VERGENNES — City council members heard from Alderman Mark Koenig at a Jan. 24 meeting that the council’s Pedestrian Task Force, charged with making recommendations to the council for improved downtown pedestrian and biking safety, would be meeting on Feb. 1. In the meantime, City Manger Mel Hawley said Koenig has installed homemade pedestrian flags at five crosswalks and that they are being used: In some cases he sees all the flags on one side of the road.
“Maybe we need more of them,” Hawley said.
Hawley added it was too early to tell how well the flags, which pedestrians pick up out of buckets on one side of the road and wave at cars as they cross before placing them in buckets on the far side, are working.
“I don’t have a lot of public input,” he said. “I’d like to hear from users.”
In other business last Tuesday, the council:
•  Heard from Hawley that the solar array in and around the city sewer plant site is producing better after the company trimmed trees, but is still falling a little short of the annual projections of 200,000 kilowatts hours a year, a figure that would allow the city to save about $2,000 on its power bills. Hawley said performance improved from roughly 175,000 kwh to 185,000 kwh.
•  Heard from the city’s representative to the Addison County Solid Waste Management District, Cheryl Brinkman, that the district is in the process of analyzing the performance of community recycling centers. Hawley said the city center would be analyzed for its efficiency within the next couple of months.