This story first appeared in the January 6th print edition of the Vermont Standard.
By Gareth Henderson
Standard Staff
The voters in the Town of Woodstock will decide on Jan. 25 how they want to vote on a proposed land purchase connected with a new plan for a village snow dump. The selectboard voted at a warned budget meeting on Dec. 22 to hold the special meeting.
At the heart of this matter is a proposal for the town and village to jointly purchase 5.08 acres of land near the East End, which would then be exchanged for a new site for the village snow dump. If the plan goes forward, a town meeting vote on the proposal is expected. Relocation of the current snow dump in the village’s “jungle” area is part of a long-anticipated effort to beautify the community’s East End. Proponents say this will lead to more recreational land and tax-generating commercial development.
The purpose of the Jan. 25 meeting is to see whether town voters want to vote on this plan by Australian ballot or from the floor at Woodstock Town Meeting on March 1, according to Municipal Manager Phil Swanson. The town voted in the 1930s to elect its public officials by Australian ballot, Swanson said. But the town has always voted its budgets and public policy matters by voice vote. The choice between the two, however, has sometimes been controversial. A case in point was a recent selectboard proposal to purchase the former A&B Motors property on South Street, which was voted from the floor.
“Some people thought A&B Motors should have been done by Australian ballot,” Swanson said. “We’re giving people the chance to decide for themselves whether they want to have a voice vote or Australian ballot.”
Selectboard Chair Jack Anderson said the selectboard would probably not take a position on the matter, but he pointed out some of the issues at hand. For instance, he said there could be a discussion about the land purchase at town meeting, but many more people who came to the polls might not have been at the discussion.
“If we’re going to do Australian ballot, people have to know what’s going on,” Anderson said.
Mary MacVey of Sustainable Woodstock’s East End Action Group, which first proposed the land purchase, said the Jan. 25 meeting was a chance to involve the wider community.
“We welcome every opportunity to involve the public, and this is certainly one of them,” MacVey said. She pointed out that the land purchase plan has always been a “grassroots effort.”
“Before the village and town meetings, we will certainly have more public information sessions,” MacVey said.
The Woodstock Village Trustees on Jan. 4 warned a special village meeting for Feb. 8, which will ask village voters if they want to decide the land purchase by Australian ballot or voice vote.
