I’m writing about three major concerns impacting Waitsfield and our neighbors.
While we must respect the voted will of Waitsfield citizens regarding a municipal wastewater system there are still questions. How will a small group of voluntary users shoulder the cost? Despite assurances to the contrary, does future flooding present a risk to the system’s operation? Does user data for both the Waitsfield water system and the Warren wastewater collection system (an inquiry into each will surprise you) inform what percentage of capacity is likely to be used?
By my calculation property taxes increased by something in the range of 35% in one year and are expected to increase this year. For how many years thereafter? It seems the board is content to do the math and send us tax bills. And we become resigned to this seemingly unrelenting exaction of payment for services. Make no mistake, the vast bulk of these increases are a function of school budget demands. Where’s the survey testing public sentiment? Where’s the concerted Valley town effort to be heard? Have we implored our reps to get onto this? Isn’t the League of Cities and Towns the perfect vessel to take this on? Without a head-on assault this town, and those nearby, will become a haven for only the well-heeled from elsewhere.
Aren’t the services and availability of our health center precisely at Vermont scale? Don’t we have a perfect match? Are we bankrupting this medical institution? Is more industrialized medical care somehow a better fit? In Vermont? And to make matters much worse, those who know more than me about the cause(s) for the imminent closure of our medical center share a common frustration; that is, they also are unable to ferret out a clear, cogent explanation. I read cogent pieces by very informed people taking on this decision. Thank you! Should the towns officially align with the objectors? It is not enough to occupy the sidelines, as town leaders, while a widely-used and supported local benefit falls to some ill-defined, corporate edict to lock the doors.
Sal Spinosa
Waitsfield
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