BELLOWS FALLS — If one were to go by the minutes of the public hearing held Sept. 4 to review the Charter revisions approved by the Rockingham Selectboard and Bellows Falls Village Trustees in March, nothing much occurred and no specific comments were made.
The public hearing was meant to solicit feedback on the results of the yearlong work, and a possible vote.
Yet, witnessing the hearing, it is clear several things occurred that were not noted in the minutes, not the least of which was the unexpected appearance of a further revised version of the Village Charter.
This was accomplished during an ad hoc committee meeting on Aug. 31, apparently at the behest of Town Hall, which “had questions,” according to Municipal Manager Tim Cullenen.
According to Village President Roger Riccio, he, the town manager, clerk Doreen Aldrich, and Selectboard Chair Thom MacPhee met on Aug. 31.
“It just happened. We just went over it, nothing was changed. It was only highlighted in red,” Riccio told Mary Barber, who questioned the “transparency” of calling such a meeting. Barber also asked why MacPhee was present.
“Tom MacPhee is a village resident,” Riccio replied. “Selectboard chair is his title,” explaining why that designation was included when noting who was at the meeting.
Bob DeRusha commented, “It feels like a little bit of an end run. I don't understand why it took until Friday. Government should be transparent.”
He noted that the revisions that the committee came up with were “online for months for the public to review.”
“Who spearheaded the ad hoc committee on Friday?” asked DeRusha.
“The [Town Hall] clerks, Mr. MacPhee, and Roger [Riccio] and me,” Town Manager Tim Cullenen replied. “They were concerned about some of the comments.”
Clerk Doreen Aldrich said that her questions had been about the roles of some of the officers, “...which Donna [Harty] clarified” for her, she explained.
“The Charter was brought to us to go over. I had some questions about abatement because the listers were not included, and the other was on the treasurer. I always thought the treasurer was the tax collector, but the manager's office appoints them,” Aldrich explained.
With the appearance of the “highlighted in red” version by the ad hoc committee, the purpose of the hearing became moot, and the residents who attended noted that without the same consideration as the original revision, an informed decision could not be made on that document.
Attorney and resident Michael Harty made note of the process that had occurred, that the version originally intended to be discussed and voted on that evening was the result of the work of several committees in the last few years.
“The Board of Trustees chose to warn this set of hearings in a meeting. As I understand it, there are two hearings - the first one to solicit any comments on the older printed document and whatever any of us might propose that we liked or disliked,” Harty said. “The second hearing appears to have a deadline [following the approval] - you need to do a lot in a short amount of time.”
He also said the only real issue he had with the highlighted newer revision was that “it may appear to have come from Town Hall.”
He then asked Riccio how he intended to proceed.
“Open it up for comments,” Riccio replied.
Comments on the Trustee-approved version of the Charter never really took off during the hearing, as the public sentiment in the room seemed stuck on what residents perceived as a breach of trust that the Open Meeting Law may have been violated, and that Riccio's explanations of the meeting fell short of his responsibility to the public in his office.
Some residents felt that the “highlighted” revision could be viewed as a move toward the “M-word,” merger, which has not been on the table for discussion since 2010.
Several residents pleaded with the Village President “not to betray our trust” by holding unannounced meetings without the approval of the people they represent.
In the end, it was decided to cancel the second public hearing, as well as the Oct. 4 vote, remanding them to a later date to be decided.
Charter Revision Committee member and Trustee Deborah Wright clarified in an email, “The next [committee] meeting is being warned for Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. to get things going again... back to the table to smooth this all out.”
Trustee, and committee member Andrew Smith had this comment following the hearing, “The revised Charter approved last spring by the Village Trustees was carefully considered. I was pleased to see the Charter Committee's revisions supported a broad-based Village governance, and robust checks and balances.”
Cullenen said, “It is probably better that the process was slowed down a bit so that the Trustees could spend more time on considering possible changes. Several [Trustees] expressed concerns on not understanding previous or current suggested changes.”
Wright noted, “The same Trustee-appointed committee will carry on, with some additional appointments, which we are working on right now.” She added that “the Trustees already voted and passed the current Charter revisions now available on the Village/Town website. The unauthorized revisions will be considered as we continue.”