- A Person Who Wishes The Town
Adopt, Amend Or Repeal Land Use Regulations May Petition Planning Commission. Chapter
117 of Title 24 of the Vermont Statutes requires the planning commission to accept
proposed amendments or repeals of a bylaw, if it submitted to the board along with a
petition of 5% of the voters of the municipality, and to process the amendment or repeal
as if it had been prepared by the commission. 24 V.S.A. § 4403. The planning commission
may not make any substantive changes to the proposal, although it may correct any
technical deficiencies.
A Resignation Is Valid When Received. A
schoolboard member resigned effective January 1, 1999. The letter of resignation did not
reach the clerk’s office until Friday, January 22, 1999. On Monday, January 25, 1999,
a petition to run for the remainder of the resigned member’s term was submitted to
the town clerk. The select board met the evening of Monday, January 25, 1999 and accepted
the school board member’s resignation. The question was raised whether the clerk
should have accepted the petition before the select board met and accepted the
resignation? There is no statutory requirement that the appointing authority accept a
resignation. Receipt of the written resignation is sufficient to create a vacancy. The
clerk acted appropriately in accepting the petition.
A Town May Vote To Borrow For Five Years Or Less
Without Requiring A Bond. Voters must approve borrowing for more than one year. If the
loan is for five years or less, the article may be warned and voted as a public question.
If the loan is to be for more than five years, the voting must be by Australian ballot,
and the borrowing article must be warned and noticed like a bond vote (even if the town is
not going to bond). See 24 V.S.A. § 1786a.
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