Report on Meeting of Advisory Council - Revision of Town Plan
Monday March 21, 2016, 6 p.m., in the Mount Holly Elementary School Cafeteria
Present at Table: Ed Bove, Executive Director, Rutland Regional Planning Commission
Advisory Council: Peter Berger, Alyson Blodgett, Don Eatmon, Peter Veysey Also present: Ted Crawford, Chair, Select Board; Bill McGrath, Chair, Planning Commission; Don Richardson, Regional Planning Commissioner; David Hoeh, Regional Transportation Councilor; Craig Hutt Vater, Principal, Mt. Holly Elementary School; Diana Garrow, Editor, Chit Chat; Rhonda Rivers, Clerk, Select Board; about 10 members of the public of whom about 6 spoke as owners of businesses in town and Jason Day, developer of wind turbine project on Hedgehog Hill Road, Recorder: Nicole Griffin, former Town Administrative Officer. The following questions were distributed on the Mount Holly Flash before the meeting and formed the agenda of the meeting: What are Mount Holly’s strengths in terms of attracting and retaining businesses/economic development? Do your employees live in Mount Holly? If not, why so? Do you see growth in the number of employees? In 5 years what does your business look like? What are Mount Holly’s weaknesses in terms of attracting and retaining businesses/economic development? Are there any restrictions because of electricity, water, sewer? Does the high cost or lack of affordable housing deter your employees from living in Mt. Holly? What obstacles (State/local) prevent you from growing? Are your suppliers within a reasonable distance? What types of business would the town support: Industrial (large or small), Retail, Solar, Ag and Forestry, artisan/crafts, others? Mount Holly’s biggest strength that draws people is it scenic beauty and rural character (and lack of traffic). People come and settle and then start a business – it is unusual that they move businesses here. The quality of the Mount Holly Elementary School is a strength attracting families to town. One business owner had moved out of town so children could have more high school options. Many employees do not live in Mount Holly because housing is expensive and wages are insufficient to make housing affordable. Mr. Mike Blais of Countryside Lock and Alarms grew his business from 3 employees in 1985 to 27 mainly by building and providing affordable, comfortable housing for his employees. (Affordable means 27% of income). Employees find it hard to get mortgages from banks and the supply of available mobile homes appears to have fallen. Mr. Blais wants to grow his business by hiring 7 more employees but lack of housing is a problem. Another business owner would like to expand by 2 workers but enlarging the plant and meeting state standards would be too expensive. Mount Holly’s ability to attract businesses depends on the type of business. For home offices, and small businesses the attraction is the setting of the town, and its school. Mount Holly’s weakness is that for anyone wanting to establish a manufacturing or industrial concern or a business requiring more than 10 employees there is a lack of septic capacity. Mr. Blais had to install a mound system with a capacity for 27 full-time employees; he had wetland problems and issues getting state permits. Other weaknesses are water supply, inadequate electric power and freedom from power interruption or brown-outs, and lack of cell phone service. No entrepreneur would think of Mount Holly because going to an industrial park in Rutland solves problems of water, sewer, electricity, transportation, cell service, flat land, and highways passable in winter. And how many workers who find affordable housing elsewhere will want to travel to Mount Holly to work? Retaining business in Mount Holly is a matter of retaining workers - virtually impossible due to lack of affordable housing. Government obstacles can be new regulations e.g., building standards can be too expensive to meet and Mr. Eatmon noted that proposed sprinkler regulations could have a profound effect on vacation homes and vacation rentals in Mount Holly with an impact on all the businesses serving the tourist trade. There was discussion of the effect of high property taxes, but this is not a unique issue as our taxes are in line with other towns. There was not much discussion of problems with suppliers. Don Richardson, owner of a property management business, spoke positively of Mount Holly’s contractors and suppliers and ability to get services from Ludlow or Rutland as needed. One owner had had to go to New Hampshire for more specialized services. It was stated that Mount Holly could support businesses that were operated out of residences, crafts, artists, small industrial, service; in other words, businesses with low impact. Home management services could grow as Mount Holly is a destination site and second home owners have different needs. Real estate attracts people and money. Businesses that Mount Holly cannot support include: Industrial, manufacturing, larger retail or commercial and restaurants above a size that is not supported by water and septic limitations. The opinion was that there was not much future in farming. The town cannot support new technology ventures of any size due to lack of skilled workers. Young people who leave the town , get an education, then some experience are not going to be attracted to Mount Holly or even Rutland County, but want to go to the cutting edge and higher paying jobs in the Burlington area. In essence, Mount Holly was seen as a residential town – a bedroom community. People do not want its character changed – no one moves to Mount Holly expecting businesses to grow around them. Economic development needs to be on a scale that recognizes the small ventures that do operate now in town, and that can operate in the future - and sometimes grow. Economic development could be directed to making the town more attractive. Mr. Hutt Vater noted that he knows of 10 families that would move to Mount Holly immediately if they could find affordable housing. Their children would make a significant addition to the school’s enrollment, and that would have a positive impact on property taxes. The problem of affordable housing affects economic development, education, and taxes and needs collaboration between parties including schools, banks, and real estate. Jason Day spoke to the value of renewable energy as a way for business to reduce its costs. He offered a free seminar on affordable wind energy that he would conduct in his East Dorset business.
Annette Lynch
Advisory Council: Peter Berger, Alyson Blodgett, Don Eatmon, Peter Veysey Also present: Ted Crawford, Chair, Select Board; Bill McGrath, Chair, Planning Commission; Don Richardson, Regional Planning Commissioner; David Hoeh, Regional Transportation Councilor; Craig Hutt Vater, Principal, Mt. Holly Elementary School; Diana Garrow, Editor, Chit Chat; Rhonda Rivers, Clerk, Select Board; about 10 members of the public of whom about 6 spoke as owners of businesses in town and Jason Day, developer of wind turbine project on Hedgehog Hill Road, Recorder: Nicole Griffin, former Town Administrative Officer. The following questions were distributed on the Mount Holly Flash before the meeting and formed the agenda of the meeting: What are Mount Holly’s strengths in terms of attracting and retaining businesses/economic development? Do your employees live in Mount Holly? If not, why so? Do you see growth in the number of employees? In 5 years what does your business look like? What are Mount Holly’s weaknesses in terms of attracting and retaining businesses/economic development? Are there any restrictions because of electricity, water, sewer? Does the high cost or lack of affordable housing deter your employees from living in Mt. Holly? What obstacles (State/local) prevent you from growing? Are your suppliers within a reasonable distance? What types of business would the town support: Industrial (large or small), Retail, Solar, Ag and Forestry, artisan/crafts, others? Mount Holly’s biggest strength that draws people is it scenic beauty and rural character (and lack of traffic). People come and settle and then start a business – it is unusual that they move businesses here. The quality of the Mount Holly Elementary School is a strength attracting families to town. One business owner had moved out of town so children could have more high school options. Many employees do not live in Mount Holly because housing is expensive and wages are insufficient to make housing affordable. Mr. Mike Blais of Countryside Lock and Alarms grew his business from 3 employees in 1985 to 27 mainly by building and providing affordable, comfortable housing for his employees. (Affordable means 27% of income). Employees find it hard to get mortgages from banks and the supply of available mobile homes appears to have fallen. Mr. Blais wants to grow his business by hiring 7 more employees but lack of housing is a problem. Another business owner would like to expand by 2 workers but enlarging the plant and meeting state standards would be too expensive. Mount Holly’s ability to attract businesses depends on the type of business. For home offices, and small businesses the attraction is the setting of the town, and its school. Mount Holly’s weakness is that for anyone wanting to establish a manufacturing or industrial concern or a business requiring more than 10 employees there is a lack of septic capacity. Mr. Blais had to install a mound system with a capacity for 27 full-time employees; he had wetland problems and issues getting state permits. Other weaknesses are water supply, inadequate electric power and freedom from power interruption or brown-outs, and lack of cell phone service. No entrepreneur would think of Mount Holly because going to an industrial park in Rutland solves problems of water, sewer, electricity, transportation, cell service, flat land, and highways passable in winter. And how many workers who find affordable housing elsewhere will want to travel to Mount Holly to work? Retaining business in Mount Holly is a matter of retaining workers - virtually impossible due to lack of affordable housing. Government obstacles can be new regulations e.g., building standards can be too expensive to meet and Mr. Eatmon noted that proposed sprinkler regulations could have a profound effect on vacation homes and vacation rentals in Mount Holly with an impact on all the businesses serving the tourist trade. There was discussion of the effect of high property taxes, but this is not a unique issue as our taxes are in line with other towns. There was not much discussion of problems with suppliers. Don Richardson, owner of a property management business, spoke positively of Mount Holly’s contractors and suppliers and ability to get services from Ludlow or Rutland as needed. One owner had had to go to New Hampshire for more specialized services. It was stated that Mount Holly could support businesses that were operated out of residences, crafts, artists, small industrial, service; in other words, businesses with low impact. Home management services could grow as Mount Holly is a destination site and second home owners have different needs. Real estate attracts people and money. Businesses that Mount Holly cannot support include: Industrial, manufacturing, larger retail or commercial and restaurants above a size that is not supported by water and septic limitations. The opinion was that there was not much future in farming. The town cannot support new technology ventures of any size due to lack of skilled workers. Young people who leave the town , get an education, then some experience are not going to be attracted to Mount Holly or even Rutland County, but want to go to the cutting edge and higher paying jobs in the Burlington area. In essence, Mount Holly was seen as a residential town – a bedroom community. People do not want its character changed – no one moves to Mount Holly expecting businesses to grow around them. Economic development needs to be on a scale that recognizes the small ventures that do operate now in town, and that can operate in the future - and sometimes grow. Economic development could be directed to making the town more attractive. Mr. Hutt Vater noted that he knows of 10 families that would move to Mount Holly immediately if they could find affordable housing. Their children would make a significant addition to the school’s enrollment, and that would have a positive impact on property taxes. The problem of affordable housing affects economic development, education, and taxes and needs collaboration between parties including schools, banks, and real estate. Jason Day spoke to the value of renewable energy as a way for business to reduce its costs. He offered a free seminar on affordable wind energy that he would conduct in his East Dorset business.
Annette Lynch
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