Morgan Town Meeting

Beavers, energy upgrades, a quiet mic

by Gabrielle Gervais

MORGAN — “This is a very quiet group,” Town Moderator Kathy Austin joked with the generally hushed crowd of about 40 townspeople gathered in Morgan on Monday evening. “I have a gavel but I don’t think I’ll need it.”

Ahead of the meeting, pleasant greetings helped warm folks coming in from the frigid weather.  As Morgan neighbors trickled into the E. Taylor Hatton Elementary School building, they engaged in catch-up conversations, shared smiles and plenty of hugs.

By the door, Circle of Friends was set up with a raffle for a beautiful homemade quilt.  They’ve been making a difference locally for over 50 years, raising over $6,000 for food banks, libraries, animal shelters, and other organizations in the area.

Right on schedule, Ms. Austin kicked things off with opening remarks at 6 p.m. Of course, there was a minor technical difficulty to start.  Even with the crowd’s quiet demeanor and a microphone, some said they couldn’t hear the sound system very well.

After a slight adjustment in volume, it was business as usual.  Ms. Austin welcomed Christina Paré, new assistant town clerk.  In heartwarming news, she mentioned select board chair Eric Pope and his wife, Rachel, brought a baby boy into the world just four days earlier.  There was a moment of reflection for those lost from the Morgan community in the past year before state Representative Larry Labor took to the podium.

“It’s nice to see good attendance on a cold night,” he began.  Mr. Labor, who is also a longtime select board member, said he wanted to provide “Morganites” with insight on some of the 452 bills recently introduced to the House — and how they may affect them.

Mr. Labor encouraged landowners to pay attention to bill H.7, which would help move the state toward its goal of permanently conserving 30 percent of Vermont’s landscape by 2030, and 50 percent by 2050.

Among other bills Mr. Labor discussed were Act 74, which would exempt Social Security benefits from the Vermont income tax, and two bills of importance to veterans:  H.103, which Mr. Labor is sponsoring to prevent scammers from stealing benefits from vulnerable veterans, and another that ensures veterans benefits packages would not be counted as income for state taxation purposes.

“You’ll want to hang on for this one,” Mr. Labor warned, before ruffling some feathers with H.86. Described as a chloride contamination reduction bill, it aims to reduce the amount of salt allocation on all roads, not just state highways, but town roads, and secondary roads, as well.  The main problem?  “You have to be certified in order to spread salt for the state.”  Mr. Labor said training, licensing, and registration of independent and municipal employees, could have consequences for towns.

“It’s very expensive to enforce, and very expensive to do,” he said.  “To hire a private contractor with eight trucks, the total estimate is $50,000.”

Robert Guyer, a former Morgan select board member, didn’t even need to finish his follow-up question before Mr. Labor knew what he was worried about.

“That would affect your truck with the sander in the back,” Mr. Labor said.

“That’s going to raise a lot of prices,” Mr. Guyer replied, making sure to note which bill would make that happen.

Mr. Labor also stated that the Clean Heat Standard bill was not being accepted very well “by the other side of the aisle,” and brought up a non-baiting furbearer bill, which would affect beaver hunters in the area.

“What they don’t consider is what it costs towns and municipalities, or landowners, to remove the debris from a flooded colony,” he said. “There’s a reason we call them busy little beavers.” Gone unchecked, he said these areas can flood in as little in two days.

Donna Young, a Morgan resident since 1987, asked about a land-use conservation bill to help people put current-use land into permanent conservancy.

“It’s not passed yet,” Mr. Labor said, but he did confirm it was in the works.

Orleans County Sheriff Jennifer Harlow popped in to wish everyone a good evening and to address any questions.  Eric Pope thanked her for her service.  No one in the room had any questions regarding law enforcement.

Ms. Austin reclaimed the podium to announce a couple of corrections to the Town Report.  Inside the front cover, the photo courtesy should be for Christina Peré instead of Douglas Gimler.  On page 5, where the planning commission is listed, Dennis Fortin should be listed instead of Robert Guyer.

“I wondered how I got on that,” Mr. Guyer joked. And on page 6, article 11, Ms. Austin had to clarify that the school district is not asking voters to approve $769,799,000, instead of $769,799.

Then, it was election time. There were few to no surprises and not many new nominations.

Kathy Austin was re-elected to serve as moderator for both the town itself and the town school district.  The vacancy for town school district treasurer was filled with an almost immediate nomination of David Augustoni.

Select board member Bruce Remick, who was finishing a three-year term, agreed to stay on the board. There were no further nominations.

School Board Director Janet Selby agreed to continue her service in the position.  When nominations for union school board director were called, there was a drawn out silence. Ms. Austin took that to indicate that Evelyn Saurez did not wish to continue as a board member.  No further nominations were made, and no decision was made at this time to fill the position.

First and second constable Robert Cain and Eric Paré respectively. were re-elected, James Judd remains in a one-year term as delinquent tax collector.  A friend of Morgan resident Kenneth Whitehill spoke on his behalf regarding the position of cemetery commissioner, which by the sound of it, he was lukewarm about.  Mr. Whitehill’s agreeing to stay for “this side of the term” was met with laughter.

The current Community House committee remains mostly the same, with the new addition of Mike Rossi to the slate.  He was present and willing to serve.

Then, Article 9, regarding the town budget, moved to the floor for discussion.

“This year, from the flooding, I assume we’re going to get roughly that same amount extra in our taxes?” a concerned voter asked.

Mr. Pope explained that that’s not the case, depending on timing.

“I don’t anticipate that needing to be done again, barring any more events this summer,” he said.  “But I think we’re clear that our intention is to remove that and reduce taxes as best we can.”

Ms. Young raised another question, this time about the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) line expense of $53,000.

“It makes the town office look like it went from $74,000 to $130,000,” someone else from the crowd added.

Mr. Pope explained that ARPA was a post-COVID federal grant that was distributed to all towns in the state.  With the money, Morgan drilled a new well, bulked up the town’s paving amount, and helped manage the school building’s PFAS situation.

“It was cash in, cash out, basically,” Mr. Pope said.  In order to utilize the funding, we had to get that balance down to zero.”

He told the meeting the money is gone, and won’t return.

Ms. Young also asked about the school’s “contracted services” line item and why it’s so far over budget.  Mr. Pope pointed to a new septic system, which was covered with ARPA money, a grease-trap installation that totaled almost $5,000, and various school-related fixes.

“We have to tuck some money aside to be prepared for additional work needed on the school.”

On a more positive note, Mr. Pope announced the town received a $222,000 grant to go towards significant energy upgrades in the school.

“It’s going to be a real benefit to the school and the town, ultimately,” he said. It includes zone heating and cooling systems, updating “weird” attic spaces that cause energy loss and high costs, and an all new lighting system.  “We’ve got a large-scale grant that’s going to pay for a lot of those items that have been a problem for years.”

One voter asked where the water system appears in the budget.  Mr. Pope said that comes from a forgivable loan and money is already accessible to the town. Drilling will continue when the weather allows, he said.

Mr. Guyer then voiced concerns about contamination and volume testing time after the wells start to run, after the two-part installation is finalized.  Mr. Pope assured him the well will get in.  Whether it’s this summer or next summer is another story.

“Let’s find another water source so we don’t have 20 or 30 jugs in our house for a month,” Mr. Guyer concluded. “I just put a mud room in and now I’ve got a water room.”  Citing delays from flooding, Mr. Pope acknowledged shared frustration and moved things along.

After discussion, the ayes had it for Article 9. Article 10 also passed with no discussion needed. Voters also had nothing to say against Morgan Town School District’s proposed budget of $769,799, which raises the per-pupil educational spending by 9.64 percent above the current fiscal year.

Article 12, regarding the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department budget of $27,040 for law enforcement services, sparked a discussion from voters about speed signage feedback.

“We haven’t received anything formal, but I think most of the public has felt positively about them, unless anybody has any different feedback.” No one did.

As far as police coverage goes, Mr. Pope said there are people who say they don’t see enough officers around. “That’s always a challenge.”

The passed budget raises the per-hour pay of officers, but does not increase the number of hours they spend in Morgan.

Another voter was curious what role the state police had in Morgan.  Tammy Lacourse, a school board member who also works for the Sheriff’s Department, chimed in. “When a 911 call comes in, it goes directly to Vermont State Police in Derby, because they’re a local 24/7 agency.”

She said whether you call the direct line for VSP or the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department, they will respond.  “We now have 24-7 dispatch, which we never had before the past couple of years.” Ms. Lacourse added that sheriff’s deputies will fill in if state troopers are otherwise tied up.

Carrying on, Ms. Austin let voters know she had ample information on where some organizations in Article 13, which covered appropriations, plan to allocate their money, but no one in the crowd had any question.  It passed without a hitch, and it was time to transact any other business.

“I would like to talk about school choice reporting,” one voter said.  He said plenty of people his age are unhappy with the one school they have to send their kids to.

“When we closed this school, I don’t understand why we didn’t do school choice in the beginning.”

Ms. Lacourse explained that when the school closed, school choice was put out for a vote, and denied. “If you have school choice, and the town chooses to provide transportation, it gets very, very costly,” she said.

She continued, “If you choose not to provide transportation, there’s some children that may not make it to school because of that.”

Danielle Blake, school board chair, also added that it may be a moot point anyway with the direction the state is going.  “It very well may end up that we only have two elementary schools within a sixty mile radius.”

To close things out, one Morgan resident raised his hand and expressed gratitude to everyone who works in the town.

“I’m putting that up front because I don’t want you to kick me out for what I’m about to say,” he explained, causing the board to hold its collective breath. “I want you to hire me for a dollar for next year’s meeting to put a sound system in here so that we can hear what’s going on.”

His proposal was met with delighted laughter and the strongest (and only) round of applause of the night.

After Ms. Austin expressed appreciation for the people who wear a lot of hats in the town, a resident stood up to thank the road crew for everything they did to clean up the flood damage last summer.

With that, the meeting was adjourned.  The meeting ended on a neighborly note, as most attendees jumped in to help each other fold chairs and put them away.  Maybe next year, Morgan can bank on that new sound system.