The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 24 Appendix: Municipal Charters

Chapter 106: Town of Bradford

• Subchapter 001: MERGER OF TOWN AND VILLAGE OF BRADFORD; TRANSITION PROVISIONS

• § 101. Merger of the Village and Town

  At midnight at the end of November 30, 2004, the Village of Bradford shall merge into the Town of Bradford, and the Village of Bradford shall, except as hereinafter provided, cease to exist as a political entity or body corporate, and its charter shall be abolished. This plan will constitute the charter of the Town of Bradford.

• § 102. Properties transferred and liabilities assumed

  Upon the merger specified in section 101 of this charter, all the lands, buildings, easements, funds, uncollected taxes, monies, and other property of the Village of Bradford shall become vested in and become property of the Town of Bradford, and all indebtedness bonded and otherwise of said Village of Bradford shall be assumed by the Town of Bradford, with the exception of bond No. 1996, series 1, 81-0394-01-5, which shall continue to be paid by the Village Special District as set forth in section 206 of this charter.

• § 103. Properties held in trust

  Any and all properties held in trust by the trustees of the Village of Bradford, or any officer thereof, shall become vested in the Selectboard of the Town of Bradford and its successors, or in the respective officer of the said Town and his or her successor, as the case may be, and shall continue to be held in trust for the same uses as before the merger, all without any further act, deed, or instrument being necessary.

• § 104. Settling the affairs of the Village of Bradford

  Prior to said merger, the officers of the Village of Bradford shall settle so far as possible their financial affairs and shall, except as hereinafter provided, on said date turn over and deliver to the Clerk of the Town of Bradford all records, books, and documents of the Village of Bradford and to the proper officers of the said Town all property of the Village of Bradford.

• § 105. Police Department

  Upon the date of merger, the Village Police Department will become a Town Police Department. The Town Police Department budget will be determined annually at Town meeting.

• § 106. Finances

  With the exception of the funds of the Water Department and Sewer Department, and other special service funds and Highway Department funds, the funds of the Village of Bradford shall be added to the General Fund of the Town of Bradford: Highway Department funds of the Village of Bradford shall be added to the highway funds of the Town of Bradford, and Water Department funds and Sewer Department funds of the Village of Bradford shall be added to the proper special fund provided for in section 205 of this charter.

• § 107. Water and Sewer Department

  (a) The services of the Water and Sewer Department of the Town of Bradford shall be fee based, with all costs paid by the users. All water and sewer rates of the Village of Bradford in effect at the time of the merger shall continue in effect until changed as provided in sections 206 and 207 of this charter. Annual water and sewer charges shall be at a rate sufficient to cover annual expenditures, temporary indebtedness, and the amortizing of bonded indebtedness and interest.

  (b) A Water and Sewer Commission shall be elected as outlined in section 206a of this charter. A Commission report and budget shall be submitted for approval at the annual Town meeting.

  (c) During the transition period, the Commission will consist of the present Water Board and the trustees who are currently responsible for sewer management. As the trustees finish their terms, they will not be replaced.

• § 108. Existing ordinances

  (a) The development plan, zoning regulations, subdivision regulations, and official maps of the Town and Village of Bradford shall become and be the development plan, zoning regulations, subdivision regulations, and official maps of the Town of Bradford.

  (b) All rules, ordinances, regulations, zoning regulations, and bylaws of the Village of Bradford in effect on the day before the said merger shall become and continue in full force and effect as rules, ordinances, regulations, and bylaws of the Town of Bradford for the respective area presently involved unless in conflict with rules, ordinances, regulations, and bylaws of the Town of Bradford already existing, until lawfully amended or repealed.

  (c) Whenever a power is granted by any such rule, ordinance, regulation, or bylaw to an officer of the Village of Bradford, such power is conferred hereby upon the appropriate officer of the Town of Bradford.

• § 109. Election of Selectboard

  On November 30, 2004, the Office of Trustees shall cease to exist. The 2004 duly elected Selectboard shall serve as the merged Selectboard until the Town meeting on March 7, 2005, at which time all Selectboard members shall resign. At the 2005 Town meeting, three Selectboard members shall be elected. One member will be elected for one year, one member will be elected for two years, and one member will be elected for three years.

• § 110. Votes required for effect

  All sections of this plan of merger shall take effect if this plan is approved as follows:

  (1) By majority vote of the Town of Bradford that includes qualified voters in Town and Village.

  (2) By majority vote of the Village of Bradford that includes all qualified voters of the Village.

  (3) Subject to approval by the General Assembly, the merger shall take effect at midnight at the end of November 30, 2004.

• Subchapter 002: CHARTER PROVISIONS

• § 201. Applicability of the general law

  (a) All provisions of the Constitution and general laws of the State of Vermont relating to towns and their officers shall apply to the Town of Bradford.

  (b) The Town of Bradford shall have all the powers now or hereafter conferred upon towns and villages by the Constitution and general laws of the State of Vermont.

  (c) The fiscal year for the Town of Bradford shall coincide with the calendar year, January 1 to December 31.

• § 202. Officers

  The Town of Bradford shall have the officers as provided for towns by the general laws. (Amended 2007, No. M-3, § 2, eff. March 8, 2007.)

• § 203. Ordinances

  Any rule, ordinance, regulation, zoning regulation, or bylaw of the Town of Bradford may apply to a limited area and not to the whole Town, notwithstanding that the ordinance, rule, regulation, zoning regulation, or bylaw might also have been applied to another area or areas within the Town.

• § 204. Fire prevention

  For the prevention and control of fires, the Town of Bradford may function with volunteer firefighters. The fire officers shall be an advisory body reporting to the Selectboard.

• § 205. Existing Water and Sewer Departments

  (a) As approved by the majority of the voters of the Village of Bradford, the supervision, management, control, and operation of the Village public water supply system and the Village public sewage system shall be vested in a Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners of the Town of Bradford consisting of five persons, each of whom shall be a ratepayer and resident of the Town of Bradford. The Water and Sewer Commissioners shall be elected as outlined in section 206a of this charter.

  (b) The water system of the Village of Bradford taken over by the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners of the Town of Bradford and any additions thereto shall be maintained separate from all other departments of the Town, and all rents and revenues therefrom not necessary for current expenditures therefor shall be placed in a special fund, no part of which may be used for any other purpose.

  (c) The sewage system of the Village of Bradford (not including the separate storm sewer pipelines) taken over by the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners of the Town of Bradford and all extensions thereto shall be maintained separate from all other departments of the Town, and all rents and revenues therefrom not necessary for current expenditures therefor shall be placed in a special fund, no part of which may be used for any other purpose.

• § 206. Special districts

  (a) The Selectboard may designate areas apart from the rest of the Town as special service districts and may provide the voters therein with special services not common to all the voters of the Town, provided that the majority of the voters residing in the respective designated areas and present and voting at the district meeting on the subject shall have approved of such resolution.

  (b) Such area shall be reasonable geographically, taking into account the areas and persons actually benefited, the types of services to be provided, and the fact that the efficiency of providing multiple services in a single special service district might outweigh the fact that the areas and voters benefiting from the respective services might not coincide exactly. All costs required to support a given special service shall be paid for by the taxpayers receiving said service, by a tax on the grand list in the special service district involved to be assessed annually by the Selectboard, or in such other manner as the Selectboard determines. If the costs are to be paid by a tax, such tax shall be paid and collected in the same manner as other taxes, and such tax assessed on any part of the grand list shall be a lien thereon.

  (c) All funds of any special service shall be kept in a special fund, no part of which may be used for any other purpose.

  (d) The warning for each annual or special Town meeting may contain appropriate articles under which the legal voters residing in any special district may separately vote.

  (e) The Selectboard shall designate the Village of Bradford as a special district for the purpose of collecting taxes to pay bond No. 1996, series 1, 81-0394-01-5. Taxes paid to the Village special district shall be used to meet the obligations incurred by the Village under bond No. 1996, series 1, 81-0394-01-5 for the repair and maintenance of roads and highways. When the bond is completely paid, the Village special district shall cease to exist. The Village special district shall be defined by the geographic limits of the Village set forth in the Village zoning map recorded in the land records of the Town of Bradford.

• § 206a. Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners

  (a) The supervision, management, control, and operation of the Village public water supply system, the Village public sewage system, and the Town water and sewage systems shall be vested in the Water and Sewer Department of the Town of Bradford, which shall be governed by a Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners consisting of five persons, each of whom shall be a ratepayer and a resident of the Town of Bradford.

  (b) The initial Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners shall be the incumbent Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners in office upon the date of approval of this charter by the General Assembly, each to serve the remainder of the respective term. Upon the expiration of the respective term of each initial Water and Sewer commissioner, successor commissioners shall be elected by Bradford resident ratepayers at the annual Town meeting for a term of five years each. Any vacancy among the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners shall be filled by appointment of the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners until the next annual Town meeting.

  (c) To the fullest extent provided by law, the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners shall have authority over and responsibility for the public water supply system and the public sewer system, including the power to establish and impose rates and charges, to adopt rules and regulations regarding the operation and protection of such systems, and to allocate water and sewage treatment and disposal capacity.

  (d) The Water and Sewer Department and the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners shall have the authority to collect taxes or impose fees in order to pay bond No. 1996, series 1, 81-0394-01-5. Taxes or fees paid to the Water and Sewer Department shall be used to meet the obligations incurred by the Village of Bradford under bond No. 1996, series 1, 81-0394-01-5 for the construction, repair, and upkeep of the public water system and public sewage system of the Village of Bradford.

• § 207. Voting procedures for water and sewer expenses and extensions

  (a) Voting for new capital improvements for water or sewer service within the areas being served by the water and sewer systems shall be by the voters using these services, and all votes shall be approved by a majority of the voters residing in the respective designated areas and present and voting at the district meeting on the subject.

  (b) In case of future extension of water or sewer lines into currently unserved areas where bonding or temporary costs are to be assumed by the Town, all legal Town voters shall be eligible to vote on the project.

  (c) In all cases where bonding is required, all legal voters of the Town may vote on the bond issue. Capital expenditures or projects requiring bonding shall first be approved by a majority vote of the water or sewer users who are legal voters of the Town present and voting at a meeting called for that purpose.

• § 208. Special funds

  (a) The Town Treasurer shall keep all money in a special fund in an account or accounts separate from those of any other special funds and from those of other Town funds and shall honor no warrant upon it except for the purpose thereof as heretofore enumerated.

  (b) Any person who shall pay or cause to be paid any portion of any special fund for any purpose other than as herein specified shall forfeit to the Town for the benefit of such special fund twice the amount so paid to be recovered in a civil action on this section of this charter. It shall be the duty of the Town Agent to defend and prosecute suits to bring such action to collect such forfeiture. In case such person is bonded, the issuer of the bond shall be joined with him or her in such action, provided the issuer of the bond is within the jurisdiction of the State of Vermont.

• § 209. Severability

  If any provision of this charter shall for any reason be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions. To this end, the provisions of this charter are severable.