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. We are not trying to build a case here but we hope providing a separate opinion may promote discussion.

 

Below are sections (2, 2a & 2b) 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.

 

 

Town’s Position:

1. WHOA appears to perceive benefits of being a municipal entity. But there are also significant costs or responsibilities of being a municipality. WHOA, in the noted documents, seems to have the viewpoint that a municipal village or fire district is a structural tool, much like different for- and non-profit corporate structures. Some of your information seems to indicate that costs and responsibilities of WHOA can just be pushed back and forth to and from a village as best benefits WHOA from a fiscal perspective. This is not how government works. A village would have to have very defined responsibilities that often take years to change.

 

Our Position:

• We agree that a village must have very well-defined responsibilities. This is precisely what the Charter is for; a formal list of the rights and responsibilities of the village.

• We do not agree with the rest of the Town’s opinion in (2.) above.

• Based on what we have been told by Champlain Water District we believe there are benefits to the residents of Westbury if the residents as a village, own and operate the Westbury water system.

• We do not believe costs and responsibilities are pushed back and forth. If that is stated or indicated anywhere in our discussions, please bring it to our attention so it can be addressed.

 

Town’s Position:

2a. Even the simplest municipal village would include at the minimum: a clerk, a treasurer, a lister, and boards that handle abatement requests, assessment and tax appeals, a tax collector; qualified government accountant; government auditor; grant administrator; and a government general manager.

 

Our Position:

• We disagree.

• Speaking with two villages this week, both had 6 officers. The first has 3 Trustees, a Secretary, Treasurer and an Auditor. The second has 5 Trustees and a Clerk-Treasurer.

• We have not found the level of staffing you have stated to be typical or mandatory.

• For villages similar to what we are proposing, Trustees are unpaid or have a token stipend (i.e. $25 / meeting) and the clerk and treasurer are often combined as a part-time position.

 

Town’s Position:

2b. Governments are not tools known primarily for financial effectiveness and efficiency.  Governments are tools for participation.  The Town of Colchester has 85 elected and appointed board and commission members, almost one for every full-time employee. We have a lot of input on what we should do and how we should do it. We try hard to be efficient and effective within that framework.

 

Our Position:

• This point does not address why a village is a bad idea for the residents of Westbury, our neighbors or Town government.

• Westbury residents would still be Colchester residents. There is no reason any Westbury residents that have been appointed to Colchester boards or commissions could not continue to provide input to the Town.

• Though it may be different for Colchester with 90 – 100 full time employees, we believe that the villages we have spoken to run efficiently, effectively and have community support.

 

 

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?

 

The next post will be on 2c, 2d and 2e.

 

Feel free to weigh in with comments or questions.

Hope all is well,

-Ralph P.

The Village Project Team