ROCKINGHAM — Bellows Falls Village Trustees voted to put an end to discussions about merging the village government with the town after approximately 30 residents showed up at a joint meeting with the Rockingham Selectboard.
Villagers attended the Jan. 7 meeting carrying signs reading, “Let's Take Back Our Village.”
Most came to the meeting, which was called to consider appointing a combined merger committee, to voice their displeasure, saying that reconsidering the plan to merge the two municipal entities was illegal because the vote had been asked and answered by the trustees in December.
And, they pointed out, that answer was a resounding “no.”
Last October, an ad-hoc group that included three sitting board chairs - Tom MacPhee (Rockingham Selectboard chair), Louise Luring (Saxtons River trustees' chair), and Roger Riccio (Bellows Falls village president) - as well as James McAuliffe and Paul Obuchowski brought a proposed plan of merger before the board.
At that time, Obuchowski asked the board to approve continuation of the Plan of Merger and move forward with public hearings and a vote. Both boards agreed to hear further clarification of some of the questions the board members had at a future date.
The committee was not sanctioned by either board, but continued as a citizens committee.
On Dec. 10, Village Trustees squelched the proposal.
The committee had again appeared before the joint boards, bringing with them an additional document designed to address questions from trustees and the public.
At the time, both boards considered the plan of merger and the dates of the special meetings that MacPhee's group proposed.
A lively discussion followed.
Responding to questions about the timeline of getting a plan approved to put before the voters, MacPhee said the haste was to keep the vote separate from town meeting. Committee members hoped to start the process in January.
Concerns of village residents ranged from the lack of transparency of the process - why three board chairs, why weren't the trustees told, why not open meetings? - to the value of real estate the town would take over that currently belongs to the village, to tax rates (the town of Rockingham's and village of Saxtons River's tax costs would go up under the plan, while the village rate would go down), to what some perceived as a rush to judgment serving hidden agendas.
The contentious vote by the trustees then failed 3-2 vote.
If passed, the vote would have set into motion public hearings on Jan. 2 and 16 in advance of a special Village Meeting for Jan. 21 to consider the Plan of Merger.
This failed motion was the source of the ire of the Jan. 7 meeting, with Facebook discussions on the Bellows Falls village page calling a potential joint board vote on the matter illegal.
Louise Luring and two members of the Saxtons River Trustees were present this time, having been absent at the Dec. 10 meeting. While Luring was present in October, her board was not.
A point of order raised last week by Saxtons River resident Joel Love held that the Trustees had already voted down the plan of merger, and that voting on it again is a violation of Roberts' Rules of Order, led to MacPhee asking the trustees if they wanted to continue discussion of the plan of merger.
Municipal Manager Willis “Chip” Stearns III noted that the Village of Saxtons River was not a party to the plan of merger, as it was proposed.
Trustee Andrew Smith moved that “effective immediately, the Bellows Falls Trustees delay formation of a merger committee until formation of a merger committee is initiated by a majority vote of the Trustees,” a motion seconded by Stefan Golec.
Following Deb Wright's assertion that the matter had already been decided in December, Pat Fowler asked what harm could come of having committee members from the three boards consider the plan.
Smith then noted that the push for merger was an “unwelcome distraction and the Bellows Falls Village Corporation has not put out by the curb a For Sale sign.”
He noted that “such a major change at the behest of a very small group is extremely bad public policy,” saying the Village Trustees had never requested a merger proposal and “interest in a merger is not broad based.”
Smith felt the possibility of finding an objective appointed committee was “not possible any time in the foreseeable future.”
Expressing the feelings of several residents, he said that “the process has been tainted by the nature and points of origin of the document.” He urged the boards to get back to their basic jobs as board members of governance.
Stearns noted that a municipal merger would not necessarily be dead if the village did not participate. A merger between Rockingham and Saxtons River could still be an option.
However, Judy Lidie noted that the Plan of Merger presented does not mention Saxtons River, to which Luring quipped that Saxtons River “wanted to secede” from the town.
Trustees voted 3-2 to support Smith's motion, effectively withdrawing any support for a merger discussion to move forward from the Village.
“This is a black day for the Village of Bellows Falls,” MacPhee said.
Town Meeting petition
Cathy Bergmann, a steadfast opponent of merging the two government entities, posted on the Bellows Falls Facebook page notice of a petition being circulated regarding “merger of Rockingham and Bellows Falls.”
Should it receive enough signatures, the petition will be added as an article for the Rockingham Town Meeting on March 1 and, if passed, would limit the time before another discussion of merger could be entertained to March 1, 2017.
“This last round of 'merger plan' became unpleasant and in many ways deceitful and was to no advantage to the Village fiscally or otherwise. That is our opinion and we feel a time limit other than the year required would be suitable,” Bergmann wrote.
Town Clerk Doreen Aldrich said the deadline for the petition is Jan. 23, and the petition would need 5 percent, or around 174 signatures, to be included on the Town Meeting warning.