Hermon voters to revisit charter amendments

HERMON – Residents may get a case of deja vu this November when they see on their ballots several charter amendments that were voted on in June at the annual town meeting.

None of the votes cast last month on the amendments is valid because turnout fell short of a state law that requires that at least 30 percent of the number of the town’s voters in the last gubernatorial election participate in a vote to amend a town charter.

All seven of the amendments, including two that failed to win majority support, will be presented in written form during a November referendum vote.

“I think we owe it to the taxpayers, the voters of Hermon, to have the chance to act upon this again,” Councilor Donald Shepley said Thursday.

Vice Chairman Michael Soucy expressed concern that the wording of the amendments as they appeared on the June ballot differed from the wording in the amended town charter.

He also said councilors had little opportunity to weigh in on the amendments as they were being drafted.

“I have to wonder if citizens made informed votes,” Soucy said.

Resident Lee Cliff requested that the amendments be included on the November ballot, pointing out one amendment that would have prohibited a town councilor from holding a contract with the town.

Newly elected Councilor Louis “Buzzy” LaChance is the town’s snowplowing contractor.

Cliff asked LaChance whether he planned either to give up his council seat or forfeit the snowplowing contract, saying residents clearly supported the amendment to prohibit such an arrangement.

LaChance, who has previously served on the council while holding the contract, said he plans to do neither.

“Any time there was a conflict of interest, I stepped out,” he said.

Citing a conflict of interest, LaChance abstained from voting on a motion to send the amendments back out to a November vote. The rest of the council was split on the idea, with councilors Shepley, Alden Brown, Anthony Reynolds and Chairman Michael Guthrie voting in favor, and Vice Chairman Soucy and Councilor Donald Pelletier voting against the motion.

In other business Thursday, the council approved a three-year contract with Pine Tree Waste to provide curbside trash pickup service. The contract adds up to $89,252 for the first year, $101,752 the second year, and $117,000 the third year.

The agreement includes Consumer Price Index adjustments in the second and third years.

Councilors debated about whether a cheaper rate could result from putting the contract out to bid, pointing out that the third-year price is double what the town now pays, which is $58,968.

The council ultimately accepted the Pine Tree Waste offer by a vote of 5-2, with some councilors reasoning that contract bids could be much higher.

A special town meeting to approve the contract expenditure is scheduled for Thursday, July 28.