Selectboard Votes For 35 MPH and Rescue Seeks Backup Ambulance
by Nancy Wood,
November 17, 2011, page 1.....

Slow down! The Selectboard approved a change to Charlotte’s Motor Vehicle Ordinance at the November 14 meeting, reducing the speed to 35 mph “on all unpaved Class III Town Highways except as otherwise provided in this Ordinance.”

The current speed limit is 50 mph by default, lacking any specific regulation by the Town. State law provides that a municipality may pass a blanket reduction without the usual traffic studies required for speed limits, such as those that have been set for Greenbush Road and Spear Street.

Neighboring towns of Hinesburg and Monkton currently have 35 mph speed limits on dirt roads.

There was no discussion about the cost of signs or when they would be installed. The motion passed unanimously 4-0. Winslow Ladue was away on vacation; Dennis Delaney attended electronically via Skype from New Mexico.

The 35 mph speed limit will become effective on January 14, 2012, unless a petition signed by not less than 5% of qualified voters requesting a town meeting vote on the question of disapproving the amendment is filed with the Town Clerk or Selectboard on or before December 29, 2011. For more information contact Selectboard Assistant Dean Bloch at 425-3533.

Rescue Squad Requests Back-Up Ambulance

During a discussion of the proposed FY13 budget for Charlotte Volunteer Fire and Rescue Services, Rescue Chief Ian Pomerville updated the Selectboard about the sorry state of the department’s ambulance, which was bought new in 2005 for $140,000. It was out of service for repairs a year ago October, and then again last month, requiring the department to borrow an ambulance from Shelburne.

Shortly after being repaired, the Charlotte ambulance broke down again. In order to provide “the service that the Town expects,” Pomerville said the department is now leasing a replacement ambulance at a cost of $300 per week. He added that the District III authorities are considering giving Charlotte Rescue a conditional license due to the amount of time the department’s ambulance has been out of service. A similar situation occurred in 2001, which led to the loss of a contract to provide service to Hinesburg. Hinesburg now receives service from St. Michael’s College.

Pomerville said there needs to be a long-term solution to this problem for the department and recommended that the Town purchase a used back-up ambulance. The cost could be less than $30,000 for an ambulance older than the 2005 model, or in the $75,000 to $80,000 range for a 2008 with a better engine.

Selectboard Chair Charles Russell asked for consideration of other options. A new ambulance is scheduled for purchase during the F14 budget year using $185,000 from the Fire and Rescue Capital Reserve Fund. Options might include speeding up the time schedule for that purchase, and/or using other funds in the reserve fund to buy a used vehicle now.

A second ambulance would require additional operating funds for equipment, insurance and maintenance.