In addition to great skiing and riding, the next 10 days in Killington should prove to be interesting locally on the political scene.

The Killington Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday March 4th. At the town meeting, the most controversial subject will probably be Article 8 which proposes to have the town raise a 1% local options tax to pay for the creation of an Department of Economic Development within the town.

The article specifically states : "To see if the Town will, pursuant to Title 24 Section 138 VSA, assess (1) a one percent sales tax; (2) a one percent meals and alcoholic beverages tax; and (3) a one percent rooms tax, all being effective as of October 1, 2008. The revenue shall be expended by the Board of Selectmen only for municipal services which will be used for the creation, funding and staffing of a municipal Department of Economic Development and a volunteer advisory Commission and to generate additional four season business activity while stimulating the local economy through diversification and expansion of entertainment, special events and infrastructure to ensure that the Town of Killington remains a dynamic and vibrant destination."

The article will be discussed at length tonight at the bi-weekly Killington Selectboard meeting. Tonight's meeting is scheduled to take place in the Sherburne Memorial Library at 7:30 instead of the usual meeting place in town hall. The purpose of tonight's meeting will be to gather citizens input on the article by the selectboard.

In addition to the Article 8 activities, the Vermont Council on Rural Development will be holding their second community meeting tomorrow night, February 26th, at the elementary school on Schoolhouse Road starting at 6:30 PM. That meeting will be a follow up meeting to the event held last month where citizen feedback concerning the direction of the local economy was collected. Over 300 people attended the first meeting. It will be interesting to see how many attend tomorrow evening for the follow up session. If you are a Killington Resident, Business Owner or Property Owner, you are invited to attend.

No matter which way these items go, I think that I will have a lot to write about this week, in addition to trying to get back out on the hill.

Let it snow!