Celebration of Life Set for Leo Davin in Killington

Vermont Standard

7/28/16

By Curt Peterson

Standard Correspondent

Killington select board member Ken Lee announced that a Celebration of Life honoring resident Leo J. Davin Jr. has been organized for 1:30, Aug. 7 at the Green Mountain National Golf Course grill area. The public is invited to attend, and friends and colleagues are welcome to share their thoughts and stories, Lee said.

Lee said he met Davin through skiing at Killington, an activity Davin enjoyed for 40 years.

“I guess I knew Leo as well as anybody else around here,” Lee said. “We skied and played golf together quite often and were best friends for over 20 years.”

Lee said he, Davin and Red Glaze were called “the silver foxes” because they played golf together so often, were “of an age” and all had white hair.

Asked what kind of golfer Davin was, Lee said, “He was a great guy, and I enjoyed winning money from him on the golf course.” They played together for the last time just two days before Davin had to give up the game because his illness had progressed too far.

Davin, who had lived in Killington for 10 to 12 years, died June 15 at DHMC from “complications resulting from cancer and blood disorder,” according to his obituary. He was born in Hamden, Connecticut in September 1942 and was a versatile athlete, competing at baseball, football, and hockey, as well as recreational basketball as a youth. He was also a ski instructor at Killington for a time. He tried minor league baseball in Boston, but was not successful.

Most of Davin’s working life was spent in the insurance claims business working for large insurers such as Travelers and Aetna Casualty. When he moved to Killington full-time after retirement, he became active in the community and made many friends as well as accomplishing good work for the town.

“He was chairman of the Golf Course Committee,” Lee said, “as well as putting in six years on the planning commission and 5 or 6 years on the recreation commission. He was a community force.”

“At over six feet tall and almost 300 pounds, Leo was a big guy, a funny guy and a good guy,” Lee said. “He will be sorely missed around here.”

In other news, the select board voted to appoint Chad Aston to take Davin’s place on the golf course committee.

Town Manager Deborah Schwartz said the golf course, which operates as a separate entity, borrows money from the town every spring to finance their start-up. Then the town borrows money from the bank in July to cover bills before tax revenue begins arriving.

“I think the golf course should go to the bank and borrow its annual start-up money from them instead of the town,” she said. “Like any other business, even though the loans would be for small amounts.”

Schwartz also brought up the delinquent taxes issue, a subject she has been researching for some time. She said the current policy is to consider a tax sale action after a property owner is delinquent for a year.

“This is too long for any town to have to wait for money it budgeted with the assumption it would be paid,” Schwartz said.

She had also spoken to the town’s attorney, who said setting new tax delinquency rules is within the board’s authority.

Schwartz’s proposal is to consider taxes delinquent if the final installment is still unpaid 30 days after the 10-day grace period, and at that time a tax sale would be considered.

“This doesn’t preclude setting up payment plans with delinquent taxpayers who want to catch up but can’t pay back taxes all at once,” she said. “But if a payment plan is set up, and the property owner stops making the agreed payments, the property is immediately eligible for tax sale.”

She said using the words, “May institute tax sale” would enable the board to accommodate individual circumstances.

Several edits were proposed by selectman Chris Bianchi and board chairman Patty McGrath, and the amended version was passed unanimously.

Comment: Finally a town manager who understands. I and others have stated the golf course needed to recognize the interest expense of money borrowed from the town to accurately state its profitability. Whether its imputed somehow in the town's accounting system or paid directly to a bank on a loan solicited by the GMNGC directly it needs to be recognized as a business expense and not absorbed in the town's operating budget. It's enough that the taxpayers are eating the building and refinancing costs of GMNGC.