On Monday, January 18, the Selectboard plans to finalize the warning for Town Meeting 2021. At that time, the Selectboard will consider at least nine proposed Articles, including six citizen petitions submitted by residents Pam Smith and Doug Wilberding.
In addition to those six, discussed below, the Selectboard plans to consider two Articles proposed by the Energy Committee. An Article regarding the Beaver Meadow Road sidewalk project is also possible, say the draft meeting minutes from January 13.
The Energy Committee proposes to join the Regional Energy Coordinator project, starting in its second year. The Committee also wants big solar projects to be exempt from paying property taxes. At present, only residential solar projects are exempt.
Six citizen petitions
The full text of each proposal and supporting rationale of the six citizen petitions are in the Selectboard packet for the January 18 meeting. My brief summary is below:
- Article 36: Consolidate the 28 designated funds of the Town into a single Capital Budget Designated Fund.
- Article 37: Require that voters approve the Capital Budget in addition to the Operating Budget at Town Meeting each year.
- Article 38: Adopt, as standards for reducing green house gas emissions by Town government, the goals set forth in the Vermont Global Warming Solutions Act.
- Article 39: Use up to $100,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to install rooftop solar at the DPW Garage and at the Transfer Station.
- Article 40: Use up to $10,000 from the Climate Emergency Designated Fund to convert the five existing speed limit signs to solar power.
- Article 41: Install speed tables on a portion of Beaver Meadow Road as an interim safety measure until a decision is made regarding the extension of the sidewalk.
For this year only, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Selectboard authorized the submission of petitions without the need to collect signatures from over 160 registered voters. However, the Selectboard still needs to approve such submissions, according to draft meeting minutes from the January 11 meeting. It is not clear what standards the Selectboard will apply. Nevertheless, the Board may reject frivolous or illegal articles, according to the website of the Vermont Secretary of State.
Capital Planning Tool
The authors of proposed Articles 36 and 37 see those measures as going “hand-in-hand with the recommendations of” the Norwich Finance Committee regarding capital planning.
With respect to Article 36, the rationale also notes that the Town has about $2 million spread across 28 different designated funds, 21 of which are “for anticipated capital purchases.”
Petition Rule Change Not Publicized
The Selectboard waived the signature requirement for petitions at its January 11 meeting, reconvened from January 6th. However, the rule change was not publicized. The Selectboard released its draft meeting minutes at 17:42:48 on Thursday, according to the listserv. The deadline for submitting petitions was the same day.
Contact me at norwichobserver [AT] gmail.com.
Thanks for posting Chris. The 6 Articles that Pam and I have proposed will create efficiency, savings and safety for our residents while aligning our climate goals with the State of Vermont.
In my opinion the 1.2 million dollar sidewalk “extension” on Beaver Meadow Road should not be approved. Installing speed bumps would be good alternative. Speed bumps are much less costly, require less maintenance than sidewalks and abutting landowners will not lose a portion of their property.
Speed bumps are definitely the way to go. The long-term cost of sidewalks/repair/overtime for public works to plow will eventually be more than the cost of putting in the sidewalks. Speed bumps are a good alternative, we could use some on Academy Road!
Typically, their perceptions notwithstanding, abutting landowners don’t own the land where the sidewalks would be, it’s typically part of the road right of way that’s not yet used. For example, I live on River Road, a 4 rod (wide) road, which is around 66′ wide, but only about 50% of that is paved.
That said, I oppose the Beaver Meadow Road sidewalk.