The purpose of this review is to try to understand the Town’s position. We have been trying to get the Town involved with the village project since January 2022 and we will continue to do so.

 

Below is section (1c.) of the Selectboard’s letter. The Town’s statements are in italic and underlined. Bulleted points are our responses to their statement. If you have not seen the full opinion letter from the Town, contact Gayle Pezzo for a copy.

 

There are a number of statements and conclusions made by the Town in (1c.) We have included the entire 1c.  below but have broken it into chunks to address it more clearly.

 

Town’s Position:

1c. WHOA had the opportunity for the land to be owned by a government-controlled entity, the Vermont State Housing Authority, that would have provided government backed management, infrastructure planning and development, and other services as it does to Windemere Mobile Home Park in Colchester and many other manufactured housing entities in the state.

 

Our Position:

• Vermont State Housing Authority (VSHA) does not own Windemere. Housing Finance Inc. (HFI) does.

• When the current loan on Windemere is up, ownership of the park will be transferred to VSHA and “at that time, in all likelihood, be either sold or refinanced”  (per VHCB assessment Jan 2019).

• HFI did not come to the resident organizational meeting with financing secured.

• The Town is commenting here on a discussion and a decision at a meeting we are almost certain they did not attend.

 

Town’s Position:

Your March 21st email explains the difficult responsibilities of being resident-owned. However, WHOA chose to purchase the park from the prior owners.

 

Our Position:

• Westbury residents had three options: Do nothing, HFI and Co-op.

  • Do nothing (park sold and mobile homes removed)

  • HFI (not considered an option by those at the meeting)

  • Co-op (Purchase Park and self-manage)

 

We believe the Town’s statement that Westbury residents had a choice is inaccurate. The choice was buy the park ourselves or lose our homes.

 

Town’s Position:

We presume there were positives in that choice such as independence, resident ownership, stewardship and sense of community.  But that choice came with responsibilities for the residents who are now WHOA vs. a State entity.

 

Our Position:

• Residents of Windemere are not part of a State entity.

• Whatever relationship Windemere has through “government-controlled entities”, they do not have the rights that municipalities have to seek funding from the State for water or sewer through the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund.

• The Town knows this. In 2013 Windemere needed approval from the Selectboard to get State funding.

• An important part of the village discussion is its ability to secure low interest and forgivable loans from the State.

 

Town’s Position:

The responsibility of a government is even greater, so it is difficult to understand how creating a municipal government helps.  

 

Our Position:

• Both a Co-operative and a municipal village have responsibilities.

• For the Town to say responsibility is difficult so it is a bad idea seems irrelevant. Instead the question is: Would the responsibility of a village be worth the benefits?

• Colchester Town has an annual budget close to $15,000,000. A Village of Westbury with a water system would have a projected operating budget of roughly $30,000. We believe a fair comparison would be to discuss the responsibilities of a municipality similar in size to our proposed village.

 

There are roughly 90 - 100 municipalities in Vermont that provide water to their communities (villages and fire districts). If forming a village following their models gives the Westbury community $25,000 every year to repair and maintain their water system perhaps that is how creating a municipal government helps.

 

Reviewing the information above we should ask our four questions:

 

• Why would the village project be good for Westbury?

• Does the project hurt our Colchester neighbors outside of Westbury?

• Under what conditions would the Town partner with Westbury?

• Why wouldn’t the Town want to help its residents?

 

Thank you for taking the time. The next post will discuss to 2, 2a and 2b.

Feel free to weigh in with comments or questions.

Discussions are the only way we find solutions.

~ gayle

The Village Project Team