Reader says Village Planner Blais Brancheau made a complete mockery of the process

Village Planner Blais Brancheau’s testimony was not disheartening, it was an absolutely appalling affront to the Village … .the dull and tedious ramblings of a dull and tedious incompetent who looked and spoke with the clarity of a weasel. Why do we pay him to “plan”?

He spoke hollowly of “visions”, in the farcical context of opining on developers’ goals to maximize profit. He blithely distanced himself from any real evaluation of the projects with the repeated comment that “of course, the devil is in the details”. His guidepost was what state would like to see in terms of statewide “goals”, not mandates, but “goals.” He had made no independent evaluation of what the projects would meant in terms of existing Villagers — he could speak only in terms of benefits to mythical third parties.

When pressed, he tried to claim the 500 housing projects, “depending on the details”, would help the Village by re-vitalizing the downtown and enabling Village residents to move downtown. Yet, he gave no specifics as to how either purported goal would be achieved by an influx of housing projects or why either goal could not be achieved in the context of current zoning or why a drastic “amendment” of the town’s master plan was needed. It was clear he had done no independent evaluation of what benefit 500 new families would bring to the Village.

More disturbing is the fact that while he could drone on and on about why the housing projects would meet some amorphous state goals, he said not a word about the real concerns of Villagers. In fact, he repeatedly dismissed those interests of Villagers with his mantra, “well the devil’s in the details” so we will see down the road. He pooh poohed an influx of students that would require building new classrooms and hiring new teachers by saying the student population was on the rise anyway and the 500 new families really wont make much of a difference.

Also glaringly absent was any input into the effect on on taxes or housing prices in the Village. The Village “planner” was focused entirely on what was most beneficial for the speculators who bought these properties hoping to turn a huge profit and what was best for the people who would live in these properties. He had nothing to offer in terms of whether the projects might significantly diminish housing prices in the Village, and, if so, why Villagers should shoulder the costs of developments through the loss of equity in their homes.

Village Planner Blais Brancheau made a complete mockery of the process. He gave no fair evaluation. His theme was simply “built it, they will come, and we will see if its good for the Village in the long run.” Village Planner Blais Brancheau’s testimony was not disheartening, it was an absolutely appalling affront to the Village … .the dull and tedious ramblings of a dull and tedious incompetent who looked and spoke with the clarity of a weasel. Why do we pay him to “plan”?

He spoke hollowly of “visions”, in the farcical context of opining on developers’ goals to maximize profit. He blithely distanced himself from any real evaluation of the projects with the repeated comment that “of course, the devil is in the details”. His guidepost was what state would like to see in terms of statewide “goals”, not mandates, but “goals.” He had made no independent evaluation of what the projects would meant in terms of existing Villagers — he could speak only in terms of benefits to mythical third parties.

When pressed, he tried to claim the 500 housing projects, “depending on the details”, would help the Village by re-vitalizing the downtown and enabling Village residents to move downtown. Yet, he gave no specifics as to how either purported goal would be achieved by an influx of housing projects or why either goal could not be achieved in the context of current zoning or why a drastic “amendment” of the town’s master plan was needed. It was clear he had done no independent evaluation of what benefit 500 new families would bring to the Village.

More disturbing is the fact that while he could drone on and on about why the housing projects would meet some amorphous state goals, he said not a word about the real concerns of Villagers. In fact, he repeatedly dismissed those interests of Villagers with his mantra, “well the devil’s in the details” so we will see down the road. He pooh poohed an influx of students that would require building new classrooms and hiring new teachers by saying the student population was on the rise anyway and the 500 new families really wont make much of a difference.

Also glaringly absent was any input into the effect on on taxes or housing prices in the Village. The Village “planner” was focused entirely on what was most beneficial for the speculators who bought these properties hoping to turn a huge profit and what was best for the people who would live in these properties. He had nothing to offer in terms of whether the projects might significantly diminish housing prices in the Village, and, if so, why Villagers should shoulder the costs of developments through the loss of equity in their homes.

Village Planner Blais Brancheau made a complete mockery of the process. He gave no fair evaluation. His theme was simply “built it, they will come, and we will see if its good for the Village in the long run.” Blais Brancheau’s “vision” seems to be a desire to experiment with the Village and see what works. The developer looked positively wet with excitement throughout the testimony.

It was a sad day to watch the sell out of the Village. Saddest of all was to hear the chairman say “thank you” at the conclusion of this buffoon’s obviously irrelevant testimony rather than asking him why the hell he wasted everyone’s time with dribble.

We need leaders to step forward with independent vision and backbone to keep our Village in tact, rather than run like scared children or blindly follow like naive ones. Before that’s going to happen, however, we need Villagers to speak up. And, on that score, it is worth noting the audience present when BB spoke was very sparse in terms of the stakes.’s “vision” seems to be a desire to experiment with the Village and see what works. The developer looked positively wet with excitement throughout the testimony.

It was a sad day to watch the sell out of the Village. Saddest of all was to hear the chairman say “thank you” at the conclusion of this buffoon’s obviously irrelevant testimony rather than asking him why the hell he wasted everyone’s time with dribble.

We need leaders to step forward with independent vision and backbone to keep our Village in tact, rather than run like scared children or blindly follow like naive ones. Before that’s going to happen, however, we need Villagers to speak up. And, on that score, it is worth noting the audience present when BB spoke was very sparse in terms of the stakes.