The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 24 Appendix: Municipal Charters

Chapter 215: Village of Derby Center

• Subchapter 001: Boundaries and Corporate Existence

• § 101. Boundaries and corporate existence

  All that portion of the Town of Derby in the County of Orleans, enclosed within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the covered highway bridge crossing Clyde River near Carpenter’s grist mill, and running easterly up the north bank of said stream to the line between land of Josiah Grout and land of Emera Kingsbury; thence northerly on said line between said Grout and said Kingsbury to the south line of land of Norman W. Bingham; thence easterly following said Bingham’s line to the shore of Derby Pond; thence northerly following the shore of said pond, and the east line of land deeded to Josiah Grout and Charles K. Bates, by John E. Searles, now fenced and included with the Derby Center Cemetery grounds, to the north line of the highway leading from the county road easterly, past the premises known as the Emera Stewart Farm; thence following the north line of said highway westerly, to the county road leading to Derby Line; thence northwesterly and across said county road and on the north line of highway leading past school house in district No. 4 to W. F. Kingsbury’s, to southeast corner of lot of land occupied by John C. Gray; thence following the east line of said Gray’s land northerly to the south line of land of N. T. Blake; thence westerly on north line of said Gray land and north line of land owned by estate of Edwin Bates and Charles K. Bates, to the northwest corner of said Bates’ land; thence southerly on the west line of said Bates’ land, to the last mentioned highway; thence following said highway westerly to the cross-roads or four corners near the Willey Granite Quarry; thence westerly following the road leading to said quarry to the east line of said quarry lot; thence on the east line of said quarry lot southerly, to land of N. W. Bingham, and southerly and westerly on said Bingham’s line to the northwest corner of said Bingham’s land; thence southerly on said Bingham’s west line, and on west line of land of said E. and C. K. Bates, to the southwest corner of said Bates’ land; thence easterly on said Bates’ south line to the northeast corner of land of Hollis A. Moran; thence following the west line of land of said Moran southerly to the highway leading to Newport; thence across said highway at the forks of the roads near B. F. Sawyer’s dwelling house, to the northwest corner of land of Mrs. Hattie S. Jenne; thence following the west line of said Jenne’s land to the north bank of the Clyde River; thence up the north bank of said stream to the point begun at, shall be known as the Village of Derby Center, and in and by that name may sue and be sued, prosecute and defend in any court, may purchase, take, hold, sell, and convey real estate and personal property necessary for its corporate purposes, and shall have all the rights and privileges and be subject to all the liabilities incident to public corporations.

• Subchapter 002: Annual Meeting

• § 201. Convening of annual meeting

  The annual meetings of the Village shall be held on the first Tuesday in April in each year at such hour as the notice mentioned in this section shall state, in the Town Hall in the Village, or at such other time and place as the Village shall appoint, of which a notice shall be posted in at least three public places in the Village, at least 10 days previous to the meeting, which notice shall be signed by the Clerk of the Village, and, in case of the Clerk’s failure so to do, by a majority of the Trustees of the Village, and for want of trustees, or upon their failure to do so, by a majority of the justices of the peace residing in the Village; and whenever five legal voters residing in the Village shall so request, the Clerk and, upon the Clerk’s neglect or refusal, the Trustees may call a special meeting of the Village, giving like notice of the same, and specifying in the notice the object of the meeting and the business to be done, and at the meetings none but inhabitants qualified to vote in Town meeting in said Town and who shall have resided for one year within the bounds of the Village shall be entitled to vote. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 298, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 202. Election of officers at the annual meeting

  At the annual meeting of said corporation, there shall be elected, by ballot if called for, for the ensuing year and until their successors are chosen, a Moderator, who shall preside at all meetings of said corporation, with powers of moderators at town meetings; a Clerk who shall keep a record of the proceedings of said meetings of said corporation, with power to certify to copies of the same, and who shall perform all the usual duties of a clerk; one trustee for a term of one year, one trustee for a term of two years, and one trustee for a term of three years, and thereafter at each annual meeting one trustee for a term of three years, who shall have the management of the affairs of said corporation with the necessary powers for that purpose, who may fill vacancies in the offices of said corporation, who may act by a majority, and of whom the oldest in office present at any meeting of said corporation shall preside when the Moderator is absent; a Treasurer and a Collector, who shall be sworn, and who shall discharge the usual duties of such officers; and such other officers, as said corporation by its bylaws require who shall have all the powers necessary for the purposes of their office. The Treasurer and the Collector shall give bonds in such sums as the trustees of said corporation shall direct for the faithful performance of their duties, and if such Treasurer or Collector does not give such bond within 10 days after the person’s election or appointment, the office shall be vacant.

• Subchapter 003: Sewer System

• § 301. Sewer system; establishment; fee assessment and collection

  When the public health or convenience shall require the construction of a common sewer or main drain in the Village of Derby Center and through the principal streets of the Village, the Trustees of the Village, upon application in writing of 20 or more freeholders and legal voters of the Village, are authorized and empowered to lay, make, and maintain the common sewer or main drain and repair the same when necessary, from time to time, and for that purpose may take the lands of any individuals or corporations; and the Trustees shall proceed in the same manner as is prescribed by law for a selectboard in taking lands for highways and in awarding damages; and the Trustees shall make a return of their doings to the office of the Clerk of the Village, who shall record the same in the records of the Village. Each person or corporation whose particular drain shall enter into the main drain or sewer, or who in the opinion of the Trustees shall receive benefit from the system for draining the premises of the person or corporation, shall be liable to contribute a just share toward the expense of laying and constructing and maintaining of the sewer or drain, and shall be assessed by the Trustees such share; and at least 10 days’ notice of the time and place of the assessment for the contribution shall be given to the person or corporation, its agent, tenant, or lessee, and a certificate of the assessment shall be left with the Clerk of the Village, and recorded by the Clerk, and when so recorded the amount so assessed shall be and remain a lien, in the nature of a tax upon the lands and premises so assessed until the same shall be paid, and if the owner of the lands and premises shall neglect, for the space of six months after the final decision of the Trustees, or in case of appeal to the county court, to pay the Village Treasurer the amount of the assessment, the Trustees shall issue their warrant for the collection of the same, directed to the Village Tax Collector, who shall have authority to sell at public auction so much of the lands and premises as will satisfy the assessment and all legal fees, and who shall proceed in the same manner as collectors of town taxes are required by law to proceed in selling real estate at auction for the collection of town taxes. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 299, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 302. Petition for appeal of damage award or fee assessment

  (a) When any person or corporation shall be dissatisfied with the decision of the trustees in the award of damages for land taken for the sewer or drain, or in any assessment for contribution for the same, the person or corporation may petition the Orleans County Court for a reassessment of damages or contribution, and any number of persons agreed may join in the petition, but the petition shall not delay the laying or repairing of the sewer or drain.

  (b) The petition shall be served on the Clerk of the Village within 60 days after the awarding of damages or the assessment for contribution and shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk. The proceedings shall be had in the court on the petition as is provided by law for the reassessment for lands taken for highways, except as provided in this charter, and the commissioners provided by the court shall notify one of the Trustees of the Village, of the time and place when they will hear the matter. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 300, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• Subchapter 004: Police Officers

• § 401. Appointment of police officers

  The trustees of said Village shall have power to, and may appoint such number of police officers within said Village, as said Trustees may judge necessary for the interest of the inhabitants of said Village, by writing under their hands, which shall be recorded in the office of the Village Clerk; and such appointment may be revoked at any time.

• § 402. Duties, compensation, and terms of police officers

  The trustees may specify their duties as watchmen and patrols and agree with them for their compensation, which shall be paid by the the Village. Each of the police shall be sworn; shall have the same powers within the limits of the Village as constables in serving criminal process and in criminal matters; when on duty, shall wear conspicuously a badge of office; and shall hold their office for one year, unless sooner discharged. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 301, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• Subchapter 005: Bylaws

• § 501. Power to adopt bylaws

  The Village may make, alter, and repeal bylaws of the following subject matters:

  First.— Relating to their streets, sidewalks, alleys, public highways, commons, parks, and public grounds, the cleaning, repairing, and improving the same; to prevent the encumbering of the same with firewood, coal, ashes, lumber, carriages, boxes, and other things; and to compel persons to remove from the sidewalks and gutters adjacent to the premises owned or occupied by them snow, dirt, and garbage, and to keep such sidewalks and gutters clean.

  Second.— Relating to a watch and lighting the streets.

  Third.— Relating to slaughter-houses and nuisances generally and to compel the owner or occupant of an unwholesome or offensive house or place to remove or cleanse the same from time to time as may be necessary for the health and comfort of the inhabitants of the Village.

  Fourth.— Relating to sewers.

  Fifth.— Relating to water supply for the protection of the Village and its inhabitants against fires and for other purposes and to regulate the use of the same.

  Sixth.— To restrain animals from running at large in the Village.

  Seventh.— To establish and regulate markets.

  Eighth.— To establish and maintain hay scales.

  Ninth.— To suppress disorderly and gambling houses, and all descriptions of gaming, and for the destruction of instruments used for that purpose.

  Tenth.— To prevent immoderate driving in the streets and cruelty to animals.

  Eleventh.— To regulate the erection of buildings and the materials to be used for the erection of buildings, and the use and occupancy of buildings in crowded localities for special hazardous purposes.

  Twelfth.— To regulate the manufacture and keeping of gunpowder and all other combustibles or dangerous materials.

  Thirteenth.— To regulate the making, altering, and repairing of stove pipes, furnaces, fire places, depositories for ashes and other things, from which loss or damage from fire may be apprehended, and in general to provide for the preservation of buildings from fires, by precautionary measures and inspections.

  Fourteenth.— To establish, regulate, and maintain a Fire Department and fire, hose, and hook and ladder companies.

  Fifteenth.— To regulate or restrain the use and sale of rockets, squibs, fire-crackers, toy pistols, or other fireworks, within the Village.

  Sixteenth.— To regulate the exhibition of shows not interdicted by law.

  Seventeenth.— To license inn-keepers and victualers, peddlers, itinerant vendors, and auctioneers, and license and suppress pool and billiard tables, bowling alleys, skating rinks, and other places of amusement.

  Eighteenth.— To regulate the length and width of sidewalks, and the construction of sidewalks, and protect the same.

  Nineteenth.— To prohibit and punish willful injury to trees planted for shade, ornament, convenience, or use, public or private, and to prevent and punish trespass or willful injuries to or upon public buildings, squares, commons, cemeteries, or other property within the Village. And the Village may establish, alter, or repeal other bylaws and ordinances that it may deem necessary for the well-being of the Village, and for the proper regulation of the officers of the Village, not repugnant to the laws of the State. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 302, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 502. Fines for violations of bylaws and ordinances

  The Village may impose a fine or forfeiture not exceeding $100.00 for the violation of any bylaw or ordinance. The penalty may be recovered in an action on the case upon this statute, in the name of the Village, in which action it shall be sufficient to declare generally that the defendant is guilty of violation of a certain bylaw, naming it generally, and under that declaration the special matter may be given in evidence. But nothing contained in this section shall be so construed as to prevent the Village from having such other and further relief as it may be entitled by law to compel a compliance with the bylaws and ordinances of the Village. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 303, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• Subchapter 006: Fire District

• § 601. Fire district

  Said Village is hereby constituted a fire district for the purpose of preventing the destructive consequences of fires, and the trustees thereof shall have all the powers and be subject to the same restrictions as prudential committees in fire districts in making contracts and expenditures for the preservation of property in said Village from loss or damage by fire.

• Subchapter 007: Taxation

• § 701. Village grand list

  It shall be the duty of the listers of the Town of Derby, in making their assessments of real estate in the Town, to designate, in the list made by them, the real estate situated within the Village of Derby Center; and in case any piece or parcel of real estate is situated partly within and partly outside the limits of the Village, the listers shall designate in the list the appraised value of the real estate that lies within the Village limits. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 304, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 702. Assessment of tax

  The Village may, at its annual meeting or at any special meeting warned for that purpose, assess a tax on the list of real and personal estate taxable in the Village for any of the purposes mentioned in this charter and shall have all the powers, and may collect such tax in such manner as is provided by law for the collection of town taxes in towns, and the Trustees of the Village are to have the power and perform the duties required in this section, of the selectboard in towns. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 305, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 703. Board of Tax Abatement

  The trustees and Clerk of said Village shall constitute a Board for the Abatement of Taxes in said Village and shall have the same power and proceed in the same manner as the board for the abatement of taxes in towns.

• § 704. Membership on Board not disqualification to serve as law enforcement or judicial officer

  A member of said corporation shall not be deprived by reason of such membership to act as judge, juror, sheriff, constable, or justice of the peace in any cause or proceeding in which such corporation is interested.

• Subchapter 008: Borrowing Authority

• § 801. Borrowing authority

  The Village at an annual or at any special meeting called for that purpose is authorized and empowered to vote to borrow money for any of the purposes mentioned in this charter, and to issue its notes and bonds, and the notes or bonds shall be signed by the Trustees and countersigned by the Treasurer of the Village, and if interest coupons are attached they shall be signed by the Treasurer; and the bonds or notes shall contain a statement that they were issued for the purposes mentioned and in conformity with the provisions of this charter, and the statement shall be conclusive evidence of the same, and of the liability of the Village to pay the notes or bonds in an action by a person who in good faith holds the notes or bonds. The Village Treasurer shall keep a record of every note or bond issued under the provisions of this charter, stating the number and denomination of each note or bond, when and where payable, to whom issued, and the rate of interest; and also shall keep a record of payments, interest, and principal, and if any coupons are taken up shall deface the same. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 306, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• Subchapter 009: Electric Light Plant

• § 901. Authority to construct electric light plant

  The Village shall also have authority to construct an electric light plant for the purpose of lighting the streets, walks, and public grounds of the Village, and lighting any buildings in the Village, and, for this purpose, may take or purchase, acquire, and hold any water power, land, and rights of way in the Town, needed for the construction, maintenance, and operation of the electric light plant, and may use any public highway over which it may be necessary or desirable to pass with the poles and wires of the same, provided the use of the public highway for the purpose of public travel is not unnecessarily impaired. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 307, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 902. Assessing damages

  In the event that the Village and any owner of land over which it may be desirable to pass with the poles and wires of the plants, or of land, water power, or rights-of-way, which it may need for the construction and operation of the plant, cannot agree upon the damages to be paid to the owner for the passage or right-of-way, or for the land or water power, or if the owner be a minor or out of the State, or a person who lacks capacity to protect the person’s interests due to a mental condition or psychiatric disability, or otherwise incapable to sell and convey the real estate or rights in the real estate, the same proceedings shall be had for assessing damages as are provided in section 302 of this charter, for compensating the owners of land taken for the construction and maintenance of a sewer or main drain, for the Village. (Amended 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 168; 2023, No. 6, § 308, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 903. Authority to issue bonds for electric light plant

  The Village shall be authorized to issue bonds, not exceeding seven thousand dollars, on such terms as said Village may prescribe, for the purpose of constructing and operating the electric light plant provided for in this charter, and in case the Village shall neglect to make seasonable provisions, for the payment of the principal or interest, of the bonded indebtedness as the same shall from time to time mature, the Treasurer of the Village shall be clothed with the power to make out and deliver to the Collector of the Village, a tax bill on the grand list of the Village, and the Treasurer shall forthwith issue to the Collector a warrant, substantially in form as now provided to be issued for the collection of town or other taxes by town treasurers, directing the collection and payment of the tax to the Treasurer, within 60 days from the time of delivery, in amount to seasonably and promptly pay the interest or principal, or both, then past due and unpaid, with all proper charges for assessing and collecting the same; and the tax shall be collected and paid into the treasury promptly according to the warrant, and the money so collected and paid to the Treasurer shall be especially held, appropriated, and used for the payment of the interest or principal, or both, and for no other purpose save the incidental expense of assessing and collecting the tax. And it is hereby made the duty of the Treasurer of the Village to provide for and promptly pay the interest on and the principal of the bonded indebtedness, as the same shall become due and payable from time to time, without any vote of the Village, and the tax bill shall have all the force and authority in every respect of a tax bill for a tax voted at a regular meeting of the Village. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 309, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 904. Management of electric light plant

  The management and operation of the electric light plant provided for in this charter shall be vested in the Village Board of Trustees, under such bylaws and regulations as the Village at any legal meeting may enact and adopt, and the Village may make bylaws and regulations concerning the management and use of its electric light plant, and the lights furnished thereby, including the rates and charges for the same, and the collection for the same, as it may deem expedient. (Amended 2023, No. 6, § 310, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• Subchapter 010: Transitional Provisions, Amendment and Repeal

• § 1001. [Transitional provision related to current Board of Trustees.]

• § 1002. [Amendment and repeal of charter]

  This charter shall be subject to future legislation to alter, amend, or repeal.