Weathersfield
“We would definitely come back to voters for some direction,” Town Manager Ed Morris said to the roughly 115 voters who attended the school and town informational meetings ahead of Tuesday’s Town Meeting vote.
Before the discussion, Town Moderator Peter Cole went through a slide presentation on the town’s fire services, noting that there are two, private, nonprofit departments in Ascutney and West Weathersfield.
Calling it a “hybrid model,” Cole said there is a mix of town- and department-owned equipment, a lack of town oversight on management or budgets, chief decisions are micromanaged and no clear management structure exists.
The Selectboard, fire commission and fire departments have been discussing ways to improve fire services and agreed to pursue the fire district model, as opposed to contracted services or having a town-managed fire department, Selectboard Chairman Dan Boyer said. “We want to make things run a little smoother,” he said, adding that the interest in the fire district should not be viewed as a criticism of the volunteer departments.
In surveys the board conducted, 136 of 208 respondents said they were “happy” with the current model. In another question, 97 of 173 favored a fire district model, with only 10 preferring contracted services, which would completely separate fire services from town support or management except for negotiations of a three- to five-year contract; 66 supported a municipally managed department.
In the slide presentation it was stated that a fire district would mean a better-defined management structure, stronger fiscal oversight and more direct taxpayer input. A fire district would include an elected board with a separate budget for voters to approve each year. One of the negatives would be a difficult transition period.
Several residents commented on the presentation. Former firefighter Galen Crandall wondered what “problem” the town was trying to solve and suggested “bureaucrats (only) wanted more control over the fire departments.”
Alicia Jenks, who praised both departments for their work, thought the decision should be up to the departments because they know the equipment, training needs and how to fight fires.
“I think they know what is best,” Jenks said. “They should make the decision and we should support them.”
Neither fire chief — Darrin Spaulding in Ascutney or Josh Dauphin of West Weathersfield — spoke strongly for or against a fire district, but did say they work well together under the current arrangement despite mention by Cole of “tension between departments” in the slide presentation.
After the meeting, Spaulding said his department had voted recently in support of exploring options and costs for changing the governance of the fire services.
Budget Presentation
After the fire services discussion, the town informational meeting was held with a presentation on the budget and other appropriations under separate warrant articles.
Morris said the general fund budget of $1.48 million is up $127,000, a combination of lower non-tax revenues and spending increases, including a 3 percent pay raise for employees and $20,000 more for the stipend paid to the fire departments.
Morris said that, instead of using year-end surpluses — this year $30,000 — to offset the tax rate, he wants to use them to build reserve funds for future capital purchases.
“I want to move from debt financing to cash purchases for items under $100,000,” Morris said. “I want to change the philosophy to building reserve funds and stabilizing the tax rate.”
All proposed spending is up almost 11 percent, which includes the general fund and highway budgets, money for reserve funds, borrowing $30,000 for a handicap access ramp on the 1879 School House and $170,000 for a new truck, and money for nonprofit agencies.
Resident Dave Fuller, a former Selectboard member, urged voters to reject the budget.
“Eleven percent increase to me is really a lot of money,” Fuller said, arguing that spending is increasing faster than the grand list. Fuller said turning down the budget would send the Selectboard back to “the drawing board with a budget more in line with the 1 to 2 percent growth everyone else is fighting with.”
Proposed town spending would increase the town tax rate 6.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, but Morris pointed out that more than 2 cents is for debt on capital spending voters approved last year.
With an estimated decrease in the homestead education rate of 1.19 cents under the $5.68 million school budget, the homestead rate, combining town and school, is projected to increase about 5.5 cents if all appropriations pass.
The school budget is down 5.6 percent.
Voting on the town and school warning is Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., in Martin Memorial Hall.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
