Fayston voters elected officials, passed the budget and approved the creation of a town forest reserve fund at Town Meeting this year.
Voters also unanimously approved a vote of no confidence in Brigid Nease, Harwood Unified Union School District superintendent. State Representatives Kari Dolan, D-Waitsfield, and Maxine Grad, D-Moretown, discussed their work with Fayston voters at the meeting while voters casting Australian ballots filtered through the town office.
Grad spoke of her work on personal and public safety as well as human trafficking, cannabis regulation, highway safety, sentencing and Good Samaritan laws plus legislation to help veterans.
Dolan discussed her work to support tourism, especially outdoor recreation. She said she’d been working on telehealth legislation and universal pre-K efficiencies. Additionally, she talked about working with Vermont Fish and Wildlife on endangered species. Dolan’s committee has spent time working on Act 250 modernization as well as an Abenaki treaty and migratory bird and migration oversight.
There were lots of comments and conversations about the Boyce Hill Town Forest, a 93-acre parcel of land that was donated to the town and has high recreation value. Some questions were raised about taking that land off the tax rolls. Others present talked about the value of green space and keeping large tracts of land intact.
The select board was asked if there could be more public vetting should another large parcel of land be donated. Board members pointed out that the Boyce Hill Town Forest was discussed at publicly warned meetings.
BUDGET APPROVED
Voters approved a town budget of $1,312,482, which includes the $3,500 to create the town forest reserve fund. Voters also approved moving $10,000 from the municipal building reserve fund to a fire equipment reserve fund.
Mad River Valley Ambulance Service volunteer Kevin Van Schaick suggested that Article 19, calling for the town to contribute $15,000 to the ambulance service, be amended so that it didn’t require the proposal to pass in Warren, Waitsfield and Moretown in order to be acted upon. Voters agreed and the amended motion passed. Moretown was unable to get the proposal on its Town Meeting warning in time for the proposal to come up at its Town Meeting. Voters approved $15,000 for the Mad River Valley Recreation District as well.
Fayston resident and citizen journalist Annemarie Furey tweeted Fayston’s Town Meeting for The Valley Reporter and contributed to this story.
