Long time Killington Town Manager, Dave Lewis, being recognized for his service to Killington at Town Meeting.

Long time Killington Town Manager, Dave Lewis, being recognized for his service to Killington at Town Meeting.

In a ceremony fit for a skit out of Saturday Night Live, two town constables were called to approach the podium at Town Meeting before the discussion of Town Meeting Article 8 began. In quick succession, Town Moderator MB Neisner stepped down from the podium and was quickly wrapped in a flak jacket by the constables. Regaining his composure, MB implored to the huge, and now laughing, town meeting crowd: "No Head Shots Please".

So goes town meeting day at Killington. For the Civics students, it is always a direct lesson in participatory democracy. For many, it's a classic Greek drama..a little comedy, a little tragedy. For everyone it is a chance to express how they want the town of Killington to be governed for the following year.

This year the most contentious item was Article 8 placed on the ballot by the Selectboard to raise a 1% local options tax on meals, rooms, alcohol, and retail sales. The funds, which will start being collected October 1, are destined to fund an office of Economic Development within town government.

Debate on the article was vigorous, both for and against. Chris Nyberg, President of the Killington Resort, and who is not a Killington citizen, was granted special permission to address the crowd. Chris presented an alternative to Article 8 that Powdr was recommending to local voters. Bill Bauer, who along with Chris Karr, leads the Killington Economic Growth Initiative gave an impassioned speech near the end of public discussion imploring town citizens to reject Powdr's alternative and vote yes on Article 8. After almost 90 minutes of floor debate, the article was voted 167 in favor, 87 against. Killington will have a local option tax in October. So it goes.

The rest of town meeting had little contention. The only other segment with any drama was for the one position up for re-election this year on the select board. In a rare challenge, Jim Haff challenged incumbent selectman Mike Miller for the position. The vote was split almost 60/40 in favor af Mr. Miller who retained his seat on the selectboard.

Dave Lewis, retiring town manager, was honored with a standing ovation during the meeting. A fete for Dave to be held June 8th at the Summit Lodge was announced today during the ceremonies. And Dave Gouchberg was honored by the recreation department as the Kenneth Kranz Volunteer of the Year.

Let it snow.