Norwich
The town government’s proposed spending plan stands at $4.83 million, including outside appropriations that include operating expenses for the town library.
That makes for a 2.1 percent increase over the current year’s budget, a change that comes from health insurance, workers’ compensation, ambulance services and debt service on an anticipated $1.4 million bond covering fire and police facilities renovations, town leaders said.
Earlier this month, the board shaved about $15,000 from town staff’s proposed budget, making for an anticipated increase in the municipal portion of residents’ property taxes of a little more than a penny per $100 of valuation, or $41.20 on a $400,000 house.
The Selectboard also approved a separate warning article making a $70,000 bond request to fill a gap in the public facilities project budget.
During the meeting, board members voted, 3-2, to eliminate a clause in that request that would have required them to borrow the money before June 30, if they needed it by then.
Although board member Steve Flanders said it would be “more prudent” to keep the town’s options open after that date, Chairwoman Linda Cook favored keeping the clause, saying, “I think we gave the public a bond amount … and I think we should move forward on that.”
The Selectboard also moved closer to hiring a new permanent town manager, authorizing the chair and co-chair to draw up potential contract terms with the town attorney’s help and extending by two months interim Manager Dave Ormiston’s contract, which expires next week.
After the meeting, Cook and board member Christopher Ashley said the board was drawing nearer to naming a permanent hire.
“We’re getting there,” Cook said.
After a detailed discussion on the relative merits of two separate town manager evaluation systems put forward by Flanders and resident John Carroll, the board adopted Carroll’s framework, which allows board members to give managers numeric scores and provide regular feedback.
In other business, the Selectboard heard recommendations from the Norwich Pool Options Committee, a group formed to study options to replace a dam destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 that used to form a popular swimming hole on Charles Brown Brook.
Pool Committee Chairwoman Anne Goodrich told the Selectboard that her panel had opted for a “streamside” pool near the washed-out barrier, a design that could collect water alongside the brook without interrupting the rivershed’s natural flow.
Goodrich said the town also could possibly obtain free labor from the Burlington branch of Team Rubicon, a veterans disaster aid organization she said was interested in using the Norwich pool to train its volunteers.
Some board members expressed doubt about the idea, including Dan Goulet, who said the town should prioritize removing the old dam and asked whether there would be room for a streamside pool.
“I just don’t see how in any way there can be a pool put in there,” Goulet said.
“That’s why you engage specialists, that’s why you engage engineers, (the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources), as soon as possible” to determine whether the idea is feasible, Goodrich said.
Board members ultimately decided to come up with a mission statement for a future meeting that could allow them to move the pool committee into the planning process.
The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Feb. 8. The floor portion of Town Meeting will be at 7 p.m on March 6 at Tracy Hall. Balloted voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 7.
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.