BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – The meeting of the Bellows Falls Trustees on Tuesday, Oct. 8, was initially hampered by intermittent video and audio glitches, but as town manager Scott Pickup continued, the quality improved. An issue with the audio between Zoom participants and those at the town hall cropped up later in the meeting, when board members were unable to hear trustees Taylor Pichette and Conor Floyd, attending the meeting via Zoom. After troubleshooting the connection at the town hall, the sound was restored.
Pickup mentioned that it was National Fire Prevention Week, which ran Oct. 6-12, and reminded everyone to use this time of year to check that the smoke alarms in your home are working.
Unfortunately, the Fire Prevention Parade scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 13, in Bellows Falls, had to be cancelled due to weather.
The trustees approved a parade permit request from Central Elementary School for their annual Halloween parade, to be held on Oct. 31, from 2-2:30 p.m., near the school. The board also gave the go-ahead to the school’s request to place a banner in downtown Bellows Falls from March 10 – April 5, 2025, for the Rockingham 5K.
Pickup and Alyssa Harlow, finance director, presented an update on the District 5 water and sewer billing and accounts. Pickup began by thanking Harlow for “spending a lot of time and energy trying to reconcile all these various accounts in terms of what they should be being billed versus what they are being billed.”
After the District 5 board agreed to turn their billing over to the Village of Bellows Falls Water Department, Pickup reported that Harlow was able to resolve about $30,000 in past-due accounts.
Harlow announced that some customers will see their rates increase, but for most people rates will go down. For owners of one-to-three-bedroom homes that use village sewer only, Harlow said they will pay less now than under District 5’s billing system. Homes with four or more bedrooms will likely see their sewer rates go up.
“Half of the people are on our water already,” Harlow explained, “and those people are seeing the biggest decrease in their bills.”
Tuesday’s meeting was the last one for Floyd, who was appointed as trustee through May 2025, but is moving out of the community. The vacancy is posted on the town website, asking interested parties to contact Village President Paul Obuchowski at paul.obuchowski@gmail.com before Oct. 30.