Gilderdale Resigns
As B’kfield Road Chief
By Sandy Vondrasek

On March 10, less than one week after a contentious Town Meeting debate over roads, Brookfield’s Road Foreman David Gilderdale submitted his resignation to the selectboard.

Selectman Mike McPhetres said this week that the resignation was effective immediately, and the board has begun a search for a replacement. In the meantime, the town is not left shorthanded, as the third road crew position is being filled, on an as-needed basis, by a former crew member who now has his own business, but has been available to help.

"This morning we called him in," McPhetres said yesterday morning, during yet another Wednesday snow/sleet storm.

When asked if Gilderdale gave a reason for his resignation, McPhetres said, "He had been approached by the state of Vermont for a job," and then added, "I think after what was said about him at Town Meeting, he figured that he wasn’t wanted."

McPhetres and newly-elected selectboard member Justin Poulin were the only two board members on hand at the March 10 meeting. The third selectman, John Sprague, is on vacation until early April. McPhetres said he was uncertain about what to do with the resignation—having never dealt with the situation before—and so he and Poulin tabled the issue.

Gilderdale was "adamant" about leaving, and the board will definitely accept the resignation, he said.

The board has other unfinished business to attend to. McPhetres noted that the board will hold its post-Town Meeting re-organizational meeting, to elect a new chair, after Sprague returns.

Roads Report

The board will likely also take up a "Report by the Brookfield Road Commission," that was inserted in this year’s Town Report, McPhetres said.

The formation of the commission was authorized by a vote of residents at the 2007 Town Meeting, at which road maintenance was also a hot topic. In late September, the selectboard appointed Bill Council, Justin Poulin, and Anita Kelman to the commission.

Their four-page report was critical of virtually every aspect of road maintenance practices in town, from signage to grading and ditching, to scheduling.

McPhetres said the selectboard had not yet discussed the report in detail, as it was submitted when the board was busy preparing for Town Meeting.

The selectboard also needs to hire a new administrative assistant to the board. That position has been vacant for several months, and McPhetres admitted that, of late, minutes have not been completed "in as timely a fashion" as they had been.

McPhetres pointed out that it was he who pushed to have minutes published in The Herald, when he was first elected to the board, and he expressed his commitment to continuing the practice.

West Street

From an early mud season in January 2007, to the Valentine’s Day storm, to the July 11, 2007 downpour that washed out West Street and portions of other roads, and then a December with almost daily snow, 2007 was an exceptionally tough year for roads, McPhetres said.

Brookfield continues to work with Randolph and Braintree on engineering for the West Street rebuild. The three boards met Monday, and it appears the approximately $1-million project will get underway this spring.

McPhetres said that Randolph was doing most of the footwork on the project, since the larger town "had the personnel to do it." Brookfield is grateful for that assistance, McPhetres said.

The towns have agreed to a rebuild with some improvements. McPhetres said the selectboards had looked at more elaborate options, including moving portions of the dirt road, but they proved too costly.

Some 75% of project costs will be reimbursed by FEMA, with the state chipping in 12.5%, and the towns combining to provide the final 12.5%, based on how much of West Street lies within their boundaries.

The next meeting of the Brookfield Selectboard is Monday, March 24.