Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-11-23
pRArTLEBoRo, FRIDAY, NOV, %, 1905
DISPENSE WITH WATER BOARD.

But one Interpretation can be placed
ON the action taken by the village al
the special meeting of Monday evening
The voters have become disguised with
the tangle into which the local water
question has brought them aud are IN
favor of dropping for the present the
;dea of village ownership. This is the
only fair explanation of the vote
against ratifying the agreement Tor inc
,nrobose of the Chestnut Hill and sun
set Lake systems, While many people,
among them members of the water
hoard. believed that the price asked
by Mr.. Crowell was too great, large
proportion of those who voted NO ana
90 because of their belief that the viii
lace will be better of for the present at
least if il takes no further steps toward
municipal ownership. Many of those
who were strong in their opposition to
the water board agreement expressed
their sentiment emphatically against
taking any steps toward the construc'
ton of an Independent system. There
seems 10 be a growing sentiment that
the village will do as well to give up
the idea of owning water system
rather than to cucumber itself with too
great an indebtedness or become involv'
ed in prolonged and expensive htiga'
ton.
While ii is regretted in many quarters
that the village did not take advantage
of the solution offered in the agreement
submitted Monday evening, it cannot
be said that the action came as gen
eral surprise. Ever since the water
board after condemning in such strong
terms the CroweIl systems suddenly
agreed to submit to the village a propo-
sition for their purchase at figure
considerably higher than had been con
sidered previously, there has been a
strong undercurrent against municipal
ownership. In fact it is extremely
doubtful if the majority of the village
voters are today in favor of continuing
the farce, as it is frequently called, any
further.
As a result of Monday evening S
vote there is a renewed interest in the
village charter amendment now pending
before the legislature. Whether in
view of the inconsistent course the
village has taken, the bill can be pass
ed in its original form there is con
siderable doubt, but in any case steps
should at once be taken to prevent the
passage of those sections which are in
tended to legalize the past actions OF
the village in regard to the water ques'
ton and to continue the present wa
ter board in power until its successor
is chosen. Without any intended dis
respect toward the members of the
board individually it may be said that
that body has outlived its usefulness
Elected nearly a year ago for the eX-
press purpose of settling the local water
question it has succeeded up to date In
doing what9 After failing in the first
place to come to any agreement re-
lating to the purchase of the present
systems it took every preliminary step
toward the establishment of an indie
pendent system, stopping only when
questions as to it's own legality pre-
vented the floating of the necessary
bonds. Then it entered into an agree
ment in regard to arbitrating for the
Crowell systems, as result of which
Mr.. Crowell stopped work on his Sunset
Lake system, only to overthrow that af-
ter a short time. Next came the agree
ment of a few weeks ago which was
turned down Monday evening. Thus
far the water board has contributed
nothing toward the settlement of the
question, and yet it desires to be contin-
ueu III power
Will the village be benefited by |
granting this desire9 The Reformer I
is inclined to think not. Experience
has shown that the board has accom-
plished nothing that could not be done
as well or better by the authorized |
officers of the village. There is no
reason for thinking that the board will
succeed any better in the future than
it has done in the past. At present
it is divided against itself and that
alone would be serious hindrance to
any further work On the whole the
best course would seem to be to ask
for a charter amendment which will
give the village the right to acquire,
through its bailiffs, water system at
a reasonable figure on condition that
such course is favored by taxpayers
a majority of the grand
list. In the meantime the state board
of health is required to see to it that
we are furnished by Mr.. Crowell with
water that is pure.