[Ww-snww-regional-list] Tough Questions about WiredWest at Wendell Selectboard Last Night

Craig T Martin cmartin at chem.umass.edu
Thu Apr 9 07:39:33 EDT 2015


Robbie

   Some thoughts from my participation on the Governance sub-committee. I’m copying Steve Nelson in on this, as he can confirm my assertions below.

Craig

> On Apr 9, 2015, at 1:18 AM, Robbie Leppzer <robbie at turningtide.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Everyone in our Regional WiredWest Group:
> 
>            I just sent out the below email to the WiredWest Executive Committee and I want to share it with all of you.
> 
>            I’m wondering, have you encountered similar questions and hesitations from town officials in your towns?
> 
>            I welcome your thoughts and discussion on the issues raised.

….

>           One of the basic questions that was asked: Is the town meeting article an iron-clad commitment that obligates the town to spend money on this project no matter what?  How can we (as the Selectboard) endorse this article if we don’t know all the details of the plan, the budget and the mechanics of how it is all going to work?  What entity are we committing to, since the 32-town member coop doesn’t even exist yet? 
> 
>           While Robbie and I, along with members of the Finance Committee, emphasized numerous times that the town meeting article is an authorization to spend money in the future; it doesn’t mean we have to actually spend the money right away. I imagine there will be a period of months following the town meeting vote when further parts of the plan will fall into place to allow the Selectboard more confidence in the process before they have to authorize a first spending of the money.

The vote at Town Meeting will NOT obligate the Town to spend money - it authorizes, or gives them the ability to. Similarly for the ballot vote that follows. AFTER those two votes (hopefully as early as July?) the Town will be asked to sign a commitment agreement with WiredWest/MBI, so that construction can start. At THAT point, the Town will be obligated (and from the prior votes has the authorization to borrow, when that becomes necessary at a still later date). In reviewing that contract, the Select Board will presumably consult with its Fin Comm, but will not require any citizen votes. The Select Board can, of course, choose not to sign that contract - and of course, construction would then not begin.

That agreement is still being drafted and will likely not be ready, in final form at least, by Town Meeting (hopefully, the key elements will be there, but we don’t want a binding agreement drafted under the time constraints imposed by our Town Meeting cycle; we want the best possible agreement). The Town’s residents will need to trust that its Select Board will review the final commitment agreement and act responsibly. That is where the binding commitment (and the construction!) begins.







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