WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — During a virtual Town Meeting on Saturday, members of the Hartford Selectboard appeared divided in their support of the $18.25 million municipal budget that voters will decide on at the polls on Tuesday.
Items at issue include about a dozen new positions in town government; the fact that the budget does not include funds for parking meters in downtown White River Junction; and the future of the fire station in Quechee.
The board had previously approved the budget on a 4-3 vote, after town employees noticed that $500,000 had been inadvertently left out of a previous version. The budget’s supporters included Dan Fraser, the board’s chairman, and members Kim Souza, Mike Hoyt and Ally Tufenkjian. The opponents included Joe Major, the board’s vice chairman, and members Dennis Brown and Lannie Collins.
Hoyt told about 60 virtual attendees during Saturday’s meeting that he supports the budget because of the “tangible benefits that will accrue.”
For example, new plow drivers will help clear the town’s many roads more quickly. A new mechanic will help repair police and fire vehicles. Some part-time beautification workers will help pull weeds from downtown sidewalks. A new information technology helper will free up the town’s IT director to focus on issues such as cybersecurity. Four new firefighters stationed in Quechee will reduce the emergency response time by five minutes to residents in Quechee and West Hartford, Hoyt said.
“This is a real public good,” he said.
In Hoyt’s view, the increase of 1.64% over the spending voters approved last year is reasonable. But Brown and Collins said the added personnel costs are too much and that adding the new firefighters might put the town on the hook for building housing for them while they work overnight shifts at the Quechee fire station. Money for that is not included in the budget presented to voters.
“It’s a lot to swallow for taxpayers at one point in time,” Collins said.
Major said he did not support the budget because it did not include parking meters, which he said he felt could reduce the parking congestion in downtown White River Junction without adding to taxpayers’ burden. But Hoyt said he thinks the town can install parking meters using federal grants.
Major didn’t oppose the budget entirely. He said he does support hiring new firefighters.
“Residents in Quechee do pay their taxes; (they) should get reliable service in that time,” Major said of potential improved response time.
Community members who spoke also seemed divided on the budget. Mike Morris, a former Selectboard member who is running a write-in campaign, said he opposes the budget for “various reasons.”
Wilder resident Geri Williams said she was concerned that the board might come looking for “millions” to support modifications to the Quechee fire station in future years.
Meanwhile, F.X. Flinn, a Quechee resident and former Selectboard member, said he supported adding firefighters to fully staff the Quechee station.
“I’m glad that we’re going to go in this direction,” Flinn said. It’s “positive for Quechee and the West Hartford area.”
Also discussed during Saturday’s meeting, which was preceded by the annual meeting for the Hartford School District, was whether Hartford should allow retail sales of cannabis; how the town might address the housing shortage; and recent turmoil in the town’s police department, which has been without a permanent chief for more than a year.
Hartford resident Erik Krauss said he was concerned about the time it might take to establish zoning regulations to address retail cannabis.
“If we’re going to do this, we should really do it right,” he said.
During the school district’s annual meeting, White River Junction resident Cristina Tardie asked the School Board whether students at the Hartford Area Career and Technology Center might build more houses.
Hartford Superintendent Tom DeBalsi said the students build one house every two years and then the houses are sold in an effort to cover the costs of construction.
“I wish we could do more,” he said. But that rate is what the program can manage, he said.
Peter Merrill, the Hartford School Board’s representative to the regional board that oversees the tech center, said the houses the students construct are not in themselves the solution to the region’s housing crunch, but hopefully the students will become workers who might help solve the problem.
The number of houses the students build is “not big enough to make any meaningful dent, which is too bad,” he said. “But that’s the way it works.”
Later in the meeting, Merrill read aloud a School Board resolution recognizing Hartford Deputy Police Chief Brad Vail for his contributions to the safety and protection of students and employees of the town’s schools.
The resolution said that Vail, who resigned his post earlier this month after 29 years to take the position of police chief in Barre, Vt. starting March 7, was able to “lead with vision and effectiveness.”
In response to questions about the town’s search for a police chief during the town portion of the meeting, Town Manager Tracy Yarlott-Davis said the town has launched a search in conjunction with the International Association of Chiefs of Police. They’re currently working to develop a candidate profile, she said.
Hartford resident Lynn Bohi, a former state representative, thanked the School Board for its recognition of Vail.
“I’m going to really miss Brad Vail,” Bohi said. “I’m glad somebody is saying that.”
There was no voting conducted during the virtual meetings. Town Meeting Day voting by Australian ballot will take place on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the gym at Hartford High School, 37 Highland Ave., White River Junction.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
