Selex Won’t Act
On Police Petition
By Pamala Yerrington

By a split vote, the Randolph Selectboard Monday refused to act on a petition which had called on the board to cease all further discussions of expanding the police district.

On a 3-2 vote, the board accepted the petition but respectfully declined to act upon it. Larry Townsend, who made the motion, explained that the board represents the entire town, including the police district.

The board is mature and thoughtful enough to receive and digest information from all sources, he said. He noted he is leaning not one way or the other but wants to remain open in fairness to all the people the board represents.

Voting in favor of Townsend’s motion were Chairman Jim Hutchinson and Selectman Stephen Springer. Selectmen Damon Lease and Ken Goss voted no.

The petition, signed by 164 residents, had been presented by Joe Voci, former superintendent of public works, two weeks ago.

Lease said his discussions with taxpayers outside the current district showed there is no interest in expansion of the district as it exists. In his opinion the town’s dollars and resources should focus only on other options.

Jim Hutchinson again stressed that no expansion to the police district would be done without the vote of the town.

He said the policing study is considering district expansion as only one of many options.

Voci suggested creating another district for the area outside the current police district, and Hutchinson said the idea is attractive as it would give autonomy to each of the two very different areas.

Hutchinson said that the petition’s wording as presented actually tells the Selectboard to neglect its responsibility to consider all proposals.

Taxpayers of the Village District are in an unfair situation, paying for services rendered outside the district, he pointed out.

Springer talked about the need to identify the problem and noted a lack of input from the village

WRVA Questions

Barbara Springer, the town’s representative to the White River Valley Ambulance, asked about the state of affairs with WRVA.

Hutchinson outlined the previous negotiations between Randolph and WRVA that resulted in the current payment plan. Town Manager Peter Butterfield asked when WRVA would be sending in its request for the coming budget, as it is one of two great unknowns (the other being healthcare increases). The selectboard will seek an update for its next meeting as no clear proposal of exactly how much additional funding WRVA wants from Randolph has been given.

Fiber Optic Network

John Lutz presented the Selectboard with an opportunity for Randolph to become part of a 15-town alliance that will create a network making internet, telephone, and cable accessible to all residents through the use of fiber optic cable.

(The proposal was described in last week’s Herald.)

Membership requires no town funding or bonding, but would require a public information meeting and a vote of participation at Town Meeting. The town is asked to sign a certificate of participation so that Burlington Telecom can take advantage of a 2% break for municipal funding in providing the cable capacity.

The network will be a public utility and not eligible for private or corporate sale, Lutz said. Break-even is estimated at seven and a half years, at which point 50% of the revenue profit would be divided among the member towns, he said.

The board was interested but wanted to hear more, and Lutz will continue to report developments.

Skate Park

John Rotter, public works director, told the board that additional funding has been found to complete paving at the park this budget year.

The work is best completed this year for a variety of reasons, including protection of prep work already done and avoiding paving cost increases, he said.

The volunteer Friends of the Rink will complete the board installation as soon as the rink is ready.

The funding was located in a town capital construction reserve fund that was revealed during an audit search, Rotter said.

Recreation Contract

Selectman Lease reported the Rec Committee is recommending a two-year contract instead of a three-year contract with the Boys & Girls Club to run the town recreation program

Rate increases for some of the programs had been discussed previously to help control costs. Participation in programs will be charted to determine levels of non-resident use with an eye to possible fee adjustments.

Dog Registrations

Recent efforts by the town have added another 54 dog registrations, increasing the number of dogs registered to 713, reported Town Manager Peter Butterfield.

Butterfield and local police attended a Humane Society seminar on the managing of aggressive animals.

The proposed new dog ordinance should be ready for the board to peruse at the next meeting.

Merchants Row

A downtown grant has been applied for to improve sidewalks and lighting on Merchants Row. This would be a 50% matching grant, and the project has been reduced in cost from $75,000 to $46,000.

Officials are quite confident that they will receive the grant.

Bid Awards

The board discussed and approved the following, after hearing from John Rotter on bidding results for road projects:

• The Howard Hill Project has been awarded to W. B. Rogers. The projected cost is $102,893 with 10% to be paid by Randolph. The work is anticipated to be completed before freeze-up.

• Stream-bank stabilization at Dewey Boulevard has been awarded to Lamoille Construction. This project is being done with no funding from Randolph, but is required to be processed through the town to be eligible for federal funding.

• The paving of Mason Road and the damaged portion of East Bethel Road will take place in mid-May. The contractor has agreed to hold the price to this year’s.