Volunteers Green and Browns Court Project Committee 1/30/25

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DRAFT  2    Volunteers Green, Browns Court, Round Church Green

3 Parks Improvement Committee (Special Reserve Fund)

Minutes from meeting held on January 30, 2025

Members Attending:  Kendra Ziskie, Denise Barnard, Fran Thomas, Tess Storrs, Megan Andrews

Members Absent:  Jeanne Agner, Mary Lefebvre

Guests in Person:    John Linn, representing Hillside Design Collaborative

Attending Virtually:  Velma Plouffe

Public comment:  none

Minutes from last meeting of November 21, 2024:  While we believe the posted minutes to be factually correct, we would like some clarification.

Next scheduled meeting:  March 20, 2025

7:00 PM:  Tess had some questions as to how Open Meeting Laws apply to posting of minutes, how to incorporate changes, additions and deletions into the agenda. It was suggested that we wait until Jeanne gets back and then we can vote on the November 21, 2024 minutes.

7:15   Presentation of Potential Volunteers’ Green Options from John Linn and Ben Bush of Hillview Design Collaborative

John Linn, representing Hillview Design Collaborative, told us that he had rough versions at this stage and he was hoping that the committee would give him an idea of which designs he should be refining.

John gave us a brief account of his connection to the building we now know as Stones Throw Pizza. He also said that the closest that this building has come to flooding was during tropical storm Irene where it came about an inch from the door.

John presented us with 4 options for the multi-use structure and restrooms at Volunteers Green.   John explained that the order that he was presenting them in was from what he thinks would be the lowest to the highest cost. These four options are shown in the Related Files and attached to these minutes:
https://www.richmondvt.gov/calendar/meeting/volunteers-green-and-browns-court-project-committee-1-30-25

For each option there is a view from:  the sidewalk, the plateau, the park, a plan view, and a site plan. There is also a listing of the pros and cons for each.

Note:  In the drawings, what appears to be steps leading up to the plateau are there to indicate grade and slope of the plateau.

The restrooms have two bathrooms with a storage space between them that would be used to house the water heater, toilet paper, cleaning supplies.

In the site plan, the red circle indicates the area that is above the flood plane. John explained that he took Chris Haggerty’s survey and overlaid that over a Google Earth image.

Option 1:  Keep the existing structure, do the necessary repairs and locate the playground and bathroom facility on the plateau. 

Option 2:   Gable Version – New combined bathroom and pavilion on the plateau. 

Option 3:  Shed Version – New combined bathroom and pavilion on plateau. Modern design and probably Glulam timber style construction with steel plate connections. 

Option 4:  Triple Gable version:  New combined bathroom and Pavillion on Plateau

John indicated that he would like the committee to tell him which two plans he should continue working on and the committee voted unanimously on Options 4 (Triple Gable) and 2 (Gable). We are going forward with Versions 2 and 4.

7:50

Update from Bob Neeld of Engineering Ventures

Bob Neeld, Principal of Engineering Ventures was unable to attend our meeting this evening but was able to send the report to one of our members today. The report contains observations, assessments, recommendations and cost options for fixing the band shell. 

Jeanne, Fran, Denise, Duncan, John and Bob met at Volunteers Green, and pictures of the bandshell were taken from different angles and spaces. Bob then came back with some other people from Engineering Ventures to do more evaluations. 

Committee members voiced their concerns about the condition of the bandshell and discussed what it would take to make it handicap accessible. Denise and Kendra asked John to let us know when he is ready to present a finalized version of the two plans.

There was a discussion about when the bandshell might be torn down. Jeanne is lead on the playground and Fran volunteered to work on finding the cost of demolition of the restrooms and the bandshell.

 Denise said that she would send the Neeld report to Josh, Duncan, all members of our committee as well as the Selectboard. This report will be published on the town Website under Related Files as well as in the minutes. It was suggested that the report be sent to some members of the community but it was decided that it would be better to post it on the town website under Related Files to allow anyone to view it.

8:10

Brief discussion of DRB decision:

We did not ask for 99 trees around the pickleball court - Fran will ask Tyler to make the correction by removing the words “around the pickleball court”. Tyler has said that he can make small changes with some things without going back to the board for approval but landscaping has to be exact as to the number and type of trees.

Tess expressed concern about the width of the commercial driveway. In the Final decision document of the DRB, statement 49 states the driveway width is 16 ft. In the conclusion portion the DRB waived the 20 ft commercial driveway requirements stating that the commercial driveway only has to be 18 ft wide. The committee assured her that the 20 ft requirement was waived and that when the parking lot is built the driveway will be priced for 18 feet. Tess also expressed concerns about the Decisions sections where the town maintains the facilities and grounds at Browns Court. From the Volunteers Green and Browns Court committee meeting of October 30, 2024, it was stated that the town did not have definitive boundary lines from all property owners, therefore the town has not yet been declared a park in perpetuity.  Fran has been in contact with Josh about getting this cleared up and thinks that this will be done after Town Meeting.  Denise and Fran expressed gratitude about the willingness of those owners to work with the town in clearing this matter up

 One of our members asked Josh if we could get a bid out to build the parking lot but was told that that money has been spent on flood related projects and will be repaid. The town is waiting for reimbursement from FEMA. The town hired someone to deal with only FEMA funding.

Other Updates from Members of the Committee

Fran got quotes on arborvitae trees from Gardeners and the price for a 4-5 foot tree that was recommended by Gardeners was $83.99 with a $100 delivery charge to Richmond. 

8:28

Other items for discussion

We decided the next meeting would be on March 20 and if John calls and says he has the two versions revised we could hold another meeting, provided we have ample time to post it.

Tess was asked to talk to Secretary of State’s office or VLCT to clarify any questions that she still has about Open Meeting Laws. Tess thought that we should get the wording on the signs but another member said that can wait. Denise also suggested that Tess talk to Duncan about contacting the vendor to find out what the time frame is for ordering the court coating, deciding on the color or if there is anything else we need to make a decision on.

Meeting adjourned at 8:40