By Curt Peterson
Standard Correspondent
Killington — Citizens were eager to make comments at the June 16 select board meeting Tuesday evening. Susan Maples spoke first, introducing herself as a longtime gardening professional in the town, following with a list of at least six rapid-fire questions related to a town flower planting project she has seen going on.
“When was the decision made to do these plantings, and who made that decision?” she demanded to know. “Where in the budget is the money coming from? Why wasn’t a committee of residents formed to provide input into the project? How much time is being spent by town employees to prepare the beds and do the plantings? Who decided what to plant? Who is going to maintain the plants and water them, and where is the water going to come from?”
Maples, audibly upset, went on to proclaim that many of the flowers she has seen being planted are annuals and will have to be replaced every year. “And they’re expensive! This is wasteful!” she said. “The gardens should never be put at road level here. And how was the contractor who is doing the work chosen? Was the work bid out?”
Selectman Chris Bianchi tried to defuse the tension. “So, is your suggestion that we should get more residents’ input next time we make a decision regarding this kind of planting?”
Maples confirmed she thought more residents’ input should have been solicited, and pointed out that there are more than a few people who live in town who have expertise in gardening and would have helped make better decisions. She added that there are landscape and gardening contractors in town as well, and she objected to the town’s use of “someone from Rutland” to do the work.
Town Manager Seth Webb attempted to answer each of Maples’ original questions. “Actually,” he said, “most of the flowers being planted are perennials and not annuals. We got some good advice from knowledgeable employees from the golf course and solicited bids from three quality contractors. We chose the contractor doing the work because we’d had experience with him before and we were very satisfied with his work.” He went on to explain that some of the digging Maples claimed was unnecessary was actually done to get rid of excess stone and salt imbedded in the soil, and to explain that the board doesn’t always form a committee when making decisions. He agreed with Maples that more citizen input would have been a good idea.
Maples began to complain that the planning and bidding should have been public, and that much of the expense and waste resulted from not including residents’ participation.
Selectman Bianchi stopped her. “We really have to move on.”
“Of course you do!” Maples said, and left abruptly.
Andy Salamon remarked that better communications from the board might improve acceptance of the work the town does.
Next, referring to negative reactions since the board’s June 2 consideration of turning events planning over to the Killington Pico Area Association, a coalition made up of representatives from the town, Killington Resort and the Chamber of Commerce, Diane Rosenblum accused the selectmen of treating residents dismissively at meetings and not considering the townspeople’s interests when they “sub-contracted” events planning to “outsiders,” conflating the KPAA issue with a discussion at the last meeting about work being done on West Hill Road.
“I’ve dealt with New York City politicians and New York State politicians, so I know how to fight,” she said, “If you want to get down in the dirt and fight with somebody, pick on me!” and accused the Board of taking advantage of her husband David, “who is a gentleman,” and who was seated next to her.
Chris Bianchi defended the board, saying the residents were often contentious with them as well, and, referring to Pat Linnemayr’s call to stop all work on the West Hill Road project until a public hearing was held, he repeated that the select board has purview over road project decisions and that the town was not going to stop work every time a few residents didn’t like what they were doing.
Rosenblum said elected officials are supposed to expect contention from the voters. “You wanted to be elected, so you have to take it!”
James Rich, who also attended the June 2 meeting, said he thought “democracy has been aborted (sic) when citizens voice an opinion and their elected officials shut them down, but the officials are allowed to say their piece without interruption.”
Seth Webb presented research on various ways Killington might approach delinquent taxpayers, specifically relating to the process leading up to tax sales.
“The town is owed approximately $470 thousand in delinquent taxes,” he said. “But 62 percent of that are taxes from the 2014 year. Only 38 percent is from prior tax years.”
He said the current delinquent tax policy, adopted in 2009, is simple but vague. People are encouraged to set up payment plans to dispatch their delinquency, but often they do not follow through on the payment agreement, then there isn’t a clear path to resolution. He presented sample policies from Vermont League of Cities and Towns and a few other municipalities and asked the Board if they would like him to put together a new policy proposal, which they endorsed.
Andy Salamon asked if anyone had taken time to “pick up the phone and call these delinquent taxpayers.” He said the City of Philadelphia tried this and had amazing results.
Webb replied that he had, in fact, contacted many of the delinquents, and had mixed results. “I encouraged them to set up a payment plan, and some of them stuck to it and are now current. Others, however, did not and are not.”
It was also pointed out that the town ultimately gets a lot of revenue from penalties and interest charged on delinquent taxes, and if everyone is current, that money isn’t there.
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Standard Correspondent
Killington — Citizens were eager to make comments at the June 16 select board meeting Tuesday evening. Susan Maples spoke first, introducing herself as a longtime gardening professional in the town, following with a list of at least six rapid-fire questions related to a town flower planting project she has seen going on.
“When was the decision made to do these plantings, and who made that decision?” she demanded to know. “Where in the budget is the money coming from? Why wasn’t a committee of residents formed to provide input into the project? How much time is being spent by town employees to prepare the beds and do the plantings? Who decided what to plant? Who is going to maintain the plants and water them, and where is the water going to come from?”
Maples, audibly upset, went on to proclaim that many of the flowers she has seen being planted are annuals and will have to be replaced every year. “And they’re expensive! This is wasteful!” she said. “The gardens should never be put at road level here. And how was the contractor who is doing the work chosen? Was the work bid out?”
Selectman Chris Bianchi tried to defuse the tension. “So, is your suggestion that we should get more residents’ input next time we make a decision regarding this kind of planting?”
Maples confirmed she thought more residents’ input should have been solicited, and pointed out that there are more than a few people who live in town who have expertise in gardening and would have helped make better decisions. She added that there are landscape and gardening contractors in town as well, and she objected to the town’s use of “someone from Rutland” to do the work.
Town Manager Seth Webb attempted to answer each of Maples’ original questions. “Actually,” he said, “most of the flowers being planted are perennials and not annuals. We got some good advice from knowledgeable employees from the golf course and solicited bids from three quality contractors. We chose the contractor doing the work because we’d had experience with him before and we were very satisfied with his work.” He went on to explain that some of the digging Maples claimed was unnecessary was actually done to get rid of excess stone and salt imbedded in the soil, and to explain that the board doesn’t always form a committee when making decisions. He agreed with Maples that more citizen input would have been a good idea.
Maples began to complain that the planning and bidding should have been public, and that much of the expense and waste resulted from not including residents’ participation.
Selectman Bianchi stopped her. “We really have to move on.”
“Of course you do!” Maples said, and left abruptly.
Andy Salamon remarked that better communications from the board might improve acceptance of the work the town does.
Next, referring to negative reactions since the board’s June 2 consideration of turning events planning over to the Killington Pico Area Association, a coalition made up of representatives from the town, Killington Resort and the Chamber of Commerce, Diane Rosenblum accused the selectmen of treating residents dismissively at meetings and not considering the townspeople’s interests when they “sub-contracted” events planning to “outsiders,” conflating the KPAA issue with a discussion at the last meeting about work being done on West Hill Road.
“I’ve dealt with New York City politicians and New York State politicians, so I know how to fight,” she said, “If you want to get down in the dirt and fight with somebody, pick on me!” and accused the Board of taking advantage of her husband David, “who is a gentleman,” and who was seated next to her.
Chris Bianchi defended the board, saying the residents were often contentious with them as well, and, referring to Pat Linnemayr’s call to stop all work on the West Hill Road project until a public hearing was held, he repeated that the select board has purview over road project decisions and that the town was not going to stop work every time a few residents didn’t like what they were doing.
Rosenblum said elected officials are supposed to expect contention from the voters. “You wanted to be elected, so you have to take it!”
James Rich, who also attended the June 2 meeting, said he thought “democracy has been aborted (sic) when citizens voice an opinion and their elected officials shut them down, but the officials are allowed to say their piece without interruption.”
Seth Webb presented research on various ways Killington might approach delinquent taxpayers, specifically relating to the process leading up to tax sales.
“The town is owed approximately $470 thousand in delinquent taxes,” he said. “But 62 percent of that are taxes from the 2014 year. Only 38 percent is from prior tax years.”
He said the current delinquent tax policy, adopted in 2009, is simple but vague. People are encouraged to set up payment plans to dispatch their delinquency, but often they do not follow through on the payment agreement, then there isn’t a clear path to resolution. He presented sample policies from Vermont League of Cities and Towns and a few other municipalities and asked the Board if they would like him to put together a new policy proposal, which they endorsed.
Andy Salamon asked if anyone had taken time to “pick up the phone and call these delinquent taxpayers.” He said the City of Philadelphia tried this and had amazing results.
Webb replied that he had, in fact, contacted many of the delinquents, and had mixed results. “I encouraged them to set up a payment plan, and some of them stuck to it and are now current. Others, however, did not and are not.”
It was also pointed out that the town ultimately gets a lot of revenue from penalties and interest charged on delinquent taxes, and if everyone is current, that money isn’t there.
I certainly am irate over this. This is something that should have had a residents committee formed with input from many. WE live here, WE pay the taxes here, WE should have something to say about what happens here. There are so many other things that should have been dealt with before starting any new garden projects. The island at West Hill is an overgrown mess and now will be surrounded by new plantings. There are other areas that have garden beds that have gone uncared for, next to the areas that were newly dug up. These new areas will need expensive upkeep. Whether annual or perennial they will need replacing from salt damage. Now we need to be invited to bid on work that is happening in our own town. This is not private property, it is our property. Our rights are being eroded in this town. Even in citizens input the only public forum that we should have an opportunity to speak out in, we are shut down. If the people serving on the Selectboard don't have the time to listen to us at the meetings, maybe they should not be on the Selectboard. Just because they were voted in doesn't make them supreme rulers of this town. It is supposed to be a democracy not a dictatorship. Maybe they don't have to form committees or have an open bidding process, but that doesn't mean the shouldn't !!!
ReplyDeleteJim was totally misquoted in this article. He did not say 'aborted'. He said that the Select board should represent the community, not special and personal interests.
ReplyDelete