The federal and state funding includes an unanticipated $800,000 from
the USDA, announced this week at an Earth Day ceremony in Waitsfield.
Although yet unbuilt, the project will provide critical infrastructure
for Waitsfield and will help the town to manage its growth in
designated growth centers. It will be funded by its users and it is one
step towards helping the town qualify for a Tax Increment Finance
district which allows the town to keep a portion of their property tax
revenue to be used for local infrastructure.
It took several votes -- three -- for this project to pass. Opponents
argued that it would cost all taxpayers -- as opposed to users -- which
is not true. (When the town signs on for the municipal building and the
General Wait House, those user fees will be borne by all taxpayers the
same way any utility bill is.)
There are still project opponents who insist that the water project
will open the door to uncontrollable growth in Irasville and Waitsfield
Village and that it will lead to the end of Waitsfield as a small town.
But it is not the water project that has the power to allow or prevent
that. It is Waitsfield's Town Plan and zoning ordinances that regulate
how and where development occurs.
Infrastructure, whether it is a sidewalk, a school, a water project or
a fire department, does not "cause" development. Development is a force
of nature that towns regulate through their ordinances.
The water project provides infrastructure for what currently exists,
will provide water for many properties with water supply and quality
problems, and will help existing properties with isolation problems
between wells and septic systems.
Congratulations to all who helped bring this project this far.
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