The Selectboard is holding an informational meeting this Wednesday 11/13 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss next week's special election about financing for possible Town facilities. Town Moderator Kimberly Bushnell will facilitate this meeting, in which the Selectboard will lay out the details of the ballot item, and our reasons for structuring it the way we have. The warning for that election is posted throughout town, on the Town's website, and has been published in the Herald and the Free Press. We'll look forward to seeing you all at the Elementary School's multi-purpose room at 7:00 p.m. this Wednesday.

The Board prepared an informational handout that we've had at the General Store and that we gave to all of the Site Visit attendees last Saturday (11/2). One of the things included in that information package is the approximate tax implications of this financing vote. We say approximate, because we aren't likely to build all of the projects at once; because something might prevent us from building one or two of them at all (like a change in regulations or something); and because we might be able to hold costs down enough to not need to borrow the full authorized amount. But if we were to take the most rapid schedule and the full borrowing amount, our spending to finance, maintain, insure and operate Town facilities would increase from roughly $150,000 a year to about $220-230,000 a year. The $80,000 annual budget increase would amount to $80-90 per $100,000 of assessed value. We'll have more details on that and other facts at the meeting, as well as mailed to every household prior to the election.

Although the meeting will be focused on the details of financing and project development, there will be time after the formal meeting has ended to review the current status of planning for the Town Office/Library, the Firehouse, and the highway and transfer station projects proposed for the West Street property. So feel free to bring detailed questions about the buildings and sites, but hold them for after the meeting, which will be about the financing vote to come on Tuesday 11/19.

Dec 16, 2024, 3 to 4:30 PM

Dec 16, 2024, 5 to 6:30 PM

Dec 17, 2024, 1 to 4 PM