GUILFORD — Even if you're not able to attend Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 5, it's important for Guilford residents to vote by Australian ballot on the Flood and Fluvial Erosion Hazard ordinance.
Absentee ballots are available from the Town Clerk.
A no vote lets the ordinance stand as enacted by the Selectboard last November, after nearly two years of research and deliberations.
A yes vote overturns the ordinance.
Although some regard the ordinance as a burdensome regulation, in fact it protects us all from the increasingly negative impacts of extreme weather events.
It is designed to minimize threats to life and safety caused by flooding, protect individual homes, outbuildings, and properties from flood and erosion damage, reduce damage to town infrastructure such as roads and bridges, provide additional FEMA funds to offset costly repairs to town infrastructure, and increase Guilford's flood resilience in the long term.
The Conservation Commission unanimously supports the ordinance because we are charged with safeguarding the town's natural resources for future generations - which is exactly what the ordinance does.