What's Your Pleasure?

In a town where more than 95% of the people are eligible for AARP, I was expecting a quiet and to-the-point meeting. Well Ryegate you surprised me, with your feisty and rather rambunctious crew.

Starting promptly at 1 p.m., a packed house of Ryegate residents crowded into the Town Building. After the initial pomp and circumstance which included the reading of the Town Warning, Pledge of Allegiance, and an opening prayer by Rev. Catherine Cook of the Barnet Center Presbyterian Church the meeting began.

Article 1 started with the election of moderator and clerk. This was followed by the reading of Roberts Rules of Order, which led to Article 2 being opened for discussion.

The next hour and a half was strongly debated amongst the citizens. Money was the name of the game. Citizens showed great concern toward the large amount of unaccounted money, and were puzzled as to why the numbers did not add up. Although auditor Holly McClure assured no money was missing despite the differences. She further explained that the money might have been moved into a different account.

Further frustration arose once an angry citizen brought up that the minutes from 2009's Article 2 did not get published with the town's annual report. However, one resident was against amending the Annual Report. He cited the minutes' inaccuracies calling it dangerous, but was unable to elaborate. He also insinuated the selectboard, moderator, and clerk might have an ulterior motive. It was a charge Marsha Nelson, the town clerk, steadfastly denied.

The last debate for article 2 was whether or not to have an outside auditor review the city books. Since the last audit was done over ten years ago, all were in support. The divergence occurred when deciding how to fund it. One resident motioned the money come from the highway/transportation fund. The motion was voted down with a resounding "NO" from the residents, quickly followed by a thank you from the road crew, who had remained silent, until then. In the end the town voted to have the approximately $15,000 audit come from the budget. They gave the selectboard the task of finding the money from elsewhere in the budget.

After Article 2, the remaining seven passed without any resistance from the residence allowing the meeting to finish in less than thirty minutes.

BMU Budget Meeting

Last night the Blue Mountain Union School, formed by the towns of Ryegate, Groton, and Wells River, met to inform the residents of the school's budget for next year. Only about 15 people were in the audience, of which less then 10 were parents/residents.
For the year, the school is only asking for $20,000 more. However, the F.T.E. (Full Time Equivalent) of 6.7 teachers and staff members will be relieved of their duties. The principal explained that some jobs will be come part time, while others might be moved to other positions at the school. The school is also looking to expand its world language program with the help of Rosetta Stone.
The only other piece of debate came from a man that wanted to know why the school's results for NECAP New England Common Assessment Program were down from the previous year. According to the principal the school was sent two different results. They are currently awaiting the correct results, which should show some improvement.
Finally, the other topic that was touched upon was consolidation. While no school is district is safe from possibly being consolidated with others, the school board said previous inquiries showed that B.M.U. consolidation was not feasible.
All in all, in less than 45 minutes the meeting was finished and everyone seemed content with the information that was presented to them.

Final Countdown

In about 24 hours, the towns people of Ryegate will be meeting to commence Town Meeting Day 2010. This being my first go for Town Meeting Day I am nervous and excited. Hopefully, residence will be there in full force to make it a great day.
See ya'll soon.

Town Warning

The town warning is fairly short, fits all on one page, where with other towns in the area there are several pages of articles. For Ryegate it is business as normal,

Articles 1, 3, 5, & 6 discuss the ELECTIONS of a town clerk, moderator, school board directors, tax collecor, and all necessary town officials.

Article 2 will include REPORTS from town officers with discussion to follow, then they will vote on a BUDGET for 2010.

Article 4 COLLECTS all the TAXES.

Article 7 will allow for the selectmen to BORROW MONEY if the town has to.

Article 8 will decide whether or not to RAISE TAXES if necessary.

Article 9 deals with any NONBINDING business.

Auditor's Narrative & What It Means

So for the last two years auditors have been working diligently to bring more transparency to the towns people of Ryegate Vermont. In this years annual report they have numbers that go back as far as 12 years, a drastic improvement from years past.
But this year they have also spoke out. In the Auditor's Narrative they question some of the moves by the town administration and selectboard. Most notably why the town has chosen to retain the Vermont League of Towns and Cities as it health care provider, while other providers could be chosen at a considerable savings. Another issue is the towns accounting. The way it is currently tracked, transparency is near impossible and the Fund Balances are unable to be reconciled.
So while I have said in a previous blog that it should be a fairly non-eventful Town Meeting Day, if the people of Ryegate want to know where THEIR money is going, it might be best to ask the tough questions.

What's On The Docket This Year?

So far this year Ryegate looks to have a quiet year at Town Meeting. I spoke to Marsha Nelson the town clerk on Monday and about the only thing she expects some debate over is what the town auditors have to said in an "Auditors Narrative." I will further describe was it says in another blog. Also, there will be a school board informational hearing Monday March 1, 2010 at Blue Mountain Union Library at 7 pm. Voting will start the next day. But so far the only other big thing would be a projected $200,000 deficit the town is expecting. Tune in after Town Meeting Day for a full recap of what the residents have to say.

View Larger Map