Rutland Herald

Tinmouth plots ways to block OMYA trucks

February 11, 2000
By KEVIN O'CONNOR Herald Staff

TINMOUTH - Town meeting moderators are supposed to prevent roadblocks in debate.

This year, Marshall Squier will promote them.

The Tinmouth moderator promises to spark discussion March 4 on ways to stop OMYA Inc. from driving 40 trucks a day through town between its rock-crushing plant in Pittsford and a quarry it wants to mine in Danby.

"We are a very inventive town," Squier said. "We've got people in donkey carts who will drive with slow-moving-vehicle signs. We might put a covered bridge at one end of town that trucks can't fit through. And that's just the beginning. Don't get me started - I'll give away all my secrets."

Squier, also the town's volunteer fire chief and planning commission chairman, is known for creativity.

Last year, he half-jokingly proposed using town tractors to attack smokestacks as a way to alert state and federal leaders to enforce clean air laws.

Before that, he prodded the town to uphold a state ban on smoking in restaurants (even though Tinmouth only had a snack bar) and oppose casino gambling (even though the closest plans were a county away).

Squier now is taking aim at OMYA.

"To have a force from outside say we're going to have a truck come through your town every six minutes, crowding out the farmers who use the roads for the cow and hay wagons … forget it," he said. "Even on a Saturday you couldn't ride your horse down the road."

Squier will lead his brainstorming session at town meeting Saturday, March 4, at 1 p.m. at the volunteer firehouse.

"There is no limit to what we might do," the moderator said. "If they think they're going to come in and we're going to roll over, it's going to be on top of them. We're the kind of town that gets together and rebuilds the firehouse and adds to the school. We like Tinmouth the way it is. It's worth fighting for."

In that vein, residents will vote on accepting $450,000 from a citizens' group for a community center and multi-purpose room to be attached to the elementary school on the town green.

"The fact a town this size can have a facility like that is pretty exciting," Squier said. "There have been a few naysayers from the start that said it would cost the town tax money. All of these concerns have been met."

Squier doesn't know when the building will be finished, but he's already promoting one of its first events.

"I'm challenging the Wallingford Fire Department to a basketball game for a fund-raiser," he said. "They should get practicing. We're good."

Tinmouth doesn't require residents to file advance paperwork to run for town offices. Instead, people can nominate neighbors and vote on town and school budgets at the meeting.

The proposed town general budget of $118,035 is up 19 percent from last year's $98,920, while the proposed highway budget of $228,920 is up 1 percent from last year's $226,560.

The town tax rate, however, will drop an estimated 2 cents to a projected 50 cents per $100 of assessed property because of a budget surplus, Town Clerk Gail Fallar said.

The proposed school budget of $750,023 is up 9 percent from the current $686,354. The school tax rate, however, will drop an estimated 3 cents to a projected $1.13 because of a budget surplus and the state's Act 60 funding law, Fallar said.

Select Board incumbent Cathy Reynolds and School Board incumbent Ruth Drachman are expected to run for re-election to three-year terms on their three-member boards.

Elementary school supporters will sell hot lunch at noon for townspeople who arrive early for the meeting.