ATHENS — By a 43-40 Australian ballot vote, a proposed town plan was defeated at the March 3 Town Meeting.
Athens is the only community in Windham County without a town plan, according to the Windham Regional Commission (WRC).
Generally, a Town Plan is written by a town's Planning Commission, adopted by the Selectboard and, if a community chooses to do so, approved by a regional commission such as WRC.
Towns aren't required to have town plans by the state, but the WRC suggests that towns “wishing to have a strong hand in Act 250 applications need to have a town plan, duly adopted by the Selectboard, that protects their interests and those of its townspeople.”
Also, if a town “wishes to be eligible for State Municipal Planning Grants to further their planning processes, such as updating zoning or subdivision regulations, or conducting special studies,” the WRC suggests that towns have their plans approved by the commission, “which will also confirm [the town's] planning processes.”
Despite reassurances by the Planning Commission that the proposed Town Plan was not a legally binding document and that it did not abridge the property rights of residents, it generated controversy in the weeks leading up to Annual Town Meeting.
A Feb. 26 informational hearing on the plan turned into a debate over the birthplaces of the Planning Commission members.
Resident Ken Davis said at the meeting he was upset that not one of the three members of the commission - Sandi Capponcelli, Lois Sippel, and Tim Stevenson - were “native” Vermonters, and said that the town would be “better off” without the non-natives derisively called “flatlanders.”
Other business
Voters also adopted a $400,000 town budget, but rejected the proposed Athens/Grafton Joint Contract budget of $1,477,168 for the education of students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
The school budget vote was moot, however.
The figure will still be adopted because it was approved by Grafton voters. Athens' share of the joint contract is $580,230.
The town also has $133,736 in expenses for tuition for students in grades 7 and 8, plus $67,363 in special education expenses associated with those students, according to Windham Northeast Superintendent Chris Kibbe.