Community

Request for Proposals (RFP) – Owner’s Representative/Construction Manager

 in Community / Uncategorized / Zoning

Request for Proposals (RFP)

Owner’s Representative / Construction Manager

Utility Elevation Assistance Program

The Town of Hardwick is seeking proposals from qualified firms or individuals to provide Owner’s Representative/Construction Management services for the Town’s Utility Elevation Assistance Program.

This project is funded through the State of Vermont Community Resilience and Disaster Mitigation Fund (CRDMF) and will assist approximately eleven residential properties by elevating or relocating critical building utilities above the Base Flood Elevation. The selected consultant will serve as the Town’s representative during construction, providing oversight and coordination to help ensure the project is completed safely, efficiently, and in accordance with applicable project requirements.

Important Dates

  • RFP Issued: July 16, 2026
  • Proposal Deadline: Monday, August 10, 2026, at 3:00 PM
  • Consultant Selection: August 2026
  • Anticipated Contract Execution: August/September 2026

Proposal Submission

Proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF format no later than 3:00 PM on Monday, August 10, 2026.

Questions regarding this solicitation may be directed to:

Kristen Leahy
Resilience & Adaptation Coordinator
Town of Hardwick
zoning.administrator@hardwickvt.gov
(802) 472-1686

Request for Proposals

The complete Request for Proposals may be downloaded below:

Owner’s Representative / Construction Manager – Utility Elevation Assistance Program (PDF)

Request for Proposals – Pdf

Map of Impacted properties – Pdf

The Town of Hardwick is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages proposals from qualified small businesses, minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses, and disadvantaged business enterprises.

Atkins Neighborhood Conversations – Flood Insurance

 in Community / Uncategorized / Zoning

Coming Up Next: Flood Insurance

Join us on Monday, July 20, at 6:00 p.m. at the Atkins Field Pavilion, 140 Granite Street, Hardwick, for a conversation about flood insurance. We’ll share practical information about understanding flood insurance, navigating the claims process, and answer your questions.

A free community meal begins at 5:00 p.m., followed by the presentation at 6:00 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

The Atkins Neighborhood Conversations series is hosted by the Town of Hardwick in partnership with the Center for an Agricultural Economy.

Questions? Please contact Kristen Leahy, Resilience & Adaptation Coordinator, at 802-472-1686.

Emergency Preparedness, One Conversation at a Time

 in Community / Uncategorized / Zoning

Atkins Neighborhood Conversations Welcome Vermont Emergency Management

The Atkins Neighborhood Conversations are built around a simple idea: give people the opportunity to ask the questions that matter most to them.

For the third conversation in the series, Emily Harris from Vermont Emergency Management joined community members during the Center for an Agricultural Economy’s Community Meal to talk about emergency preparedness.

Rather than offering a formal presentation, Emily was available throughout the meal for individual and small-group conversations. Community members could stop by for a few minutes or stay longer, depending on the questions they wanted to discuss.

People stopped by with practical questions. What should be in a “go bag”? Which important documents should they keep together? How much food, water, or medication should households have on hand? What should families do before an extended power outage or a flood? Emily was able to tailor each conversation to the questions people brought with them, making the information immediately relevant and useful.

This “choose your own adventure” format allowed each conversation to reflect the needs and concerns of the individual or family. There was no set agenda – just practical discussions about the steps people can take before an emergency happens.

Thank you to Emily Harris and Vermont Emergency Management for sharing your expertise in such an approachable way, and to the Center for an Agricultural Economy for once again providing a welcoming setting for the Atkins Neighborhood Conversations.

The response has been so positive that planning is already underway to bring this format back next year.

Coming Up Next: Flood Insurance

The Atkins Neighborhood Conversations continue on Monday, July 20, at 6:00 p.m. with a presentation on flood insurance. The July 20 program will be a more structured presentation covering how flood insurance works, what it covers, who should consider purchasing a policy, recent changes affecting property owners, and an opportunity to ask questions.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Stream Table Sparks Watershed Conversations at the Atkins Field Community Meal

 in Community / Zoning

One of the best moments for me at this week’s Community Meals happened around a stream table.

As part of the Atkins Neighborhood Conversations series, Alison Spasyk from Lake Champlain Sea Grant joined us at the Atkins Field Community Meal with a stream table that quickly became a focal point for conversations about watersheds, flooding, rivers, and resilience.

Community members of all ages gathered around the table, asking questions, experimenting with water flow, and connecting what they were seeing to local conversations about flooding, rivers, and resilience.

As residents explored the stream table, conversations ranged from local flooding and Jackson Dam to the broader watershed. One of the things many people forget is that Hardwick is part of the Lake Champlain Basin. The water that falls here eventually makes its way to Lake Champlain, connecting our community to a much larger watershed.

The highlight of the evening came when a resident from the Granite Street neighborhood told me that the stream table helped her better understand concepts that had previously been discussed during a recent public meeting. The presentations had been clear, but as a visual learner, seeing the water move through the model brought those ideas into focus.

Several conversations also turned to Jackson Dam. While the stream table was not intended to model Jackson Dam specifically, residents began using it to think through questions about water movement, storage, flooding, and watershed dynamics. Watching those connections happen in real time was awesome.

Moments like these are exactly why the Atkins Neighborhood Conversations were created. Not everyone can attend a formal presentation or public meeting, but many people are interested in learning more about the issues affecting our community. By partnering with existing community events and gathering spaces, the goal is to create opportunities for conversation, questions, and learning in places where people are already spending time together.

Our next Atkins Neighborhood Conversation is:

DREDGING 101

Dredging is a topic that comes up frequently in Hardwick, especially after flooding events.We’ll be joined by Shayne Jacquith, who brings years of experience with dredging and river work. If you’ve ever had questions about dredging, river management, sediment, or flood resilience, this is an opportunity to ask them.

Monday, June 22, 2026 at 6 pm to 7 pm, Atkins Field Community Meals in the Pavillion at 140 Granite Street

We hope you’ll join us.

Buffalo Mountain Town Forest Proposal

 in Conservation Commission

Thursday, February 19th, 2026 – in person or online!

Come learn about an exciting opportunity to convert 329 acres on Buffalo Mountain to a Town Forest. Hear from Trust for Public Land, Northern Rivers Land Trust, and others!

In Person: 6:00 – 7:30pm, Parker Ladd Room at the Jeudevine Library. Refreshments will be served.

Online: 12:00-1:30 pm via Zoom

Register in advance for this Zoom meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/408PMui0TsqxKGKEaHLm3g
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about
joining the meeting.

Read the proposal here:
Buffalo Mountain Community Forest Overview