VERGENNES — The City of Vergennes’ annual spending, which runs from July to June in the city’s fiscal year, appears to be on track at a point, in late October, where tracking the budget begins to mean something.
“It actually starts to take shape,” City Manager Mel Hawley told the city council at a meeting this past Tuesday.
The recent arrival of the city’s two new police cruisers should clean up the only line item that has proven problematic.
“We have spent more money on police vehicle repairs,” Hawley said. “The new vehicles didn’t come quickly enough.”
Of course, Hawley cautioned, when looking at the overall budget council members should be mindful that the least predictable time of the year is approaching.
“Winter is around the corner,” he said.
In other business, the council got a preliminary report on an inspection of the city pool (See story on Page 3) and also:
•  Heard from Hawley the city was preparing to take over “Commodore Drive,” which leads into the new subdivision on the south side of West Main Street. By the city’s doing so, purchasers of the homes in the development would find it easier to obtain bank financing. Hawley told the council he would ensure the road was built to city specifications before making the decision final.
•  Were told by Hawley the Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector recently visited and toured the city facilities, discovering at least some minor violations at the public works building and municipal sewer plant. Those have already been corrected, but Hawley said he still expected a citation to arrive, and “not the kind you put up on your wall.”
•  Learned that South Maple Street near Victory Street would be closed for at least a day-and-a-half between Nov. 1 and 3, with the exact time to be determined. Hawley said the city has received a $45,000 grant to replace a deteriorated culvert there and had also discovered while investigating the site that 80 feet of decrepit clay tile sewer main should be replaced at the same time.
Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at andyk@addisonindependent