the highway garage,” Skinner said.
“[Arnold] had some hypothesis of
how things could be done differently.”
Skinner listed a few of those
possibilities such as putting the
garage in a different location on a
smaller property. Arnold’s questions
also centered around a study
of the proposed garage that the
town completed in 2007.
Skinner, initially, had typed up
detailed answers to Arnold’s questions
and put them in the memo,
but because he had questions of
his own, he opted to send the
memo to staff and elected officials,
but based on the town’s square
mileage and population, Burlington
will get about $15,000, said McBrien.
McBrien estimates the town
will spend more than $30,000 on
transportation services in 2014, she
said.
e town will pay the difference
between the actual cost and
the amount of the grant.
Burlington has two handicapped
accessible vehicles and one
car for transporting residents to and
from doctors appointments, on errands
and to certain locally sponsored
social events. e vans were
paid for with state and local funding,
with the state supplying 80 percent
of the costs and the town covering
the 20 percent balance.
e state officially owns the
vans until they reach the end of their
useful life, meaning when they reach
a certain mileage, McBrien explained.
At that point, the town
takes over ownership.
Currently, the town owns one
of the vans and the state owns the
including Barlow.
“One concern is the role of
EDA,” Skinner said.
e board also had questions
about the EDA’s role and followed
Skinner’s remarks with a lengthy
discussion.
Selectman David Gilchrist insisted
that the EDA does not have
a cost analysis role, but when Skinner
read the local statute that indicates
what the agency’s purview
is, he said, it can conduct research.
“In my mind, that relates to
the overall economic condition of
the town, not on specific projects,”
Gilchrist retorted.
Other selectmen had deeper
concerns with the agency.
“I don’t understand why the
EDA continues to work against us,”
See ETHICS on page 21
Burlington will apply for continued Dial-A-Ride funding
other, McBrien said.
e town’s Highway Department
provides much of the maintenance
for the vehicles including
basic fluid changes, but for bigger
mechanical issues, they are sent to
a mechanic.
“Our van is in excellent working
condition, but we are using our new
van more so,” McBrien said.
e newer van is equipped
with a wheelchair ramp, which is
one reason the town tends to use it
a little more frequently than the
other one, she said.
e car is used on a case by
case basis and is based on the needs
of the individuals receiving the ride.
Last year, Burlington gave 1,763
one-way transports, McBrien said.
“If they want to go to a hairdresser,
we take them there,”
McBrien said. “e goal and objective
is to maintain independence in
the home.”
Canton selectmen also signed
off on the grant application for that
town.