Residents press board over commercial water-district application and transparency

Several residents at the Sept. 25 Town of Goshen meeting told the board they felt misled after learning an application for a commercial water district had been submitted. The criticism centered on repeated public statements that "nothing was happening" while engineers and attorneys (paid by the town) continued work on the application.

Why it matters: Formation of a commercial water district can change local services, taxes and land-use outcomes; residents said they expected clearer communication from elected officials about the application status.

Resident Chris Healy said he had repeatedly asked the board about progress and was told there was nothing to report; he later discovered the application had been submitted and described the omission as a "lie of omission." The supervisor responded that much of the work had been done outside open meetings by attorneys and engineers the town retained and that the board had not intentionally concealed activity at the staff/consultant level. He confirmed the town had allocated funds (noting they were drawn from the 'B fund') for attorneys and engineering work and that staff would provide documentation.

Board members acknowledged the communication lapse and said they are working to make more documents available online with agendas. One board member said the biosolids item had been advanced rapidly after the letter from a resident (Sue) and that staff had been working for months.

Discussion vs. action: The meeting did not produce a vote on the water-district application; the board discussed transparency improvements and a plan to publish meeting materials and documents online to address residents'concerns.

What to watch next: Residents asked the town to publish documents and provide clearer status updates on the water-district application; the board said it will pursue attachments to agendas and more timely publication.