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Volume 51 Number 16
Police union, Shelburne make inroads on contract
shelburnenews.com
April 21, 2022
Robo-Hawks win big
Agreement still needs to be officially ratified COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
Shelburne police and dispatch workers have come to a tentative contract agreement with the town, union officials say, ending a months-long standoff while providing the short-staffed police department with some relief. The town agreed to a contract last month, but it has remained unclear what was holding up the contract’s full ratification, according to comments made at a recent Shelburne Selectboard meeting. “We have committed to increasing pay (for police),” town manager Lee Krohn said. “We have signed the contract, and we’re still waiting for the union to sign the contract so until that happens the pay rates unfortunately remain where they are.” According to Sean McArdle, the secretary of the New England Police Benevolent Association, who has been a lead negotiator for Shelburne police, the issue revolved around some of the contract’s language, which has since been resolved. “We came to an agreement when it went to draft form. There was language in there that the parties didn’t agree to (but) we’ve now worked that out,” McArdle said. “There is an agreement that’s going back in front of the board.” McArdle said he couldn’t discuss specifics of the contract “until it’s ratified by both parties.” Town manager Lee Krohn called the contract “great news.” The selectboard will have to vote to ratify the contract to make it official, which is expected to happen at its meeting Tues-
Planning commission mulls plan for consultant
See POLICE on page 13
See PLANNING COMMISSION on page 12
COURTESY PHOTO
The CVU Robo-Hawks, a robotics team at Champlain Valley Union High School, earned a trip to the 2022 FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston, April 20-23, after finishing first in the state tournament. From left, Jared Kennedy, Sam Yager, Jack Gourlay, Wolfie Davis, Violet Fennern, Charlotte Tyler, Olaf Verdonk (coach), Lindsay Beer and Crawford Phillips. Read more on page 3.
How much development is appropriate for Route 7 corridor, residents, others ask COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
The town planning commission is prepping a plan to hire an outside consultant to evaluate and advise the town on its zoning laws as the community debates how to effectively zone residential districts along Route 7. The question has been tough to answer for the town’s governing bodies: what kind of development is appropriate in residential areas along the busy state highway that essentially cuts Shelburne in half? Both the selectboard and the development review board have passed the question
on to the planning commission. Selectboard chair Mike Ashooh last month sent a memo to the planning commission asking it to “examine the issues” and “present recommendations” to the board, while officials with the development review board say they feel their hands are tied and that they can’t effectively review applications, planning commission officials said. During its April 14 meeting, planning commission members said that they may not be able to answer the question either. The commission doesn’t have the time or resources to conduct as thorough an examination as necessary, planning director Adele Gravitz said.
“Given the limitations of the planning staff resources and the twice monthly, two-hour meetings of the planning commission, these questions really might be better dedicated to a consultant who really has this experience to come in and help us unravel knowing where we want to go,” she said. “Our current zoning package needs an overhaul,” she added. While the issue has been brewing for some time, the issue was catalyzed by a recent development proposed by chiropractors Stephen Brandon and Shelley Crombach behind their office at 2882 Shelburne