Woodstock Early Bird The Early Bird Gets the Worm: earlybirdtips@gmail.com

Editor’s Note: We erred in referring to Mr. Williams as living on High Street. He lives on River Street. WEB

Woodstock Village Trustees on Tuesday night voted unanimously to form a committee that will aid them  in crafting a ballot item about sidewalk snow removal for Village Meeting 2012. The move was prompted by a presented citizen  petition and the overwhelming evidence of a large turnout  for the issue at their regular meeting Tuesday night.

Although  there are no details on wording  yet, the ballot item will ask Village voters whether they want the Village to take on the full costs of all Village sidewalk snow removal. The committee is to  form a dollar estimate  for such a potential new responsibility.

In 2004, when this issue broiled to the surface before, a study was commissioned which  estimated  Village snow removal  would cost just over $191,000, according to Town Hall records. That was with a hypothetical snow removal plan that  split up the plow/shovel plan  into three Village sections, with three different contractors doing the work in each section  after each snowfall.

However, at a recent meeting this Fall (reported by Woodstock Early Bird), Town Manager Phil Swanson referred to that 2004 amount but was countered by Woodstock Village Trustee Bob Pear who suggested based on  his own informal,  independent study that the cost might only be in the range of  $25K for  potential cost if the Village were to assume responsibility for clearing its six miles of sidewalks.

According to Municipal Manager Phil Swanson, there are currently 15 sections of sidewalk (including those which  are on bridges, etc.) where the Village already performs and provides  snow removal. Swanson said the Village currently spends  $14,000 a year to remove snow from 3,500 feet of sidewalk.

Last  night, Village resident Steve Williams,  of River Street, handed in a petition with 49 signatures asking that the Village take on the cost of sidewalk snow removal.  However, according to Town Hall officials Wednesday morning who reviewed the document,  not all of the signatures were from Village residents. Nevertheless, judging from the turnout last night, Trustees have already seen a clear community interest in pursuing the issue.

As he unveiled the petition, Williams said some residents were “doubly burdened” with the sidewalk shoveling duties, since Village snow plows frequently come back after residents have cleared sidewalks and simply re-fill the sidewalks  pushing more snow back onto cleared areas.  “We have to do it twice,” William said.

Some residents, who are physically unable to do the shoveling, have taken issue with having to pay someone else to do the work which, of course, costs them money which they may not have.  However, other residents made it clear they do not want to pay any additional taxes to fund the work. Fire Chief L.D. Sutherland, Jr. said, “There’s what we need, and what we can afford, and I certainly can’t afford to see my taxes keep going up and going up because of special interest groups that have desires.”

Despite those who might roll their eyes at the creation of another “committee”, often used in the political world  as a way to put off decision-making, interest in the new  sidewalk shoveling group was instant  Tuesday night, with several people volunteering on the spot. Anyone interested in serving should  contact the Woodstock Municipal Offices at (802) 457-3456.

The Village Trustees will be conducting interviews to select committee members in the coming weeks.

In order to  get a snow removal item on the 2012 Village Meeting ballot, the Trustees must sign a  warning in early February. So the new group needs to be formed and complete  its recommendations within the next six weeks.