Published: June 30, 2009 02:56 pm      

Citizens vote to save barn

AVON —





For the first time in its existence, the town here has used its online resources to hold a vote.

The vote was held to discover the town’s thoughts on saving a barn on the hill along the northwest side of the lake at the Avon Town Hall Park.

In the poll, which closed on May 28, citizens voted that the town should keep the Park Barn by a vote of 137-101. The poll received 303 votes, but the town was able to view the IP addresses attached to them to eliminate 65 repeat votes.

Town Manager Tom Klein said it can be difficult to gauge the votes.

“Online surveys can be hard,” he said. “Sometimes different people interpret the question different ways. This puts an importance on how the question is worded.”

However, on Thursday night, the Avon Town Council decided to go along with the survey’s request to stabilize the barn.

After getting estimates, the lowest quote was $2,470. The council gave 30 days to explore the possibility of volunteer work being done on the barn before agreeing to spend the money.

If the town is forced to pay for the stabilization of the facility, the money will not come from taxpayers, but rather from the food and beverage tax.

For now, the town has just decided to stabilize the barn, rather than restore it. This allows town officials time to develop a plan and seek grants that can be used to fund the project.

Klein said the online poll was used based on special circumstances.

“We may look at using it again,” he said. “I learned that the hardest thing to do is to word the question properly. Also, there is no way to tell if these were Avon or non-Avon residents. We will not use this for major decisions in the town. This was a unique situation because of the sentiment.”

Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help work on the barn or needing more information may call Park Superintendent Erin Mulryan at 272-0948.



ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com