Proctor to fill 2 seats; budget changes small
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By Brent Curtis STAFF WRITER - Published: February 21, 2009
PROCTOR - Two contested Select Board seats and virtually flat town and school budgets await voters on Town Meeting Day.
The annual meeting will feature incumbent selectman Michael O'Malley squaring off against newcomer Sue Feenick for a three-year spot, while newcomers Bill Champine and Eric "Rick" Anderson compete for a two-year Select Board seat left empty by Peter Jalbert.
O'Malley is hoping his one year of experience as a selectman and 30 years of experience in the public sector will sway voters to return him to office.
As district manager of the Rutland Probation and Parole office, O'Malley said he learned the ins and outs of how government works - information he said would be valuable to the town moving forward.
With issues such as state-mandated changes to the town's water system and improvements and upgrades to the sewer and storm-water system on the near horizon, O'Malley said his background would be a valuable asset.
The water issue promises to be a major topic as the community tries to decide whether it should continue to use its surface water treatment plant in Pittsford or switch to using well water in town. There are also alternatives for a hybrid system that would rely on both.
O'Malley said it's too early to say which alternative is best as additional research into engineering and legal aspects of the different proposals needs to take place.
Developing schedules to replace the town's vehicles as well as to repair and maintain the town's roads is another priority for O'Malley. He also wants to improve the town garage and establish an economic development committee.
Feenick is familiar with many of the issues O'Malley wants to address and she's frustrated with the board's approach to them.
As a member of the recently created Public Works Committee - an advisory group established by the Select Board and made up of resident volunteers - Feenick said she and other members of the committee have felt stymied and unheeded by the board.
After questions to the board went unanswered, Feenick said she decided to get involved.
The owner of the Sunflower Hill Bakery said she wants answers to questions about staffing and spending that she said may be taxing residents more than needed.
Her concerns include staffing at the town's Public Works Department, spending on proposed water metering and the continued use of the surface water system, which she said would be too expensive to upgrade.
Anderson isn't Feenick's running mate. But as the retired Central Vermont Public Service director runs for the two-year seat, he and Feenick share many of the same ideas and many of the same concerns.
Also a member of the Public Works Committee, Anderson said he was frustrated earlier in the budget process when the Select Board considered raises for town employees and for themselves.
Like Feenick, Anderson said he has concerns about staffing levels in town government and doesn't think the town should even consider a surface water system, which he said would cost much more than a groundwater system.
Champine, a retired construction supervisor, has served as a lister and a member of the Planning and Zoning Boards in town for the last nine years.
Like Feenick and Anderson, Champine said residents haven't been able to get a word in edgewise during Select Board meetings that Champine complained were run like a "dictatorship."
Like the other newcomers running for the board, Champine said the town should steer away from a surface water system in favor of a groundwater system, and he said the number of town employees exceeds the need for them.
Turning to town and school budgets, the proposed $1,382,257 town budget represents a $22,894 decrease, or 1.6 percent, drop in spending from the $1,405,151 budget voters approved last year.
On the school side, the proposed $5,206,429 budget is up $58,008, or 1.1 percent, from the current $5,147,421 budget, but school officials estimate the income to taxpayers could be less this year due to income sensitivity under Act 68.
Due to a drop in equalized per pupil spending at the K-12 school, the tax rate is estimated to drop from $1.328 to $1.317.
Voters will conduct most of their business on Monday, March 2 during a floor meeting in the high school gymnasium starting at 7 p.m. Elections for candidates will be conducted by Australian ballot at the school on Tuesday, March 3, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.
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