BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – On Tuesday, Feb. 20, Chair Peter Golec presented the Rockingham Selectboard with the final Town Meeting Warning and Articles packet, which had been updated to include the new meeting date of April 1.
Historically held on the first Tuesday in March, this year’s Rockingham Town Meeting was pushed back by one month. It will be held at the Bellows Falls Opera House, beginning at 7 p.m.
Thirty articles will be presented to voters during Town Meeting, first for discussion, then to be decided via floor vote. Residents may attend the Town Meeting via Zoom, but will not be allowed to cast their votes online.
Based on the results of the recent Town Meeting survey, 82% of respondents to the question of moving the meeting from Monday to Saturday starting in 2025, reported that Monday nights were inconvenient, and they would be more likely to attend if the meeting was held on Saturday. The board spent some time debating whether that question should be added to the list of articles for voter consideration in April.
Golec had some concerns, one being that the board had not had sufficient opportunity to consider and discuss the outcome of the survey and the proposed schedule change before putting it out to a town vote.
Bonnie North and Rick Cowan, authors of the survey, felt the discourse on the topic had been ongoing for enough time that residents were now well informed and ready to vote on the question.
“I don’t know if this is the best timing to approach this question,” board member Elijah Zimmer commented, considering the date change and multiple voting days. Golec agreed.
“Rushing into this is going to confuse people,” Golec remarked. “We’ve already got enough confusion going on now because [voters will] be voting on March 5 for school stuff, then come back a month later and vote on [selectboard] stuff, and nobody’s going to know who’s on first.”
Golec was referring to the split schedule of town elections; on March 5, Rockingham voters will be participating in the presidential primary, as well as considering budgets for the ensuing fiscal year from Bellows Falls Union High School and River Valley Technical Center. On April 2, voters will select town and school district officers, school board, and selectboard members.
Vice Chair Susan Hammond reminded the board that they had initially considered scheduling a special meeting to discuss the proposed change. “I think this is a very important discussion,” Hammond stated, “and trying to throw it into the Town Meeting a month from now is too soon. I think it needs its own separate meeting to have a real, in-depth conversation where you can present the information and get some feedback.”
Ultimately, the board agreed to keep the question off the ballot for now, and to schedule a special meeting to discuss and hear public opinion within six months of April 1.
Golec announced that the supply of Town Report copies was dwindling, but he was expecting more to arrive this week. The new reports will each have a sticker on the cover reflecting the revised dates of Town Meeting and election, April 1 and 2. Town reports are available at Lisai’s Market, the Rockingham Library, and Saxtons River Market, and voters are encouraged to bring one with them to Town Meeting.
Pickup reported on Green Mountain Power (GMP) partnering with Asplundh on the trimming and maintenance of trees that may interfere with power lines. Residents can expect to see the Asplundh trucks throughout Rockingham and in the village of Bellows Falls, and may find a notice at their front door detailing the pruning effort. The work will continue for “a period of multiple weeks, if not months,” Pickup stated.
Pickup updated the meeting on the status of a number of ash trees around town that have been infected with emerald ash borer and need to be taken down. GMP will assess which of these trees are endangering power lines, and the power company will pay for the removal of those trees. The other diseased trees will be the town’s responsibility, and Pickup told the board he would come back to them with the results of that assessment once completed.
Pickup explained that the problem, “is that the branches start to fail, and start to fall, so you have damage to cars, [branches] falling onto the sidewalks, and they become quite dangerous.”
Rockingham is currently looking to hire a tree warden.
The town fire equipment committee meeting will be on Thursday, Feb. 29, at 5:30 p.m., at the town hall. Residents are invited to attend, and encouraged to offer feedback and ask questions with respect to the ongoing Fire Department Feasibility Study.