Some updates for you from Monday’s Town of Woodstock Flood Response Meeting:
Police Report from Chief Robbie Blish:
a. Got your quarters ready? PARKING ENFORCEMENT returns to Woodstock today (Tuesday)!
b. Lock your cars and homes. Do we need to tell you this again? Lots of flood response contractors around not all with the best of intentions. Use extra caution before hiring anyone to do anything!
Water: Tank level is holding. Continue with moderate use/consumption. Continue to save or have bottled water on hand. There will may be some scheduled shut-downs in the next few days or so. Higher water pressure may be blowing some smaller lines. Still some fixes needed to water and sewer system. Free bottles of water are still available for the taking at the Emergency Services Building at the East End of Woodstock.
Vail Field: Bob Pear has handed the water reins back over to Town Manager Phil Swanson and has now been asked to help with restoration of Vail Field. For the moment, the Town is being conservative and recommending not using it. We’re still waiting for some soil tests from the area to give a reading about possible hazardous materials brought in by the overflow of the Kedron Brook.
Water Test Kits: They were scheduled to be brought in to the Volunteer Command Center Monday. Keep checking. Sari White reports that many folks are wondering about whether their wells might be contaminated or not. Town Manager Phil Swanson says this is a legitimate concern. One item of note is the State has suggested that disinfecting your well first with chlorox and then wait and take a water test later. Another suggestion is that a couple of cups of Chlorox will do the initial job, a whole jug not necessary. There is also a water testing business in Perksinville which is reported to be offering free testing if you label your water sample Hurricane Irene. It’s called Aquachek.
Burn Piles: You need a burn permit. If you can possible wait til later in the Fall it is better idea according to Town Manager Phil Swanson. Let more rain get on the piles to get rid of possible toxic materials. Smoke has a better tendency to rise with cooler temps and lower humidity. Wet wood the sits around smouldering causes smoke problems. No plastics, no Naugahyde couches — just burn natural brush and vegetation.
Volunteer Stats: More than 1,000 ave offered help and been documented with more than 5,000 hours of work. So far, from Flood Asssessment sheets that have been returned, 57 distinct individual households have asked for help, 78 reports of water in the basement.
River Banks of Ottauquechee: Normally this is a State of Vermont question. The Town is not involved except in special cases. Homeowners are responsible for their own banks and need to consult with the State of Vermont. Town Manager Phil Swanson is looking into a possible program that might help homeowners with bank stabilization at a 75%/25% match. More details as learn them.
The Obelisk: Sticking straight up out of a newly created pile of rocks and gravel in the middle of the Ottauquechee River (as seen from River Street) is a virtual obelisk. Several Early Birds have asked about this. We will try to get the story. It’s believed that an Elm Street homeowner may have been staking out a property line or some sort of general boundary line.
Always those stray worms to dig up…
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 
Posted by Keri Cole on September 13, 2011 at 08:55
I have it on excellent authority that NO burn permits will EVER be issued for the flood debris burn piles – even those that only contain natural brush and vegetation. The resultant smoke and soot would be filthy and hazardous. Homeowners and businesses dealing with massive amounts of debris need to know what the options truly are, and we need to be able to move quickly – snow is just around the corner and these new “lawns” need to be seeded soon. How can we all chime in to let the National Guard know that we need their help?
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Posted by Julia Carlisle on September 13, 2011 at 09:58
Keri, Your information is incorrect. Both at yesterday’s Flood Response Meeting and again today, Our Fire Chief and Fire Warden Butch Sutherland said burn permits will be issued but homeowners/businesses are being asked for patience until the cooler Fall weather — and yes, perhaps even the snow — to come. This is a public safey and clean air quality concern. It’s one thing to burn a pile of brush up on Peterkin Hill, he said, entirely another to be burning the village where your neighbors will be asked to breathe the air. At BOTH meetings this week, Town Manager Phil Swanson made clear that homeowners/business owners are responsible for removal of their debris. If you are so impatient that you can’t stand to have a pile in your backyard until cooler temperatures, you need to have someone haul it away. A request has already been made to the National Guard. However, their troops are in far more heavily hit areas such as Rutland (and Afghanistan!). You may need to ask your guests to understand that Woodstock is in a Flood Recovery right now and will be through Foliage. We are not able to be as pristine perfect, at this point, as we might want to be. Rep. Alison Clarkson was at today’s meeting and says she will ask the National Guard again for assistance. But, frankly, you may not be able to rely on their help. Again, the message is this: It is up to property owner’s themselves to either wait for
better burn weather or to hire a company to remove their debris.
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Posted by Keri Cole on September 13, 2011 at 10:37
Thanks, Julia. I’m not impatient; I’m confused. I completely understand that my backyard is a low priority – as it should be – but many of us have received conflicting information about debris removal and just need to know what’s what. Thanks for clearing it up.
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Posted by Julia Carlisle on September 13, 2011 at 10:41
Yes, there’s lots of conflicting info out there. Thanks for staying on top of it — for all concerned! Also, I know Renee at the Town of Woodstock IS updating their web page daily after the morning meeting. That should be another source of the latest info (and it DOES change!) http://www.townofwoodstock.org
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Posted by Clay Gillette on September 13, 2011 at 16:07
We had conversations with fire department officials yesterday who gave us information consistent with what Keri has said — not that permits would be issued later, but that they would not be issued due to environmental concerns and that we should contact state and local officials to seek alternatives. I don’t think the issue is impatience; rather, the issue is uncertainty and constantly changing information. Folks can deal with long-term planning. But that requires the existence of a plan. Conflicting information and understandings that it would be better for burns to wait until “cold weather” (defined on today’s Town update as “probably January”) without assurances that permits will actually be issued at that time is not a plan. We are only two weeks from the event, and much greater needs than debris removal have properly been attended to first. But as we move into the next stage, debris removal may be an important step in both the economic and psychological recovery, and the creation and dissemination of a plan would, I believe, go a long way to helping folks to move forward. It’s not that I think that coordinated efforts by the Town to assist in debris removal would be cheap. It’s just that I think the absence of such an effort will prove even more expensive.
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Posted by Bob Pear on September 13, 2011 at 22:38
Patience is necessary because the determination comes from the State of Vermont down to the local level about the burning. According to Butch Sutherland at tonight’s Trustee meeting, the final say rests with the State of Vermont Air Quality Division. At the local level, we are still pursuing other ways to get rid of debris, such as our National Guard. Phil and Butch have communicated face to face with the National Guard on day 4 that the need to get rid of the debris is a priority that they could help us with, but almost 2 weeks later no communication has come back to us that they are willing or able to help us with that. Alison Clarkson is working on it, but maybe we all need to contact our state and federal representatives on this issue.
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