Brookfield Votes ‘Stimulus’ Package

By Norman Runnion

Brookfield Town Meeting members loaded up the town budget with their own stimulus package Tuesday, rejecting some proposed cuts, adding other expenses and bluntly turning down an attempt by selectmen to reduce their own modest salaries.

Not only that on this topsy-turvy Tuesday at the elementary school, but John Benson, who was decisively defeated a year ago in his attempt to retain his selectboard seat, was resoundingly put back on the board, beating two challengers. Benson, the town's fire chief and a professional engineer by career, replaces John K. Sprague, who retired after one year on the board. Sprague publicly endorsed Benson, as did seven other former selectmen.

Benson's supporters waged one of the most sophisticated campaigns for local office seen in this town in quite a while, including many signs, flyers and phone calls. The result: 216 votes for Benson, against 72 for five-year resident Thomas Anderson, and nine for Donald Taylor Jr., who is so new to town that hardly anyone knew him.

On the school side, Jen Messier won a write-in vote to replace outgoing director Robert Decker, who retired.

The elementary school budget, often a flashpoint at Town Meeting, passed 190-104.

As for the town budget, which grew in size as the meeting progressed, the anti-recessionary spending plan reflected the desires of Town Meeting voters to support projects they thought were needed by their fellow townspeople. That included paying the three selectmen up to $1,500 a year for their services, as against a selectboard proposal of $300 per person per year.

Justin Poulin, in his second year on the board, said the original proposal was for a zero dollar increase, adding, “we’re not here for the money.” From the floor, his wife supported the idea of limiting the salaries.

But Town Meeting would have none of that. A motion to pay the town fathers (there are no mothers on the board) $1,500 a year, drew a loud affirmative vote without an audible dissent.

Poulin called the town and highway budgets, which came to a total of $371,426.77, fiscally responsible. In fact they were $1885.12 more than the selectmen originally budgeted. This included $1,000 plugged in by floor vote for the Boys and Girls Club and $500 for both the Orange County Parent Child Center and Kids Place. Poulin said these requests came in too late to be included in the printed town report. Supporters of the organizations verbally disputed that, and voters put the requested funds back in.

Also, at the request of town clerk Jane Woodruff, voters restored $550 for an assistant treasurer whom Treasurer-Town Clerk Woodruff said would have the authority to sign checks in her absence. In a quickly corrected flub, moderator Richard Mallary had put the part-time salary at $550,000 which sounded more like a Brookfield bail-out of some bank.

On the other hand, voters turned down a requested $30 for "dues" to the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council and $633.50 in "dues" to Green Mountain Economic Development, not because of the money involved but because no one from either outfit showed up to explain the requests, which were put on the ballot by petition.

However, voters readily approved $500 for the Randolph Area Food Shelf. Demand is up in these tough times, it was explained, and so are food prices.

After some confusion over definitions, voters authorized a property tax deduction for the seven war veterans in town who are 50% or more physically disabled because of their military service

The White River Ambulance Service, which serves many area towns but which has been asked by member communities recently to get its financial affairs in better order, received its requested $70,693, the most ever. One family, which lives near Chelsea, wondered why people couldn't call their nearest ambulance rather than White River, which operates out of its garage on Route 14 between Randolph and Bethel.

On highway matters, voters approved $18,800 as Brookfield's share of culvert work and resurfacing of Stone Road. The state will pay more than $75,000 of the $94,000 cost. Also approved was $8,000 to repair Witts Bridge, Maloney Bridge and Old Post Road Bridge, with priority going to Witts bridge.

In contrast to last year’s meeting, there was no controversy on the $514,430.09 highway budget. A year ago, discontent and outright anger about road issues led to the resignation of the highway superintendent and the defeat of selectman Benson who was the board’s point man then on road issues. This year, Benson was resurrected and redeemed.

In daylong balloting, voters appropriated $1,370,234 to operate the elementary school, a slight increase over last year's total. Nevertheless, voters rejected the plea by Gov. James Douglas to level-fund all school budgets in the state. The vote was 190-104 with eight blank ballots.

Voters approved by identical 231-67 margins the sum of $50,000 from surplus funds for the school bus replacement fund and $64,350, also from surplus funds, for support of the building maintenance fund.

Board chairman James Merriam noted that school maintenance staff had made improvements to the building in the past year, including new lighting for the assembly hall where Town Meeting was held before a standing-room only audience.

Thanks to a newly enacted law, there was actually some floor discussion about school issues, which normally is forbidden under the Australian ballot form of daylong voting. There was some discussion Tuesday of spending items, including special education costs.

Joan Bott of East Brookfield expressed concern that the large Randolph Union High School budgets get only token scrutiny at individual union-wide meetings. She expressed a wish, and was supported by those still in attendance, that a way could be found to allow Brookfield to actually discuss and vote on its shares of the union budgets.

Richard Mallary was reelected town and school moderator. Jane Woodruff won reelection as town clerk and treasurer, Stuart Edson will again be lister for three years, and Charles Barnum, Jean Doane and Pat Nash will be grand jurors. Barnum will be agent to deed land. Florence Barnum was reelected delinquent tax collector. Brookfield has $186,285.30 in delinquent taxes going back to 2003.

Also elected were Jon Binhammer, town forester; Michael Lefebvre, first constable; John Tassie, second constable; David Alexander, lister; Bonnie Fallon, cemetery trustee; and Kym Anderson and Christa Wurm, library trustees, Jan Messier won a three-year term on the town school board.

In a brief presentation, students in Pond Village resident Greg Wight’s engineering class at Norwich University briefed everyone on their findings about the ailing and closed Floating Bridge. It needs some new flotation devices and abutment work, they said, all of which would have to be financed by the state Agency of Transportation. The agency's response, they indicated, was “dream on.”