Naturally , everything in the budget for the town of Vernon is important , but there may not be many line items that directly affect the future of the town as much as those pertaining to the office of development .

Several residents came to the Town Council’s budget deliberations last Wednesday night , in support of increasing the budget of Town Planner Leonard Tundermann’s office , claiming that there is simply too much work for the staff of three .

Lance Chernak , of Cubles Drive , said that the planning office was recently “ at a stand-still , ” when Tundermann was on vacation , and the administrative assistant was out sick .

This happened when the Planning and Zoning Commission was hearing the controversial application by Ticket-Network , LLC for an outdoor concert venue , and many residents flooded the office with requests for information .

“ We need help in that department , ” Chernak said .

John Roe , a 45-year Valley Falls Road resident , said he is recently becoming more aware of how the town operates , due to the fact that he became very concerned and very active during the TicketNetwork hearings .

“ I’ve really become aware of all the work they do [ in the planning department ] , ” Roe said , “ and how difficult it is to keep up . When someone is on vacation , or away , they do seem to fall behind . ”

Some claimed that the minutes of the PZC , which are posted to the town’s Web site by the planning office , are sometimes lagging as many as six months behind .

As of last Thursday , the most recent minutes posted were for Feb . 11 and Dec . 17 , with seemingly 13 meetings not yetposted .

“ These are very important documents , ” Roe said , reiterating the need to review staffing levels in that department .

Similarly , resident Jennifer Roggi said she has visited the planning office many times recently , with less-thansatisfactory results .

“ I’ve made many visits there , and I can’t tell youhow many times I walked into a sign that said , ‘ No one’s here . Go to Engineering , ’” she said . “ They are grossly understaffed at a point where we are basically at a crossroads for Vernon in terms of where we want Vernon to be , who we want to attract to our town , and what we want our town to be like . ”

Ann Letendre , a member of the Hockanum Linear Park Committee , also asked that the department receive additional staff .

“ How we use our land and how we plan for our land is a foundation for our community , ” Letendre said . “ To shortchange the development department is penny-wise and pound-foolish . ”

Letendre said that some recent applications that were not processed on time wound up costing the town many times what the salary of an additional staffer would have .

She also said she believed that the entire public hearing on the TicketNetwork application may have been avoided if someone were able to have looked at the town regulations in more detail .

Furthermore , Letendre was not afraid to call for a complete overhaul of planning and zoning codes .

“ Regulations have not been updated since 45 yearsago , ” she said . “ They’re difficult to understand , and this is a major task . We need to hire someone who can do it . It’s ludicrous to think that youcan put that into [ Tundermann’s ] position with everything else there is to do . ”

Councilman Bill Campbell asked Tundermann directly if things in his department were as sorry as residents claimed .

“ Pretty much , ” Tundermann said , adding that he does vow , additional staff or not , to make sure no more applications lapse .

Councilwoman Marie Herbst said that she fully intends to re-open the issue , after she does some research , but before the end of the budget process .

“ We talk about increasing the grand list , ” she said , “ and you’renot going to get it larger unless youhave an enthusiastic economic development coordinator , who is out there , out of the office , talking to the businesses . ”

Herbst also agreed that an Assistant Town Planner should be hired , as a separate position , largely to redo the zoning regs .

“ I will pursue [ getting ] an assistant town planner , ” Herbst told her fellow councilmen . “ Please be ready for me . ”

The Town Council will hold another budget deliberation meeting on April 7 , and the Town Meeting on the budget is slated for April 27 at Rockville High School .

Contact Steve Smith at ssmith@remindernet . com .