7/9/15
By Curt Peterson
Standard Correspondent
KILLINGTON — If attendees at Killington’s Select Board meeting Tuesday evening didn’t notice that “ Selectboard Member Concerns” had been moved from its customary 10th agenda spot to fourth, Chairman Patty McGrath’s opening salvo certainly called it to their attention.
Noting that she had received input from several citizens indicating they thought they were not given enough time to speak at the meetings, McGrath told the assembled, “The purpose of these meetings is so the three board members can carry on the business of the town. The meetings are open to the public, as required by law, but this is the only time we have to do the work of managing the town. This is not a discussion meeting.”
She went on to say that citizen input was important, that the board welcomed remarks, questions and suggestions, but proposed that when topics were raised, one of the board members would be assigned to meet with the contributor to get the details and carry on the discussion, which might result in the topic being on the next meeting’s agenda.
“We have a limited period to get the work that has to be done completed,” she said, “and we just don’t have the time to carry on lengthy discussions at meetings on every topic that comes up.”
On a final note McGrath said the board was grateful so many residents wanted to participate, and recognized that, “as a board we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard regarding how we treat our citizens.”
The chairwoman then cited procurement policy as one example of a discussion that might have ensued more efficiently if the board had time to respond rather than having to parry with the public when it was first brought up. Harking back to Pat Linnemayr’s passionate complaint at the June 16 meeting about the lack of local opportunity involved in a beautification project going on around town, McGrath said she had looked into Linnemayr’s concern, and agreed that it appeared some local contractors and professionals were overlooked in the procurement process.
Town Manager Seth Webb pointed out that, while the opportunity to participate in the bidding for the project was not made public, three of the five bids were obtained from Killington vendors. In the end, a Rutland contractor was hired. Webb agreed to post opportunities on the website on a monthly basis, and to put discussion of a possible formal procurement policy on the agenda for the next meeting.
Both McGrath and Selectman Chris Bianchi pointed out that a formal policy might not turn out to be the best idea.
“And, just to be clear, until we adopt a formal policy, if we do,” Bianchi said, “procurement and any bidding will be in the purview of the town manager.”
The second issue held over from the June 16 meeting was the discussion of West Hill Road and its intersection with Killington Road. Webb had a list of citizen concerns for which he and Road Foreman Chet Hagenbarth had responses: “Some citizens are worried about the future of the slip lane,” Webb said. “For the foreseeable future, the slip lane is staying.”
“Some people have complained about the line striping that delineate the slip lane,” he continued. “The striping was done incorrectly by the state last year, and, as soon as we get some dry weather, the company doing our striping will be correcting it.”
Webb and Hagenbarth answered complaints about West Hill Road being too narrow by citing measurements since 1977, showing the road is actually wider now than it’s been in decades, the paved area extending to the ditch rim.
By Curt Peterson
Standard Correspondent
KILLINGTON — If attendees at Killington’s Select Board meeting Tuesday evening didn’t notice that “ Selectboard Member Concerns” had been moved from its customary 10th agenda spot to fourth, Chairman Patty McGrath’s opening salvo certainly called it to their attention.
Noting that she had received input from several citizens indicating they thought they were not given enough time to speak at the meetings, McGrath told the assembled, “The purpose of these meetings is so the three board members can carry on the business of the town. The meetings are open to the public, as required by law, but this is the only time we have to do the work of managing the town. This is not a discussion meeting.”
She went on to say that citizen input was important, that the board welcomed remarks, questions and suggestions, but proposed that when topics were raised, one of the board members would be assigned to meet with the contributor to get the details and carry on the discussion, which might result in the topic being on the next meeting’s agenda.
“We have a limited period to get the work that has to be done completed,” she said, “and we just don’t have the time to carry on lengthy discussions at meetings on every topic that comes up.”
On a final note McGrath said the board was grateful so many residents wanted to participate, and recognized that, “as a board we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard regarding how we treat our citizens.”
The chairwoman then cited procurement policy as one example of a discussion that might have ensued more efficiently if the board had time to respond rather than having to parry with the public when it was first brought up. Harking back to Pat Linnemayr’s passionate complaint at the June 16 meeting about the lack of local opportunity involved in a beautification project going on around town, McGrath said she had looked into Linnemayr’s concern, and agreed that it appeared some local contractors and professionals were overlooked in the procurement process.
Town Manager Seth Webb pointed out that, while the opportunity to participate in the bidding for the project was not made public, three of the five bids were obtained from Killington vendors. In the end, a Rutland contractor was hired. Webb agreed to post opportunities on the website on a monthly basis, and to put discussion of a possible formal procurement policy on the agenda for the next meeting.
Both McGrath and Selectman Chris Bianchi pointed out that a formal policy might not turn out to be the best idea.
“And, just to be clear, until we adopt a formal policy, if we do,” Bianchi said, “procurement and any bidding will be in the purview of the town manager.”
The second issue held over from the June 16 meeting was the discussion of West Hill Road and its intersection with Killington Road. Webb had a list of citizen concerns for which he and Road Foreman Chet Hagenbarth had responses: “Some citizens are worried about the future of the slip lane,” Webb said. “For the foreseeable future, the slip lane is staying.”
“Some people have complained about the line striping that delineate the slip lane,” he continued. “The striping was done incorrectly by the state last year, and, as soon as we get some dry weather, the company doing our striping will be correcting it.”
Webb and Hagenbarth answered complaints about West Hill Road being too narrow by citing measurements since 1977, showing the road is actually wider now than it’s been in decades, the paved area extending to the ditch rim.
Hagenbarth said a missing speed sign was going to be replaced as soon as possible, and that the weight limit and “No Through Trucks” signs were going to be moved back so drivers had more time to respond to them. He also noted that signs installed before he was Road Foreman were mounted incorrectly.
“They are break-away sign posts, designed to flop onto the hood of a car when hit, and the sign itself is designed to slide over the windshield. Because they were installed with two inches of post sticking up above the sign, they will pierce the windshield instead of sliding over it. We have to fix all of those as well.”
Last, but not least of the June 16 issues was the proposed cooperation contract involving the town, the Chamber of Commerce, aka Killington Pico Area Association and the Killington Resort to fundraise, promote events and do area marketing. Seth Webb announced that the KPAA was withdrawing its proposal due to the controversy it had stirred up.
“The contract had become a distraction. There was a lot of sentiment and misinformation building up, and it was decided to spend our time on events and marketing rather than spending it on dealing with the controversy,” Webb said. “We’ll just go along with the status quo.”
Vito Rasenas asked Webb to clarify how this would affect Amy Morrison’s present job as events and marketing coordinator for the town. Webb and Vince Ciarella explained that Morrison would continue both to work at the town offices 30 hours a week, and to work for KPAA at the Visitor Center as two separate jobs.
“The contract had been an attempt to make her work more efficient for all of us,” Ciarella said, “as she would have all the resources in one place instead of wasting time moving back and forth between two offices to work on the same event.”
Webb’s Town Manager’s Report included the announcement of the final tax rates for the coming year: $2.20 for residents, $1.97 for nonresidents and commercial property.
“Remember, that the local portion of the rates are for 18 months,” said McGrath, “and only two payments of that portion are due this year.” The town is changing its fiscal/tax year from January to December to match the state and school tax year of July to June, resulting in the onetime, 18-month adjustment.
Comment: In all fairness, while the headline seems somewhat pedantic and unwelcoming to citizen participation, I found the board to be somewhat conciliatory. In fact Chairwoman McGrath stated that the "Citizen Input" time allottment would be expanded to allow for a more thorough hearing of citizens concerns.
And not only was "Citizen's Input" expanded but during discussion of other agenda items a great amount of input from the audience was allowed.
Vito
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