UPDATED: 1:10 p.m. 2/27/20 to note MRVRD is seeking an additional $15,000 from member towns.
There’s a lot going on at Town Meeting this year, with budgets, town offices, school board seats, capital spending, the school board budget and more.
Valley voters head to the polls on March 3 for Town Meeting itself, while polls will be open throughout The Valley for Australian ballot voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in each town.
All eyes will be on the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) budget and efforts to encourage voters to reject it as a way of expressing discontent with how the board chose that budget that puts all middle-schoolers at Crossett Brook and Moretown’s fifth- and sixth-graders there as well. The proposed budget is $39,772,343 and will be voted on by Australian ballot in all six towns in the district with votes commingled. That budget includes $315,000 for the installation of temporary classrooms at Crossett Brook.
Voters in Warren, Waitsfield, Fayston and Moretown will be asked to approve $15,000 in funding for Mad River Valley Ambulance Service. That will be discussed from the floor and voted on from the floor of Town Meeting.
The Mad River Valley Recreation District is seeking an additional $15,000 from its member towns, Warren, Waitsfield and Fayston, to hire an administrator for the district.
WAITSFIELD
Waitsfield voters will gather at Waitsfield Elementary School at 9 a.m. for Town Meeting. In addition to the regular articles on the warning, including a budget of $2,051,885 (voted from the floor), Waitsfield voters will be electing two select board members by Australian ballot as well as an HUUSD Board director.
Rob Schonder and Brian Shupe are challenging select board member Sal Spinosa for his seat on the board. Spinosa is seeking reelection. Jon Jamieson is seeking reelection to his seat on the select board.
Christine Sullivan is seeking reelection to her seat on the HUUSD Board and is being challenged by Russ Bennett who is seeking election as a write-in candidate.
Waitsfield voters will also be voting on an Australian ballot question that would change the town’s charter to allow the town (with a second, subsequent Australian ballot vote) to adopt a local option tax on rooms, meals, alcohol and/or retail sales.
There will be a Town Meeting Day luncheon at Waitsfield United Church of Christ immediately following the end of the meeting.
FAYSTON
Fayston’s Town Meeting gets underway at 9:30 a.m. at the Fayston town office. Fayston elects its town officials from the floor of Town Meeting. Select board member Mike Jordan is up for reelection. The proposed budget in Fayston is $1,302,482. Voters will also be asked to approve transferring $10,000 from the municipal building maintenance reserve fund to the fire equipment reserve fund.
Fayston is exploring building a new town garage and the select board report details the creation of a town garage study committee made up of Ed Read, David Frank, Tom Clark, select board members, road foreman Stuart Hallstrom and zoning administrator John Weir. The committee met several times in 2019 and the town has hired architect Karyn Scherer to help with the project. Town Meeting attendees will hear a short report on the work today.
DUXBURY
The Duxbury Town Meeting will start at 9 a.m. and take place at Crossett Brook Middle School. There will be a potluck and people can bring a hot dish, salad or dessert with no nuts or peanut oil. Child care will be available (call Torrey Smith at 244-8581).
This year voters will vote on 12 articles, one of which will ask voters to approve a town budget of $1,092,888 ($156,611 of which will go to budget deficit retirement). Other articles ask voters to approve the expenditure of a new pickup truck with plow and sander that will not exceed $69,125, and to appropriate $30,000 into an emergency storm damage fund.
There are two items up for Australian ballot in Duxbury this year. The first is for Duxbury’s bond, which asks for a maximum of $300,000 to repair structural deficiencies and thermal issues on the town highway garage. The second is to elect a school board representative for a three-year term.
The town has not received any petitions seeking current school board director Garett MacCurtain’s seat. Therefore, the Duxbury school board representative will be elected from a write-in vote. Select board and other town officials are elected from floor.
MORETOWN
Moretown’s Town Meeting will start at 9 a.m. at the Moretown Town Hall. Lunch will be served by the Moretown Historical Society.
An informational meeting will be held prior to Town Meeting Day to discuss the articles that will be voted on via Australian ballot. The informational meeting will occur on March 2 at the Moretown Town Hall at 7 p.m.
Voters will vote on 33 articles, three of which will be voted on via Australian ballot. These Australian ballot articles include, first, an article to adopt revisions to Moretown’s zoning regulations; second, an article to approve a town budget of $1,259,989; and, third, an article to authorize the select board to spend no more than $160,000 on a new excavator to maintain town highways.
On the select board, Tom Martin is running for reelection as select board chair and Rae Washburn is running for reelection to the select board. Don Wexler is running to replace Jason Aronowicz.
On the school board, Moretown HUUSD representative Gabriel Gilman’s term expires this year. Chris Noyes and Lisa Mason are running for his position.
WARREN
Warren’s Town Meeting will start at 4 p.m. at Warren Elementary School. Voters will vote on 14 articles, including an article to spend no more than $84,000 from the Conservation Reserve Fund to permanently protect 1.3 miles of the Catamount Trail, water quality in Lincoln Brook and 512 acres of forest, fish and wildlife habitat between Lincoln Gap and Lincoln Peak. The proposed budget is $3,707,211.
There is one article up for Australian ballot, which asks voters to elect town officials. On the select board, Randy Graves is running again for a three-year select board position and Robert Ackland is running again for a two-year select board position.
On the school board, current representatives from Warren will stay on, as their terms do not expire this year.
