Williston Observer

By Tom Gresham
Observer staff

Williston voters who attend Town Meeting on Feb. 28 will consider a proposal to sharply reduce the late penalty on tax payments.

Currently, taxpayers who do not make a payment by the final due date of the year are charged a penalty of 8 percent of the taxes still owed for the year. Under the new proposal, the penalty would be reduced to 1 percent.

Town Manager Rick McGuire said the town currently receives about $45,000 in revenues from late penalties. The proposal would cut the amount to approximately $5,000. If approved, the new penalty would be implemented in the 2006-07 fiscal year.

McGuire, who also serves as the town’s collector of delinquent taxes, proposed the change for the Town Meeting Day agenda, saying the 8 percent late fee was extreme and especially burdensome for financially strapped residents.

McGuire said state law had required the 8 percent penalty for years before the Vermont Legislature changed the law last year to give municipalities more control over the late fee they charge. According to McGuire, the 8 percent fee had originally been designed to serve as a commission to pay the municipalities’ collectors of delinquent taxes.

However, Williston, like many other towns, no longer pay a commission to the collector, who is often a town employee. In fact, McGuire said he is prohibited from receiving a commission in his post as town manager.

McGuire said taxpayers’ reactions when learning of the 8 percent late fee over the years have often ranged from shock to anger. He said the proposed reduction in the late payment is particularly designed to aid people who do not have the money to make their payment by the deadline — instead of those who merely forgot or procrastinated too long.

“There is a group who knows about the tax deadlines and remembers them but they are not in a financial position to make them,” McGuire said. “Then, you add the 8 percent on top of that and you really start to dig a deeper and deeper hole for them.”

The owner of a $200,000 residence would have had a total property tax bill of $3,180 in the current fiscal year. The final payment was due earlier this month. If the owner of a $200,000 home had made the prescribed payments on the first two installments of the year, but then missed the third, he or she would have been charged an $84.80 penalty on top of the $1,060 payment.

For those people who missed all or part of their property tax payments on the first two installments, the penalty can be particularly steep, because the 8 percent is applied to the entire amount still owed for the year.

In addition, the town charges 1 percent interest for the first three months it has not received the full payment and 1.5 percent interest after that.

The proposed due dates for the tax payments for the 2005-06 fiscal year are Aug. 10, Nov. 10 and Feb. 10. Approving the due dates will also be on the Town Meeting agenda.

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The Associated Press

RICHMOND — Virginia Cochran, whose name has been entwined with Vermont's skiing heritage for more than four decades, has died at the age of 76.

Cochran, known as Ginny, started the Cochran Ski Area in Richmond with her husband, Mickey, in 1961 and over the years taught more than 10,000 children to ski. She also helped her own four children and 10 grandchildren become top skiers — with some joining the U.S. Ski Team and one winning an Olympic gold medal.

Cochran died Saturday at Vermont Respite House in Williston of complications from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Mickey Cochran died in 1998.

The Cochran Ski Area began as a family affair when the couple moved to a former dairy farm along the Winooski River. They soon constructed a rope tow for their children: son Bob and daughters Marilyn, Barbara Ann and Lindy.

Barbara Ann went on to earn the 1972 Olympic gold medal in slalom at Sapporo, Japan. In 1969, Marilyn was the first American to win a World Cup in the giant slalom.

“From the start, neighbors wanted to ski their hill,” said David Healy, a friend of the Cochrans, “so Ginny opened her back door and welcomed them in. Her kitchen became the lodge.”

The ski area was a modest business offering affordable access to the sport. “They ran a small mom-and-pop operation,” Healy said, “and it's the nation's first nonprofit ski area.”

In the winter nowadays, 800 schoolchildren come to ski at Cochran's each week, he said. Many of them are from area schools’ ski and ride programs, including one from Williston.

Ginny Cochran, who hailed from Hartland Four Corners, met Mickey on a ski trip to Stowe while both were UVM students in the late 1940s. They married in 1949 and moved to Windsor, where Mickey taught high school science.

“They skied with their kids at Mount Ascutney,” Healy said, “but they came back to Burlington in 1958. He worked as an engineer at General Electric.”

With the purchase of about 190 acres in Richmond, however, the Cochran clan didn't have to stray far from home to indulge their love of the slopes.

“The kids were already racing at Smugglers' Notch,” Healy said. “Mickey recognized they needed to practice during the week. His goal was to give them a place to train after school.”

As the ski area grew in popularity, the Cochrans added to the property. They bought another 140 acres in 1965. The facility includes eight trails, four lifts and a T-bar. Other lodges were built, allowing the family to reclaim its kitchen; the most recent one went up in 1984.

Observer staff contributed to this report.

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By Tom Gresham
Observer staff

Andy Mikell and Kermit LaClair can each claim deep roots in Williston. Mikell grew up in town and moved back in 1987 following graduation from law school, while LaClair has lived in Williston for more than 40 years. Both have witnessed dramatic changes in their hometown, and both are largely pleased with the evolution.

Now they hope to participate directly in Williston’s governance the next three years. Mikell and LaClair are running against each other for an open Selectboard seat on the March 1 ballot.

Mikell, a lawyer, previously served five years on the Williston School Board. A self-described “a middle-of-the-road” Democrat, Mikell was appointed to the Selectboard in October to fill an interim post vacated when Mike Kanfer resigned.

LaClair, the Williston School District’s buildings and grounds supervisor, is the acting town constable, which requires him to serve court papers occasionally. LaClair said he is a Republican.

Mikell said he decided to seek the interim spot on the Selectboard partly because he wanted to better understand town issues. He said his short time on the board has already given him a new perspective.

An example, Mikell said, is the topic of sewer and subdivision regulations. He referred to the board’s recent discussions of proposed changes to the rules as “exciting,” because they could promote affordable housing and guide future development.

From the outset of his interim stint on the Selectboard, Mikell has demonstrated a willingness to speak forcefully on topics — sometimes against the tide of the rest of the board.

For instance, Mikell made a vigorous argument in January against a proposal to remove $27,000 from the municipal budget for the demolition of the Workers in Wood building in the village. Mikell said town residents had already decided years ago that the building should be razed, and he said the board was trying to “artificially” reduce the budget to make it more appealing to voters. Mikell was on the losing end of a 4-1 vote, with the majority deciding to keep the building. LaClair believes the building should be used instead of demolished.

“Because all of this stuff is new to me, I tend to ask a lot of questions and maybe look at the issues a little differently,” Mikell said. “There were a lot of 4-1 and 3-2 votes on the School Board when I was there. That might make me a bit of a wild card, but mostly I think I’m just doing a different analysis of some things.”

LaClair promises to be similarly opinionated. He said he believes the current Selectboard has largely done a good job of overseeing the town’s services and keeping spending subdued, but he said he has disagreed with several of the board’s decisions in recent years.

For instance, LaClair said he was prompted to run for the Selectboard in part because of the board’s approval — before Mikell was appointed — of interim regulations for the town’s Agricultural-Rural District. LaClair, who lives on farmland off Vermont Route 2A in the district, worries that the existing regulations and proposed permanent rules will severely limit the ability of landowners to build on their property.

“We’re getting out of control on the controls,” LaClair said. “We shouldn’t take away people’s rights.”

LaClair also said the Selectboard made a mistake last month when it voted 5-0 to approve providing $147,300 in funding to help the Chittenden Country Transportation Authority continue a bus line that travels through town. Mikell was among the board members who voted for the funding.

LaClair said too few Williston residents use the bus lines to justify the cost.

LaClair said he wants to add some diversity to the Selectboard. He said he is not referring to political diversity, though, if elected, he would be the only Republican on the board. He said he instead means a diversity of work experience.

He said he spent years constructing roads and buildings in the U.S. Air Force. LaClair said that experience would benefit the board and give it a different perspective as it considers development issues.

Both candidates pointed to the continuing discussion and study of the Circumferential Highway, a portion of which would run through Williston, as a topic of critical importance to the town.

Mikell said he believes the Selectboard should stay attuned to the Circ’s environmental impact study review process and contribute to the public discussion of the project when appropriate. He said he has an open mind about what the ultimate solution should be.

LaClair, meanwhile, simply believes the Circ should be built as soon as possible. In fact, he said the Circ should have been built 20 years ago. He said an alternative proposal recently floated by a coalition of environmental groups that would include installing a series of roundabouts along Route 2A is not a practical solution.

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By Tom Gresham
Observer staff

Reluctant homeowners have thrown up an obstacle to bike path construction in Williston, according to a project manager working for the town.

David Spitz told the Selectboard on Feb. 7 that securing easements from some residents to accommodate new proposed paths in Williston has been nettlesome, particularly for routes planned alongside North Williston Road and Mountain View Road.

Voters approved a $2.6 million bond in March to fund the construction of four new bike paths. The town is currently targeting three of them. They are U.S. Route 2 from Brownell Road to Helena Drive, Mountain View Road from North Williston Road to Old Stage Road and North Williston Road from U.S. Route 2 to Mountain View Road.

Spitz was hired in the spring to shepherd the projects through the permit, easement and construction processes.

Williston Public Works Director Neil Boyden said public rights-of-way on Mountain View and North Williston are each significantly narrower than the right-of-way on U.S. Route 2. As a result, the town needs cooperation from property owners in some locations along those roads to build the envisioned 10-foot wide paths.

Spitz said Boyden and the committee that helped formulate plans for the paths were averse to narrowing them to 8 feet in places where property issues arose. Spitz said the bike paths in Stowe and Burlington are each 8 feet wide, but are now regarded as too narrow to accommodate a mix of recreational users. Boyden said bike paths less than 10 feet also pose maintenance issues.

The town could condemn the portion of property owners’ lands it needs for the paths or purchase the easements, but Boyden said both options are ones the town would prefer to avoid.

Boyden said the town might construct some stretches of the paths where it can receive the necessary easements.

Sewer expansion

Town Manager Rick McGuire reported the town negotiated an agreement to contribute $9,000 more to the wastewater treatment plant expansion project in Essex Junction.

The expansion was expected to be completed in the fall, but McGuire informed the Selectboard last month that the new capacity system had failed its operational tests. NECCO, a Waitsfield-based contractor, told the town the project would require an additional $30,000 investment to be finished.

NECCO and the engineering firm Dubois & King will share the additional $21,000 in costs. NECCO submitted a low bid of $717,777 last year and was selected for the expansion project.

McGuire said there were sufficient funds in the town’s budget for the project to include the additional $9,000.

Selectboard member Jeff Fehrs said he did not believe Williston should have been required to shoulder any of the burden.

“I’m unhappy with that,” Fehrs said.

McGuire said last month the goal is to have the new sewer capacity of 200,000 gallons per day on line by July 1. The modifications to the expansion have already been completed, and testing is underway. The next step would be state certification, which takes about a month.

Bridge report

The Selectboard received an inspection report from the Vermont Agency of Transportation on the Industrial Avenue bridge.

The report characterizes the bridge as being in satisfactory to fair condition. It cites concerns with a crack that has formed on an abutment and says the guardrail approaches do not meet the current standards.

In a memo, Williston Public Works Director Neil Boyden said the town would address the guardrail approaches in the spring and continue to monitor the abutment concerns.

Boyden said the bridge, which was built in 1964, has received significant maintenance over the past 10 years and belongs in the state’s bridge replacement program.

“This is a long and expensive process and I will get it started soon,” Boyden wrote.

Green buildings

Gary Hawley, a member of the Williston Conservation Commission, spoke to the Selectboard about adopting a policy on energy efficiency in new public buildings.

Hawley said the increased expenses of building “green” facilities would be more than offset by the reduced costs of operating the buildings.

Board members demonstrated interest in fashioning a policy and decided Hawley should work with Town Manager Rick McGuire and Town Planner Lee Nellis to draft a proposal.

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By Tom Gresham
Observer staff

A Williston police officer was injured last week when a Burlington man turned combative while in custody.

Williston Officer Jon Marcoux suffered sprains to his right wrist, elbow and shoulder when he struggled with Roy Porta, 22, on Feb. 3 at Fletcher Allen Health Care. Marcoux and Officer Randall Tucker had transported Porta to the hospital for examination.

Marcoux was treated and released from the hospital. He said Friday the injuries were not serious and would not restrict him in his duties.

Porta made a phone call to Williston’s emergency dispatch line at 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 3 from All Cycle on Avenue B, according to Williston Police Chief Ozzie Glidden. Porta claimed people were outside the facility with guns and he thought he had heard shots, Glidden said.

Marcoux and Tucker reported to the scene and found no evidence of anyone who was armed. The officers arrested Porta on a charge of making a false report and took him to Fletcher Allen for evaluation, Glidden said. Porta first resisted officers when they attempted to place him in the back of a police cruiser.

While at Fletcher Allen, Porta again resisted when officers attempted to move him within the hospital, Marcoux said. Initially, he refused to cooperate and then he pushed officers and tried to escape, Marcoux said. Porta was in handcuffs.

Marcoux said he was injured when he and Tucker pulled Porta to the floor in order to control him.

Police charged Porta with two counts of disorderly conduct, one count of making a false report, one count of assaulting a police officer and one count of resisting arrest. He was cited to appear March 7 in Vermont District Court.

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