SHELDON — Voters in about 10 northern Vermont towns got a chance on Town Meeting Day to have a say on whether they think the state should spend $2.8 million to finish the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, a 93-mile path on a former rail bed that runs between St. Johnsbury and Swanton.
Several of the towns along the route voted on resolutions calling on lawmakers to fund the trail in a manner that will enable its completion by 2024. The group that supports the trail, Friends of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, planned to collect those responses and convey them to the Statehouse. The measure passed in Morrisville, Stowe, Hyde Park, Johnson, Highgate, Hardwick and Danville. Fairfield voters discussed it but didn’t take a vote. Information about other towns that were asked by trail advocates to consider it wasn’t available early Wednesday.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott surprised many trail supporters earlier this year when he proposed spending $2.8 million in state money to finish it. The governor said in this budget address that the state’s share would enable the use of $11.3 million in federal transportation funds, most of it to build bridges on the trail, which is popular with bicyclists, pedestrians, skiers and snow machine users.
Business owners along the trail and the groups that support its users say the trail could play an important role in economic development. They’ve already seen that in places where large sections of the trail are available to bicyclists and walkers, said Nancy Banks, treasurer of the Friends group. Banks said most of the traffic she sees on the trail now is local.
“It’s a fabulous resource,” said Banks, who lives in Morrisville. “If we want to use it as a destination, where we would actually attract tourist dollars, we need to have it finished. That’s what is going to attract the out-of-towners.”
In the small town of Sheldon, home to a short finished section of the trail, voters approved a trail resolution unanimously by voice vote. Local resident Bob Parent was the only person who spoke up against the funding, saying that he’d like to see state officials work on the area’s roads first.
After the meeting adjourned, Parent chatted outside in the sunshine with Jeremiah King, who had risen in the meeting to extoll the benefits of the trail.
“It enriches our lives in a way, and it does bring in tourist revenue,” said King, adding that repairing local roads and repairing the trail were two separate issues. Outside, as the snow melted in the sun, the two men agreed that the roads could use some work, and then shared stories of near-ruin they had experienced over the years in encountering frost heaves.
Said Parent: “105 is not great, and 120 is really bad,” adding, “ Once we have rain, it’s going to be like a rollercoaster.”
Lawmakers will likely take up the matter of the trail money, which is now in the capital bill, next week, said Rep. Brian Savage, R-Swanton, who gave Sheldon residents a brief legislative update at the town meeting. Savage explained that there’s some disagreement in the Statehouse about whether the money for the trail should be in the capital bill or in the transportation bill. Trail supporters want to see the money stay in the capital bill, fearing that moving it to the transportation bill will delay the trail completion by 15 years.
While lawmakers don’t agree which bill is the right place for the money, “they agree they’d like to see it get done,” said Savage, who is on the House Transportation Committee.
The state would borrow the $2.8 million for the trail, so the matter will come up as the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions discusses many large projects for which the state will bond, said Rep. Alice Emmons, chair of that committee. Others projects up for consideration include a secure mental health facility, a women’s correctional facility, and community wastewater treatment plants. The state has bonding capacity of about $63 million right now, a number expected to drop by $10 million next year, said Emmons.
“There are a lot of capital needs,” said Emmons, D-Springfield. “That’s why we’re really concerned about how much capacity we’re using.”
That said, Emmons reiterated Savage’s assurance that finishing the trail is a priority not just for the governor but for lawmakers. Much of the discussion around where to put the money is focused on making sure the work happens within a few years, so that the state can limit the expense of interest payments for the bond, Emmons said. She added that lawmakers have some research to do before they’ll know for sure how to proceed.
“There are a lot of conversations happening right now to figure out how we move forward with the trail in a timely manner and not drag it out,” Emmons said Wednesday. “We’re all clear that the trail is really important. It’s about how best to finance it.”
