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FEBRUARY 20, 2020
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
u TOWN MEETING DAY PRIMER u Town Meeting schedule MONDAY, MARCH 2 7 p.m., Williston Annual Meeting, WCS auditorium 7 p.m., Champlain Valley School District Annual Meeting, CVU, Room 160 TUESDAY, MARCH 3 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Voting at the Vt. National Guard Armory in Williston Village
From presidential primaries to school construction bonds to town charter changes, voters have a lot to consider on March 3 By Jason Starr Observer staff
Questions of national import will mingle with local and regional budgeting and borrowing decisions when Williston voters go to the polls March 3 for Town Meeting Day. Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Vermont National Guard Armory at 7846 Williston Rd. Early and absentee voting are currently available at the Williston Town Clerk’s office, 7900 Williston Road. A first choice for voters will be whether to participate in either the Republican or Democratic U.S. presidential primary. Voters can decide on election day which of the two primary ballots to take. On the Republican ballot are President Donald Trump and challengers to the nomination former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and Californian Roque De La Fuente. The Democratic primary ballot has 13 candidates, some of whom have already folded their campaigns. REGIONAL QUESTIONS The Champlain Water District, which treats and distributes drinking water to eight municipalities in Chittenden County, is seeking borrowing authority from voters for $3.5 million worth of system
improvements. The improvements are located exclusively in the towns of Essex and Colchester, but the costs would be borne by the district as a whole. No water rate increases would be required, according to the district, because debt service on the bond would begin as older debts are paid off. Included in the improvements are a new pump station and transmission line in Essex and new transmission lines in Colchester, where existing lines have been found to leach a contaminant known as PCE, according to the district. Public hearings on the proposal are scheduled for 7 p.m. this Thursday at district headquarters, 403 Queen City Park Rd., in South Burlington, and 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at Lincoln Hall, 2 Lincoln St., in Essex Junction. The district’s board of commissioners, including Williston representative Liz Royer, approved the proposal at their Dec. 10 meeting. SCHOOL DECISIONS The Champlain Valley School Board has one seat up for election, but voters will have only one ballot choice, with incumbent Erin Brady running unopposed to continue representing Williston on the 12-member board.
Voters will have ‘yes’/‘no’ decisions to make on four school district ballot items, including an $82.4 million budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. To pass, the proposals will need support from a combined majority of voters in the district’s five member towns. The budget carries a spending increase of 4.4 percent ($3.6 million) over the current fiscal year and increases spending per pupil by roughly 3.2 percent to a total of $16,500 per pupil. The budget increase will have a different impact on property taxes in each of the member towns — Williston, Hinesburg, St. George, Charlotte and Shelburne — based on their respective common level of appraisals (CLA). The CLA is a statewide formula applied to local property values that attempts to equalize municipal contributions to the state Education Fund. In Williston, the budget increase would result in a tax rate increase of about 5 percent to $1.60 for every $100 of assessed property value. For the owner of a $400,000 home — the median home price in the district — the increase would amount to an additional $288 on their annual property tax bill. The increase is the most significant since separate school districts in the five towns merged to form see MEETING page 24
Observer photo by Al Frey
Williston’s Tali Giubardo of CVU competes Saturday in the floor exercise on her way to a state championship in Essex. In addition to Guibardo’s individual title, the Redhawks won the team title.
The arc of a champion
Giubardo leads Redhawk gymnasts to state title The Champlain Valley Union High School gymnasts are queens of the gym, thanks to an inspiring performance from their senior captain Tali Giubardo. Giubardo won the all-around competition Saturday at the Vermont State Gymnastics Championship meet in Essex, finishing first in the floor exercise, third on the beam and fourth in the vault and bars. This is all happened after Giubardo missed last season with a broken neck — as first reported by the Burlington Free Press. The Williston senior finished with an all-around score of 36.425, beating St. Johnsbury’s Lizzy Jones (36.300) and Essex’s Ella Lesny (36.000). Giubardo paved the way for a Redhawks team state championship, their second in three years, with a score of 143.325 to beat second-place Essex’s 139.300 Taylor Hoar came in fourth place in the all-around, Laurynn Bombardier was fifth and Delaney Miller-Bottoms came in sixth to bolster the Redhawks’ state title bid. After winning the championship for 12 years in a row, Essex has now traded the title with CVU in the last three years. The Redhawks see CHAMPION page 10
