The sidewalk snow removal committee formed several months ago by the Woodstock Village Trustees has recommended four separate options to be voted on at the Annual Village Meeting on March 20.
All four items were approved by the Village Trustees on Tuesday night, to be added to the Village Meeting Warning. Here are all four options, with tax impacts that are listed in the full report (available for viewing at the Woodstock Town Hall):
Option #1:
To add $100,000 to the Village budget with $70,000 budgeted for winter sidewalk snow removal and $30,000 budgeted for summer highway maintenance work. (Would add 4 cents to the Village tax rate, which translates to approximately $40 per $100,000 of valuation – making it the most expensive of the four options.
Option #2:
To add $45,000 to the Village budget, contracting out winter sidewalk snow removal. (Would add 2 cents to the Village tax rate, which translates to approximately $20 per $100,000 of valuation.
Option #3:
To add $23,000 to the Village budget, paying $100 to each abutter of a Village sidewalk and $300 for abutters with sidewalks long than 200 feet. (Would add a little less than 1 cent to the Village tax rate, which translates to a little less than $10 per $100,000 of valuation.
Option #4:
Keep the current ordinance. No changes.
It was noted several times at Tuesday’s meeting that there was consensus – but not unanimous approval – for these items in the special sidewalk snow removal committee formed to explore options for Village-wide snow removal.
Regarding the first option, Village resident Corwin Sharp questioned whether the Village would be able to clear snow from the approximately 6.5 miles of sidewalk that exists in the Village with 1 full-time employee and a part-time seasonal employee.
Municipal Manager Phil Swanson told Trustees he is confident the Village could do so, and Village Trustee Bob Pear, a member of the committee, noted that Springfield has 30 miles of sidewalk and has two workers for snow removal. The committee spoke with officials from about 50 Vermont towns, some of which have similar systems with the same amount of employees in charge of sidewalk snow clearing.
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 
Posted by Pat Crocker on February 17, 2012 at 11:23
Notwithstanding an off-the-cuff interpretation from the VLCT, pending is further information from the FHWA Office of Civil Rights that would render several of these options moot because the municipality must comply with Section 504 of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and cannot require individuals or businesses to stand in their shoes and perform winter maintenance on public rights of way constructed in whole or part with federal funding . http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/civilrights/programs/ada_sect504qa.htm#q2
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Posted by Peter Saman on February 17, 2012 at 15:53
Also approved by the Trustees, and included in the Village Meeting Agenda, is a Voter Petitioned Article which asks,”Do you support the Trustee Repeal of Woodstock Village Ordinance 7402 a – d?” 7402 is the current ordinance that: requires 127 property owners in the Village to pay the entire expense of clearing the 6.2 miles of Village owned sidewalks while leaving the other 424 property owners with a bill of $0.00,- that includes the 127 property owners in liability risk they would otherwise not be facing,- that violates the ADA requirements as described above, – that produces unequal taxation among Village Property Owners and, if litigated, would most likely result in being ruled unconstitutional as a very similar ordinance was in New Hampshire, – that produces widely disparate and dangerous walking surfaces from property to property and disregards public safety entirely. Approving this article will say enough is enough. The effects of 7402 is not what we want our community to stand for, be aligned with and to be known for. Please attend the Village Meeting on March 20, 2012, 7:00pm at Town Hall and vote you mind.
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Posted by fromhere/comehere on February 17, 2012 at 23:11
Chester Atwood and Vilas Bridge did a wonderful job and are now more appreciated then ever !!!
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Posted by Corwin Sharp on February 18, 2012 at 07:47
Actually, my comment was about the tax implications of the first option and not about the number of miles to be cleared of snow. I simply asked that the wording on the ballot be clarified to note the tax increase directly related to snow removal and that amount be separated out from that part of the increase related to summer services of the additional village employee.
All this being said, the ADA concerns expressed by Ms. Crocker and Mr. Saman above cast this discussion in a totally different light. This will not go away!
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Posted by Julia Carlisle on February 18, 2012 at 12:04
Corwin, thank you for the clarification for us. Appreciate it. WEB
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