Williston
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Permit #15 Williston,VT 05495 POSTAL CUSTOMER
MAY 21, 2026
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
On second thought …
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
Windswept Farm, town agree on long-term lease
Voters rescind Town Meeting approval of library expansion bond
BY JASON STARR Observer staff The Town of Williston has agreed to a lease with Windswept Farm for use of 31 acres on Old Stage Road. The town acquired the land in January as part of a home-building plan with former owners Jack and Caitlin Glaser. Home construction has begun on the part of the parcel that remains in private ownership, with 107 homes and two new roads approved to be built in the coming years.
BY JASON STARR Observer staff It turns out Williston isn’t ready for a library expansion. Voters on Tuesday rescinded their Town Meeting Day approval of a $13.9 million bond to finance the project, which would have doubled the size of the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, reoriented its entrance, added a parking lot and upgraded the Village Green. The margin was close — 1,597 to 1,537. The result eschews three years of studying, planning and design work and brings the Board of Library Trustees back to the drawing board on a possible path forward. About 650 more people voted Tuesday than did on Town Meeting Day, when the project was approved by 47 votes. Since that time, a group of residents opposed to the scope of the project circulated a petition to force a reconsideration. Lawn signs sprouted throughout town and those both opposed to and in favor of the project began to campaign. Cindy Roy stood outside the polls throughout the evening voting rush Tuesday, holding a sign urging voters to reject the project. “We’ve tried to educate people to make sure they saw the whole picture,” she said. Roy believes many Town Meeting Day voters approved the bond after only reading the
Voters line up to to cast their votes Tuesday on the town library budget referendum. See more photos on Page 24. OBSERVER PHOTO BY AL FREY
question on the ballot, without realizing the full scope of the project — the Village Green improvements and traffic plan, for example. A few yards away from Roy was Sherry Pidgeon, a leader of the pro-expansion campaign. Voter education was also a key piece of her efforts — especially drilling home the counterintuitive fact that those in favor of the project had to vote ‘no’ on Tuesday. “We know there are a lot of people who want the library (expansion) and we wanted them to understand to vote ‘no,’ because it is confusing,” Pidgeon said. Illustrating the point, a woman
entering the polls intending to support the expansion asked Pidgeon for confirmation of how to vote. “If you support the library,” Pidgeon told her, “vote ‘no!’” With a Williston Selectboard meeting scheduled to start shortly after the polls closed at 7 p.m., Town Manager Erik Wells walked to the armory to pick up the results from Town Clerk Sarah Mason. He returned to share them with the board. “The library project is now not approved,” selectboard member Ted Kenney announced. The Board of Library Trustees, where the expansion plan originated, is set to meet
Tuesday to discuss the results and later hold a joint discussion with the selectboard on possible paths forward. David Martel, who launched the reconsideration petition drive shortly after Town Meeting Day in March, said he is open to supporting a scaled back library renovation. “I think the library is definitely due for a makeover,” he said. “It’s a little outdated. It could use some TLC. Could it use an expansion to create a little bit more space? Probably. I’m for that. But I don’t want to spend $14 million … We need to talk about what’s affordable, what’s practical.”
Uses of the land are to be confined to haying, horse pasture and equestrian training. Windswept Farm, a neighboring equestrian center, had used the land for hay and horse pasture under an agreement with the Glasers. As part of the development plan, the Glasers donated the land to the town, and the town assured Windswept Farm owners Mike and Christina Mauss that they would be allowed to continue to use the land for horse operations. see WINDSWEPT FARM page 12