Officials in Morristown are adding up the costs they expect to incur when some beds from the state mental health facility are moved to their community temporarily.
That facility was shuttered after Tropical Storm Irene, and Governor Peter Shumlin has proposed decentralizing it by creating satellite campuses.
Vermont’s Health Commissioner backed a plan to put 16 beds at a regional mental health facility in Morristown until a new state hospital can be built, and the town’s Select Board earlier this month approved it.
Morristown officials are now considering the expenses that the town will assume.
They say they’ll need to hire a temporary administrative assistant for Morristown’s Police Department, and they’ll need to bill the state $475 each time the town’s rescue crew transports patients to and from the facility.
They’ll also seek reimbursement of the difference between the sale price of homes sold within 400 feet of the property and the current value of those homes established by an independent appraiser.
Morristown’s Select Board is expected to review and sign a formal report that outlines the impact of hosting the facility later this month.
You can read select board minutes from Morristown and many other cities and towns at VPR’s Public Post.