Then again, you can stay home and catch the pitch online.
“View the video to see how cramped and small the current town garage is,” the home page of the municipal website promises. “See the difficulties the crew faces everyday as they store trucks and equipment.”
Once upon a time annual reports were the stuff of paper and ink and staple upon staple upon staple. But today a rising number of communities are aiming to save money on printing and postage by delivering town meeting information via the internet.
“Hats off and thanks to our town report printer,” officials in Bolton write on boltonvt.com, “who delivered well ahead of the projected date.”
Then again, they add, “the town report is also available electronically NOW, for review here.”
Several Vermont municipalities are playing with punctuation and promises in hopes of attracting online traffic. Consider the municipal website of Highgate: “2016 TOWN REPORT — click here!!!!”
Or Elmore: “This year you can read the town report online in a cool flip format — check it out!”
Colchester offers a variety of electronic options, everything from “proposed budget” and “ballot items (including amendments)” to “videos — what does your town do for you?” (It’s the link just below “Request burn permit.”)
Not to be outdone, East Montpelier features an online town meeting checklist, sample ballot, worksheet on fiscal year 2018 projected tax rates and, more appetizingly, potluck lunch information.
“Most of you know the drill,” that last item begins. “Bring a dish: appetizer, salad, main courses, sides, bread/rolls, or dessert. Label your food: Vegetarian, vegan, or meat; tell us if it is gluten-free or has nuts. At the buffet, it’s OK to have seconds — so pace yourself and, when filling your plate, be mindful of the line behind you.”
Some localities are continuing to serve up agendas the old-fashioned way.
“Berlin town reports are now available at the town office and will be sent home with the students at Berlin Elementary School,” leaders there write on their website. “Our moderator will walk us through the town report and questions will be addressed (it is helpful to have previewed it in advance).”
But many municipalities are plugging into technology. Vermont statutes, which long have called for advance notice of meetings in “at least two public places” as well as a newspaper, now add “the warning shall also be posted on the municipality’s website, if the municipality actively updates its website on a regular basis.”
Duxbury, Hyde Park, Shaftsbury, Sunderland and Vernon are set to vote on using postcards, print ads or other public notices to promote the availability of the annual report at town offices and online “in lieu of mailing or otherwise distributing the report to residents.”
Halifax, for its part, is going a step farther: A ballot item there is asking “to eliminate the mailing of postcards advising voters when the yearly town report is available.”
“The Halifax town report,” its website says definitely, “is now available online.”
