Beautifully verdant and peaceful, the Village of Dulcetville, which boasts eight-hundred plus permanent residents, according to its recent census, of diverse ages and ethnicities, can be referred to as a “bedroom suburb,” for the reason that most of its residents of working age, commute to and from the village, to their place of employment.
Residence in the Village of Dulcetville, (a cooperatively owned, Land Trust), is open to any adult person(s), or family, desiring to live there, willing to execute, and mandatorily, abide by, a certain, “Residence Agreement,” with the Village Trust; the latter, being the governing and proprietary entity, from which all residential property, pursuant to such contract, is agreed, and understood to be, “conditionally purchased.”
The salient provisions of the Agreement, in summary, state that, (1) any adult person(s), desiring to reside in the Village, subject to the Village system of conditional ownership, and compliance with its Contract, is eligible to do so (2) the universal status of equality, in all matters, societal, civil and criminal, is to be enjoyed by all residents, (3) residents shall be literate, and have received at least a high school diploma (4) residents shall have, and maintain, a record of no criminal convictions, including misdemeanors, for alcohol or substance abuse and convictions for spousal, or other family abuse, (5) at no time shall a resident shall be the owner or possessor, of a firearm of any kind (6) residents shall be self-supporting, or, in the case of disability or old age, by means of governmental or private assistance, (7) residents are required to properly upkeep their respective property and regularly maintain its attractive appearance, (8) all residents shall vote in all elections, local, State and Federal and (9) residents shall mandatorily, practice civility and neighborly good will, toward each other.
The demonstration of credible proof, presented fairly and objectively, at an open meeting before the Board, of violation of any one, or more, contractual obligations, shall, oblige the resident to retransfer his conditional ownership, to his residential property to the Board, at the then prevailing market price; such transaction to close, within 30 days, of the determination of the breach.
The Village Board is comprised of an elected, rotating, membership of five residential Trustees, each, respectively, serving a term of two years. The Village has three school districts, a well- stocked, public library, a large, free hospital center, village water, fire and sanitation departments, however, by reason of the lack of necessity, no police department. Village repairs to infrastructure, when needed, are to be paid for by the Village residents, as per the Village Contract.
In the exact center of Dulcetville Village, there is a two-story, red brick, Village Hall, which, in addition to providing for village administrative offices, and rooms for the meetings and hearings, of the Village Board of Trustees, has ample, attractive facilities for Village weddings, town hall meetings, dances and other events. Residents wishing to attend at religious services, do so at neighboring towns, their being no houses of worship in the Village, due to, among other reasons, the contractual provision of conditional ownership. There are no statues, religious or secular, and no flags or signs of any kind, permitted in the Village, with the sole exception of modest and dignified signage, installed at the main entrance, bearing the name of the Village, and the date of its establishment. There is a newspaper, published by interested and capable, volunteer residents, at Village expense, appearing no less than twice, monthly. No commercial or political advertisements are permitted in the Village Monthly, which accepts, only articles of general interest as well as personal or Official village notifications.
Upon a bona fide demonstration of financial need, (due to illness, disability and the like) temporary relief may, at the discretion of the Board, be granted, in supplementation of a resident’s entitlements from federal, state or other sources, governmental or private. Hearings of the Board, as to such grants are to be conducted in confidence, and decisions require a unanimous vote, of an attending quota of the Board.
The Village encourages regular debates on issues, local, State and Federal. On Wednesday evenings, as needed, it hosts scheduled debate events, at which opposing points of view are aired, in a friendly and civically, appropriate fashion. In common with all formal debates, Robert’s Rules of Order is subscribed to. The topics, selected by the interested and qualified participants, are unlimited, but strictly secular. Debate rules provide, that in the event of the failure by a participator or member of the audience, at the debate event, to observe a proper standard of neighborly behavior, the debater may not thereafter, participate in a debate, for a period of not less than one year, from the date of the transgression, nor may an offending audience member be admitted to the debates for such period. Debate participants, may publish their views, if desired, in the Village Monthly Newsletter, in advance of the debate event, as well as their concluding arguments, in the issue, one month thereafter.
Despite energetic, avid and painstaking, researches, for a route to the Village of Dulcetville, electronically, as well as in printed maps and travel brochures, and efforts in consulting travel experts and cartographers, we have met with only utter frustration and dismal failure. If any of our readers, can inform us as to a route, by which one can get to that (idyllic) venue, he is kindly requested to do so, the receipt of which, would make us eternally grateful.
-p.
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