Although Barre, Vermont continues to recover from devastating flooding in July, the city still has to provide regular services. Strolling down North Main Street recently, City Manager Nicholas Storellicastro talked with WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley about the city and the key issues it faces:
You know, this city has a remarkable history. We were just seeing some of it at the Old Labor Hall. It has an immigrant history as well, which to me as an immigrant to the United States, has a special place in my heart. There's a wonderful sense of community here. The people who live in Barre care deeply about this community and making it better. You know, I think there's this overhyped, rivalry is maybe too strong of a word, but Barre versus the world kind of thing. So we have Barre Town which almost entirely encircles us. And there's some, you know, there's always been sort of a historical friction there. We're the younger brothers of Montpelier down the highway here that gets all, more attention and maybe we don't get as much as we need. So we have a real, you know, it's a blue collar versus white collar thing. And so I find beauty in that. I think that that's, you know, this city is gritty. And I think that was also evident in our flood response. Like we, we had a stiff upper lip and we just got to work and got stuff done. So I think all those things have been just really wonderful to learn about this community just being here over a year myself. Getting to see that wonderful sense of community and the fact that the people who live here just care so deeply about this place.
What are the key issues that Barre faces in general?
So housing is by far the number one issue, probably not just for Barre, but statewide. We don't have enough of it. We don't have enough of all types of housing. So I think it's very easy to get locked into the affordable housing debate. We need affordable housing. We need middle income housing. We need all types of housing: senior housing, condos, everything. When I moved here there were two houses on the market at a time and they were all flying within weeks. I have to live in the city so it was a real challenge. So that's the real problem for us. We are four square miles. We're walking right now in the only flat part of the city and it's all in the floodplain. So building here is a real challenge. When you go up to the edges of the city you're on ledge, which is unbuildable. So that's not a good combination of factors of needing housing and not having anywhere to put it. So housing, I would say is number one. Number two, I think is also shared with a lot of similar communities, is our infrastructure. You know, I think the country in general has neglected our public infrastructure for far too long. We have a lot of accumulated maintenance, a lot of accumulated needs. We have our first capital plan ever in the city as of last year. And it was frankly quite daunting to know the needs that we have from water, sewer, wastewater, water treatment to streets, facilities, the list goes on and on. So we have to buckle down on our infrastructure, which is where we wanted our ARPA money to go. And the needs far outweigh our potential resources. So housing infrastructure I think are a one-two punch right there. We tend to be a higher tax community because of our grand list or property. Our tax base is limited. We have, beyond being only four-square miles, we have several nonprofits in the city so those are not taxed. Right. They provide amazing services, it just has an impact on our tax base. So I think making sure we continue to be affordable and an affordable place for people to live. We don't want to drive people out. So I would say those are the top three that I work on and keep me up at night simultaneously.
How is recruiting new business to Barre normally, when you're not in a flood year?
You know, this is my, this is only my, I'm into year two here so my experience is limited on it. You know, what I'd say is that we have some creative people in the city. Some that are doing their best to make sure that these properties, especially on Main Street, are attractive for businesses. So I think about it two ways because, you know, part of it is not just attracting businesses here. I don't want to diminish that. But some of our tougher challenge is recruiting employees. Right. So the city has had long term vacancies in several important positions like the assessor. Very important. Haven't had one for several years. We can't find one in Vermont. It's hard to recruit because people can't find housing. So it's this really vicious cycle. So you know, I think we're seeing a lot of hustle and bustle even as we walk up and down Main Street. We have three, four businesses that are going on with their plans to reopen. We have some development potential and some buildings that are vacant. So I think I'm really confident that those things will improve. If we don't address the housing, the infrastructure, we won't have workers and it won't matter. We need both pieces to be working together. That's one of the walkthroughs, by the way. So we wanted to do public art, lighting. This was one of the applications for ARPA money. Now, this seems small, right. But it's a small community project, that again, probably wouldn't be funded from other grants. And it just adds a touch of beauty to the downtown and improves a space that's, you know, grim and dark and just makes it more beautiful. And so those are the kinds of things that are, you know, that are off the table which is sad. Right. So it shows you kind of the gamut of the kinds of things that we've had to postpone.
What kind of things would the state legislature be able to do to help Barre, both in the housing and in recruiting business to the city?
So I think the legislature took a big step last year with loosening some of the zoning requirements that tend to be difficult on housing. So I think what we're going to have to do, we're going to, you know, implement those, be aggressive with those. But I think also be ready to take the next step. I think there were a lot of things that were left on the table with Act 250 reviews, which are sort of the environmental reviews. So I don't think we should think the job is done. I think the legislature took a great first step and we'll have to implement but we'll have to be ready to do more. I think those are the, policy wise, that's the biggest thing they could do. You know, in terms of housing development in Barre, you know, I think we could use a system, there's one development project now on some property on Prospect Street that has the potential to build 100 units. So what we need there is startup funding. We need infrastructure funding. We need to make those initial investments to gain momentum on those ideas because the longer they stagnate the more likely you have people walk away from them. So seed money, investment money, getting the infrastructure off the ground. Those are the kinds of things we don't have that we need to keep those things rolling.
And you said you've been the city manager for about a year. Why did you decide to come to Barre?
So, we came from New York City. We had lived in New York City for five years and we love New York City. It gets hard to live in New York City after a while because every errand takes two hours. So you know, young kids, we were looking for a place to make home, a place where we could see ourselves raising our family. My wife's family has a camp in Schroon Lake in the Adirondacks. So we're familiar with the geography of this part of the country. And you know I think there's a sort of a calling about Vermont. Vermont has this, you know, people feel nostalgia for Vermont even if they've never been here. So we were attracted by the lifestyle change, the outdoors, familiarity with this part of the country and really when we saw it a community where we could see ourselves raising a family.
Nicholas Storellicastro is the city manager of the city of Barre. The Town of Barre is a separate municipality.
