2 3 4 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 85 90 100 Black Cyan Magenta Yellow Northfield News Page 1 bring crosshair to bottom of shaded box The Northfield News Winner of the Vermont Centennial Business Award for Continuous Publication for over 100 years • Founded in 1878 Published weekly, USPS #385300. Periodicals postage paid at Northfield, Vermont 05663. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 7 S. Main Street, Unit D, Northfield, Vermont 05663-6712, e-mail: [email protected] • Copyright 2013 VOL. CXXXVI, NO. 1 NORTHFIELD, VERMONT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014 PRICE 75 CENTS How to Deal with a Town Budget after Merger Presents Major Problems BY KATHLEEN LOTT The Northfield News Town Manager Rob Lewis in his proposed budget for 20142015 for the merged town of Northfield points out that merger will result in the loss of approximately $1,300,000 on the grand list and this, in turn, means that the town has to make severe cuts in the budget to avoid raising property taxes once again this year. We need to either take about $106,000 from reserves or, in the alternative, reduce staffing and avoid paying for new equipment that the town and village have purchased over the last year. The manager points out that if the town takes money from its reserves, it will have to continue doing that in future years and this could result in the elimination of needed reserves over the next couple of years. The other alternative would be to reduce staffing levels and stop equipment purchases for the time being. The village purchased two dump trucks last year and both the town manager and the village manager have recommeded that the town not fund these purchases: A tamper, a street sweeper, a hot patch machine, and a back hoe and a rescue truck. Also, the town manager is recommending reductions in the operations of the municipal pool and the library. It will not be cuts in the fire department that fuel further reductions in next year’s proposed consolidated budget, Northfield’s first in over 100 years. The trustees and selectmen met for the fourth time Monday and closely scrutinized the line items for the fire department, reserving the right to return and reduce the department’s hose and equipment $3,000 capital improvement (CIP) contribution for next year. This is the first budget that will be for the merged community. The proposed 2014-2015 expenses budget is already about $470,000 less than this year’s budget that was approved by voters at last year’s Town meeting. The amount raised by taxes, however, is proposed to remain level at about $2,880,350, according to the proposed budget documents. In his budget introduction, Town Manager Rob Lewis says that the budget does not provide funding for the two six-wheel dump trucks the Town will inherit from the Village, the large tamper, the Village’s street sweeper, the hot patch machine, and the fire department’s rescue truck. He recommends the sale or transfer of the backhoe to the water and sewer departments. The challenges he outlines are the $44,000 loss from the pool, the $21,000 match for the Northfield commuter bus, and $26,000 borrowing for the Village’s one ton truck purchase. Mr. Lewis also challenged the library’s hours. “I’m not trying to funny here. It is important to have the Library, but it doesn’t need to be open more hours per year than the Municipal Building,” he wrote. Mr. Lewis wrote that opera- tions and management expenditures have been reduced by about two percent, or almost $76,000. He said that “there is little or no remaining savings” in operations and management. He said that about $102,000 can be taken from the projected $349,000 fund balance, but than “you will be looking at the same picture this time next year and the year after.” “You need to keep as much of the $349,000,” he wrote. Budget documents show that about $96,400 is proposed for use from surplus. The budget also shows about $60,000 as income from the utilities, payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT). Finance Manager Laurie Baroffio told board members that the expenses for personnel were for a variety of stipends for two fire marshals, the chief, two captains, and partial payment of the emergency management director. She said when those are subtracted and moneies for holiday and weekend coverage and drill night, there is about $11,410 to actually fight fires. She said that would pay for about 15 fire fighters to fight 85 fires for the year. Chief Peter Demasi said that there are, on average, about 150 fires per year, and that the average number of fire fighters is about eight to nine per fire. Selectman Chris Bradley said that in the current year about 62 percent has been spent, “with a lot of winter to go.” He said that he is willing to look at reducing any other budget items, but those for the fire department. Don George, President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, center, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, right, and Nicole Ravlin, left, of Cabot Hosiery Mills of Northfield, kick-off the 2013 Blue Socks for Kids project. Darn Tough Provides Socks for the Needy Thousands of needy Vermont youngsters will be able to enjoy warm, high-quality socks again this winter, the sixth year that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, Cabot Hosiery Mills/Darn Tough Vermont, and the state’s community action agencies and homeless shelters have joined forces to improve the health and comfort of Vermont children. “Blue Socks for Kids” project volunteers will deliver 8,400 pairs of premium, Vermont-made merino wool socks to the state’s community action agencies and homeless shelters for distribution to children in need of warm clothing this holiday season. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, through its charitable foundation, the Vermont Caring Foundation, provided $21,000 to finance 8,400 pairs of the wool socks made specifically for “Blue Socks for Kids” by Cabot Hosiery Mills of Northfield, Vermont, the state’s (and Northeast’s) only sock manufacturer. “Blue Socks for Kids” has now distributed more than 50,000 pairs of socks at a cost of nearly $150,000 over the six years the project has operated. The funding through the Vermont Caring Foundation uses non-premium sources to generate funds to benefit Vermont children. “This initiative has been very successful and warmly received by everyone involved,” noted Don George, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont President and CEO. “We are particularly proud to celebrate the fifth year of the project and the positive impact it has had on many Vermont kids’ health and comfort.” Research from Canada and the United States indicates that warm underclothing is high on the list of needs among the low income and homeless living in cold climates. An Oregon summit on the needs of low income folks and the homeless in winter came up with two priorities – socks and healthcare. Everyone deserves access to warm, high-quality socks during the winter,” added Ric Cabot, owner of Cabot Hosiery Mills and Darn Tough Vermont. “As a company that’s been a part of the Vermont community for over 30 years, the Blue Socks for Kids program is a great way to thank the community for all its support and to help give back. It brings us a lot of joy and satisfaction to help Vermont’s children.” Cabot Hosiery Mills, Inc. is a Northfield, Vermont-based sock manufacturer that makes socks for a broad range of private-label customers including J. Crew and L.L. Bean. In 2004, the Cabot family formed the premium, performance brand Darn Tough Vermont under the direction of third-generation sock maker Ric Cabot. Darn Tough Vermont’s Specialty line offers footwear in six active wear categories: ski/ride, hike/trek, run/bike, lifestyle, hunt and kid’s styles – all of which carry the industry’s only unconditional lifetime guarantee. Photo Courtesy of Jonathan Hoffman A friend of Northfield’s Jonathan Hoffman of Direct Aid International who Jonathan describes as a serious World traveler was in the Congo on one of her many trips when she came across this bus from Northfield which had temporarily broken down along the side of the road. The word is that it was back up and running in a couple of hours. How the bus got to Africa is a puzzlement. Perhaps one of our readers can enlighten us about the story behind this conundrum. Photo by John Knox Northfield’s United Church under a clear sky just before the candle light service Christmas Eve just at dusk as captured by well known Vermont photographer John Knox of Northfield. The Northfield News Like us on FACEBOOK