BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – The annual Rockingham Town Meeting was held On Monday, April 1, at the Bellows Falls Opera House, in the town hall main theater. Moderator Paul Obuchowski led the school board meeting first, then started Town Meeting once the selectboard had taken their seats on the stage.
Among the 30 articles presented was the proposed town budget, with a bottom line of $6,536,903, of which $5,461,840 would be raised by taxes.
Selectboard Chair Peter Golec stated, “The town budget this year; the general fund, highway fund, and the cemetery parks fund are up 3%, or $221,944. This does not include the library [or] social services.”
Golec continued, “The leading cost factors are wages, health insurance, fuel, and utilities. Town hall employees, except union personnel, received a cost-of-living increase.”
Golec reviewed each spending increase, which included town hall operating expenses, recycling services, and public safety costs. Some departments saw a decrease in expenses, including listers and recreation. Details can be found on the Rockingham town website within the Annual Town Report for fiscal year 2023.
During the budget review, citizens in attendance had the opportunity to speak to the board, ask questions, and voice their concerns.
Bellows Falls resident Wendy Levy questioned the increase in the cost of services provided by Golden Cross Ambulance Service. They are often unavailable, requiring the engagement of Walpole Ambulance at an additional cost to the town. She asked the board if they were considering an alternative, and reminded them that they’d discussed contracting Rescue Inc. several years back. “Is that still on the table?” asked Levy.
Golec replied that Rescue Inc. had informed him that the population of Rockingham was too small for them to feasibly service the town at this time.
Noah Dawson of Bellows Falls also asked about Golden Cross’ price hike. “I work for multiple agencies as an advanced life support provider,” Dawson said, “and I’m not quite sure why they’re raising their prices when they are continuously unavailable to us.”
Town manager Scott Pickup stated that the EMS shortage across the state is beginning to be addressed. “It’s a real challenge,” said Pickup. “We have 13 ambulance districts [in Vermont], and we’ve engaged the state to come up with better regional solutions. We’re going to need higher levels of government to help with reimbursement rates, recruitment, and retention, in order to fix this problem.”
There was discussion about the deteriorating condition of the town cemeteries, and what is planned to address the issue. Selectboard vice chair Elijah Zimmer stated, “Several months ago we formed a cemetery committee which is in the process of figuring out what type of maintenance our cemeteries need.” Zimmer reported that they’ve had “a lot of trouble” finding qualified contractors who “will do a good job at an affordable price.”
Article 5, addressing the proposed annual budget, was voted on by paper ballot. After town justices of the peace counted the ballots, the results were announced by Obuchowski – 113 votes in the affirmative, and 21 opposed.
The town voted to amend Article 7, increasing the amount allocated to the Bellows Falls Senior Center from $21,384 to $25,000.
Ultimately, all Articles were passed, after some debate on Article 20, which appropriates $26,024 to Visiting Nurse Alliance of VT & NH, and Article 26, which authorizes the selectboard to borrow an amount not to exceed $280,000 to purchase a new highway grader.
Additionally, Sue Hammond retired after serving 10 years on the selectboard.
The selectboard is scheduled to meet next on April 16, when they will set a date to hold a special meeting for citizens to vote on whether to move Town Meeting to a Saturday.