Many thanks to the 132 citizens of Berlin who responded to the Town Meeting Survey. Berlin residents expressed concern about opiates, the cost of education, and the use of cell phones. Comments are results are as follows.
Drugs
“We lost the war on drugs years ago.”
Retirement
“As a retired military man, 22 years of active duty, as long as I can get a family health plan from Maine, I’ll be happy.”
Plastic Bags
“Regarding the proposal fee for plastic grocery bags, I feel this will penalize us older folk who can’t lift heavy bags. In order to accommodate all of our groceries, I would need 5 or 6 bags. I recycle the plastic bags at the store so I don’t see why they create such a huge problem.”
Education
“Our education system needs to be redesigned to be more appropriate for today’s world. The future is innovative. Student-designed mentorship and community-based education should be considered. Vermont should support more capitalized, big picture modeled schools.”
Health
“I’m not convinced that single payer is the best overall. How do we pay? Is care going to change for the better?”
Wind Towers
“Wind towers themselves are really not the problem but the access roads are. Why not encourage small scale wind closer to the users?”
Senator Bill Doyle serves on the Senate Education Committee and Senate Economic Affairs Committee, and is the Senate Assistant Minority Leader. He teaches government history at Johnson State College. He can be reached at 186 Murray Road, Montpelier, VT 05602; e-mail wdoyle@leg.state.vt.us; or call 223-2851.
