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Voters approve library expansion
MARCH 5, 2026
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
Voters say ‘yes’ across the ballot
School district bond also passes BY JASON STARR Observer staff
A narrow majority of Williston voters approved a project Tuesday to double the size of the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, upgrade the existing library space and improve traffic, walking paths and landscaping on and around the Town Green. Town Meeting Day turnout of 2,496 (29 percent of total registered voters) was among the highest of the past five years, driven by strong sentiment on both sides of the library expansion question. In unofficial results reported by the Town Clerk on Tuesday night, the $13.9 million bond sale to fund the project was approved by a vote tally of 1,262 to 1,215. The debt on the bond is estimated to cost property taxpayers $40 per $100,000 of assessed property value, decreasing as the bond is paid off over a period of 25 years, according to Town Manager Erik Wells. “We need more free, safe places for people to go,” voter Danielle Trasciatti-Holmberg said about her decision to support the bond. Planning for the library expansion began three years ago with a citizen committee collecting public input about community space needs. Expansion of the existing building was chosen over other, more ambitious ideas such as building a new library in the Taft Corners area and co-locating a new library
School, town budgets sail through BY JASON STARR Observer staff
Poll workers, from left, Ashley Dubois, Nancy Milne and Ellie Beckett, distribute Town Meeting Day ballots to voters Tuesday at Williston’s polling place, the Vermont National Guard Armory next to Town Hall. OBSERVER PHOTO BY JASON STARR
with a new community center. Attention now turns to finalizing the expansion design and putting a construction contract out to bid, with groundbreaking expected in the spring of 2027. “We are super excited to move forward on this project,” Library Director Kevin Unrath said. “Our library vision is to create a sustainable library that meets the needs of a growing community, and I think this really helps us move toward that vision, because Williston has been growing.” The last library expansion
“We are super excited to move forward on this project.” Kevin Unrath Library director
happened in 1998. The town population has grown by 50% since then, and use of the library has nearly doubled, Unrath said. “We’ve simply run out of space,” he said. The expansion will add a
second floor and create private meeting spaces both large and small. Parking will be moved and expanded, and a left-turning lane will be added for cars exiting the library and adjacent Williston Central School. On the Town Green, an outdoor performance space will be constructed to complement the existing gazebo, along with walking paths and refined landscaping. The project is designed for a multi-generational horizon of 50 to 75 years, Unrath said. “Being able to have the space see VOTERS page 3
All budget, spending and governance questions passed in Williston and the Champlain Valley School District on Town Meeting Day Tuesday. The largest spending request — the school board’s $107.8 million budget proposal for the coming fiscal year — was approved by a five-town vote total of 4,085 to 2,210. Other school board proposals, including a $13 million school building improvement bond (see related story), a $250,000 bond to finance two school buses and two minivans, and use of $1 million in reserve funds as revenue to offset spending, also passed by wide margins. “We are committed to using the resources our community provides us with the utmost care — strengthening student engagement and continuing to honor the stories of every learner in CVSD,” school board chair Meghan Metzler and Superintendent Adam Bunting said in a joint statement. “Because of our see BUDGETS page 4