ROCKINGHAM, Vt. -- The nays have it.
Eight months after more than 60 percent of Rockingham voters approved the town's purchase of the Bellows Falls hydroelectric dam, voters reversed that decision Tuesday by rejecting the proposal 864 to 638.
The decision all but ended Rockingham's chances to own the dam.
As the vote totals were read minutes after the polls closed at 7 p.m. in the Masonic Temple, both supporters and opponents of the sale greeted the news with a collective gasp.
People speculated on what may have caused the reversal. The reasons varied but few denied the influence of a small group of residents who joined together to oppose the purchase.
"You should never underestimate a half dozen people at a round table with the documents and calculators," Laurie Rowell, a resident and member of Rockingham Dam Facts, said.
A political action committee formed just two months ago, Rockingham Dam Facts appealed to voters to oppose the sale through a Web site, literature, television spots and at public hearings on the purchase.
The group claimed the town's deal with the Bellows Falls Power Company, a joint venture between Canadian companies Brascan and Emera, had been put to a town-wide vote last November before voters had all the information they needed to make an informed decision.
Town officials hoped to purchase the dam in order to stabilize Rockingham's tax base. Property tax revenue accounts for one-third of the town's tax revenue and legal battles with the dam's former owner, bankrupt USGen New England, over the dam's value have proved costly.
After a bankruptcy court gave Rockingham an option to purchase the dam last year, town officials hurried to find a partner that would bankroll the $72 million needed to complete the sale. The town's prospects looked good until its partner, the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, backed out last September.
The town soon found another partner in Brascan and Emera, which teamed up to form the Bellows Falls Power Company. Under a complicated long term leasing arrangement, BF Power would have put up $72 million on behalf of the town to purchase the dam by its December 1 deadline.
Rockingham would then lease it to BF Power for about $3 million per year for 74 years.
Voters approved that deal in November but as the town moved toward closing on the sale by its Oct. 3 deadline, opposition to the purchase grew louder.
Tuesday's vote had 415 more people coming out than the vote in November. Just over 1500 people voted, a 46 percent turnout.
Town officials appeared caught between two extremes, both excited over the high level of participation and defeated by how voters responded.
"I'm disappointed," Selectboard Chairman Lamont Barnett said afterwards. "Probably not as disappointed as the community will be when the results kick in after a couple years."
Rockingham's attorney, Dick Saudek, said the town selectboard may still warn a vote to reconsider, but doubted such a move would be practical at this late stage.
"I think it's probably over," Saudek said.
If Rockingham officials end the effort to buy the dam, the facility's current owner, TransCanada, will retain possession and the $72 million currently in escrow will be returned to Brascan and Emera.
TransCanada purchased a string of hydroelectric dams, including the Bellows Falls facility, along the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers from USGen in April. Transcanada vice president Bill Taylor said the company would continue to honor the town's option to buy until the Oct. 3 deadline has passed.
"At this juncture, I don't know where we stand other than to mention the option agreement is still with the town and we intend to operate under that option agreement until it expires," Taylor said.
Taylor added that the company intended to "be a good corporate partner" to Rockingham. The company has not challenged the dam's valuation this year, Saudek said.
Both supporters and opponents of the purchase expressed exhaustion yesterday from their efforts and said they were happy the issue would be put to rest.
While some supporters of the purchase seemed reluctant to speak about the defeat, Selectwoman Leslie Goldman shrugged and said she approached it the way she viewed all votes.
"It's democracy," she said.