Vermont Standard
3/12/15
By Curt Peterson
Standard Correspondent
KILLINGTON — Patty McGrath was re-elected by the Killington select board to serve another year as chairperson at the meeting Tuesday night.
There is competition for several of the appointed positions in town – three people seeking to serve on committees that have only two open seats, for example. But for a few positions, the town is hoping to attract volunteers who want to serve the community.
“We need two people for the Recreation Commission, one to be District Representative on the Solid Waste Commission, one person to serve on the Zoning Board of Adjustment, and someone to be Tree Warden,” Town Manager Seth Webb said.
The select board is accepting volunteers’ names until March 13, and appointments will be made at the March 24 meeting.
“For those positions where there are more volunteers than open seats we’ll discuss the appointments in executive session,” Selectman Chris Bianchi said.
Like several other Vermont towns, Killington’s Fire Department is hoping to replace their current firehouse with a new one.
“It would take a lot of money to renovate the old facility, and when we got through, we’d have the same problems: There isn’t enough space inside, and there isn’t enough space outside. We need a new site,” said Peter Vito, a volunteer fireman.
The firemen, in a joint committee with residents, are developing a proposal together. The plan, Seth Webb explained, is for the committee to gather information on a few good, affordable sites, then make their recommendation among them to the selectmen. If the board concurs, the next step would be to do the necessary engineering and architectural planning for a new building, which would be the next proposal to consider.
Bianchi suggested “the committee produce a progress report for the public so they know the non-fire department residents are represented in the process, and that this expensive decision isn’t being made in-house without their input.” Webb said he would convey that request.
One subject left over from the Town Meeting Preview regarded some residents’ sentiment that Killington abandon the current Australian Ballot system and return to the traditional Town Meeting format. Webb explained that voter participation doubled when the Australian Ballot system was put into place, and the board requested this be publicized.
The four-payment tax collection system that was introduced in conjunction with the one-time eighteen-month budget was another Town Meeting Preview holdover. McGrath suggested a discussion of easing the resulting town cash-flow constraints by charging taxpayers the town’s portion of the taxes in two payments and spreading just the state portion over the four installments, but the board responded that residents thought they had approved a four-equal-installment plan, and would not look at the suggestion favorably.
“Let’s leave it at four equal installments for now,” Selectman Ken Lee said, “and if we run into a cash-flow problem we can always change it.”
Jim Haff, who unsuccessfully ran against Bianchi for selectman, had researched state regulations and found that a town can legally offer a discount to taxpayers who pay their taxes up front in one lump sum. “This would help the cash flow if enough people take advantage of it,” he said. The board agreed to consider it.
Standard Correspondent
KILLINGTON — Patty McGrath was re-elected by the Killington select board to serve another year as chairperson at the meeting Tuesday night.
There is competition for several of the appointed positions in town – three people seeking to serve on committees that have only two open seats, for example. But for a few positions, the town is hoping to attract volunteers who want to serve the community.
“We need two people for the Recreation Commission, one to be District Representative on the Solid Waste Commission, one person to serve on the Zoning Board of Adjustment, and someone to be Tree Warden,” Town Manager Seth Webb said.
The select board is accepting volunteers’ names until March 13, and appointments will be made at the March 24 meeting.
“For those positions where there are more volunteers than open seats we’ll discuss the appointments in executive session,” Selectman Chris Bianchi said.
Like several other Vermont towns, Killington’s Fire Department is hoping to replace their current firehouse with a new one.
“It would take a lot of money to renovate the old facility, and when we got through, we’d have the same problems: There isn’t enough space inside, and there isn’t enough space outside. We need a new site,” said Peter Vito, a volunteer fireman.
The firemen, in a joint committee with residents, are developing a proposal together. The plan, Seth Webb explained, is for the committee to gather information on a few good, affordable sites, then make their recommendation among them to the selectmen. If the board concurs, the next step would be to do the necessary engineering and architectural planning for a new building, which would be the next proposal to consider.
Bianchi suggested “the committee produce a progress report for the public so they know the non-fire department residents are represented in the process, and that this expensive decision isn’t being made in-house without their input.” Webb said he would convey that request.
One subject left over from the Town Meeting Preview regarded some residents’ sentiment that Killington abandon the current Australian Ballot system and return to the traditional Town Meeting format. Webb explained that voter participation doubled when the Australian Ballot system was put into place, and the board requested this be publicized.
The four-payment tax collection system that was introduced in conjunction with the one-time eighteen-month budget was another Town Meeting Preview holdover. McGrath suggested a discussion of easing the resulting town cash-flow constraints by charging taxpayers the town’s portion of the taxes in two payments and spreading just the state portion over the four installments, but the board responded that residents thought they had approved a four-equal-installment plan, and would not look at the suggestion favorably.
“Let’s leave it at four equal installments for now,” Selectman Ken Lee said, “and if we run into a cash-flow problem we can always change it.”
Jim Haff, who unsuccessfully ran against Bianchi for selectman, had researched state regulations and found that a town can legally offer a discount to taxpayers who pay their taxes up front in one lump sum. “This would help the cash flow if enough people take advantage of it,” he said. The board agreed to consider it.
Comment: Who is this guy Peter Vito?
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