Despite Emotion,
Bethel Votes ‘Yes’
By Mary Anderson

Bethel’s town meeting progressed with relatively little dissension and the only vote that was close was the vote of 76 nays to 67 yeas which effectively turned down $1000 for the Quintown Senior Citizen’s Center. Citing uncertainty about how many Bethel seniors used the center, a number of individuals spoke from the floor asking that voters turn down the request.

The most emotional discussion of the day centered on the $105,470, 10% of Bethel’s budget, to fund the White River Valley Ambulance.

After a brief comment from the floor about the increase, selectboard chair Neal Fox called John Hodgdon to the front of the room. Citing Hodgdon’s nearly 20 years of service to Bethel through his work as an EMT and as Bethel representative on the WRVA board, Fox presented Hodgdon a letter of gratitude from the selectboard. He then invited Hodgdon to speak from the microphone at the front of the room rather than going back to the one on the floor.

Acknowledging the letter, Hodgdon admitted that it "has been bittersweet. I grew up here, became an Eagle Scout here and wish I could feel proud, but I don’t right now." Sounding near to tears he went on to say that in reply to his request last year for help he only just recently had two people offer their services. Calling it "too late," he said he has "always been proud to be a member of this community but I have a bad taste in my mouth right now."

He ended by saying that "this ambulance service has excelled" and emphasized the fact that it is "flatly incorrect that I or anyone on the board are amateurs…we are volunteers."

Hodgdon was referring to comments made by Fox at the Feb. 25 selectboard meeting and quoted in The Herald, in which Fox said the ambulance budget was "put together by amateurs."

After stating, "Don’t always believe everything you read in the paper," Fox went on to explain some of the comments he had made previously. He also explained that if the amount for long overdue vehicle replacement was removed, the current budget increase was actually less than 3%.

He explained how expenses get run up when people call for an ambulance unnecessarily and assured those gathered that positive administration changes were in the works. The voters agreed with Fox that the WRVA "budget is now sustainable" and it passed by a 118 to 19 vote.

A number of people recounted stories of times when the ambulance responded to their needs. Chris Costanzo reminded the group that the quality of service was never the complaint and that the "issue is administrative and fiscal management." He went on to say that he believed some of the management issues were being addressed and that, "as much as I hate to do it I will vote for it."

Town Hall Repairs

The only other issue to draw much discussion was that of appropriating $25,000 for repairs on the town hall. Lucien Hinkle, who voiced displeasure with most of the budget items, said that he "didn’t know what the town would get out of it" and as a result was against appropriating money for the building. A few others agreed with him.

However, it was those such as Susan Rule, speaking in favor of the appropriation and mentioning what an asset the building would be for the entire community, who drew applause. Danny Dover spoke of the economic importance a restored town hall would bring to Bethel, and Janet Burnham spoke of the building’s historical value. In the end the appropriation passed by a vote of 113 to 49.

Despite concerns voiced by Hinkle, townspeople voted to pass the $872,498 asked for by the selectboard for the highway and general fund with a vote of 117 to 48.

Town manager Dell Cloud informed the group that while the tax rate was not yet set, the approved budget with all of the additional appropriations totaling $182,097, minus fire department grants, would likely add only one-half cent over last year’s tax rate.

Except for the Quintown appropriation, all other appropriations passed by large margins, with few to no nays heard from the floor. The resolution asking the selectmen to enter into a contract for the ECFibernet project passed unanimously from the floor with no discussion.

DeFreitas Elected

Everyone who currently held an office and was willing to serve again was reëlected, and the new nominees for empty posts such as a second lister and auditor all went unopposed and were unanimously elected.

The same was true for newly elected selectman Joe DeFreitas who will replace outgoing selectman Eric Benson.

State Rep. Sandy Haas spoke briefly to the assembly about her work in Montpelier. Noting that there are currently 1300 children in state custody, she said she was working on "a major overhaul of 40-year-old laws relating to child abuse and kids taken into custody." She mentioned that "money is tight, the economy is not great and revenues are down."

She also encouraged people to contact her, saying, "call me, e-mail me. I love to hear from people and I don’t hear enough from anybody."

School Meeting

Consensus was the rule of the evening at Bethel’s annual school board meeting Tuesday, March 4.

About the only item that did not have full consensus was the actual running time for the meeting. The official timer recorded the meeting length as 18 minutes, though many in attendance were certain that it was closer to 13 minutes. Either way, all agreed that it was the shortest school board meeting they had ever attended and that quite possibly it was a record breaker for shortest meeting.

Moderator Carroll Ketchum, treasurer Jean Burnham and attorney Debra Leahy were all unanimously re-elected by the close to 60 individuals in attendance. Joan Wortman and David Eddy were re-elected to their posts on the school board. The budget of $4,527,553 passed with not one bit of discussion from the floor and only one very faint "nay" heard from a corner of the Whitcomb High School Gym.

The most discussion of the evening occurred under other business. Commenting on the low number in attendance, Bob Dean proposed that they "go back to the old way" and hold a potluck dinner after the town meeting with the school board meeting following. His suggestion was met by applause. David Eddy explained that one reason for the current way of doing things was to accommodate superintendant Tim Mock’s schedule, noting that this was his fourth school board meeting of the day.

In response to a question by Eddy, Davis Dimmock explained how he would like to see the numbers presented in the annual report. He said it was important to understand that the common level of appraisal and the enrollment numbers affected the tax rate. He noted that if last year’s CLA had been applied to this year’s budget, this year’s tax rate would 1.1905, rather than the current 1.3482. Thus, he pointed out, the current rise in school tax rate was due to numbers outside of the school board’s control, rather than in the budget.

In closing Dimmock said, "I think this is an amazing budget, a miracle budget and I congratulate you all."

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