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Library trustees target August re-vote
MAY 28, 2026
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
Survey: How much are you willing to support? BY JASON STARR Observer staff
The Dorothy Alling Memorial Library Board of Trustees’ post-mortem of last week’s voter rejection of their $14 million renovation and expansion plan quickly morphed Tuesday into plans to put a scaleddown project in front of voters as soon as possible. They are targeting an August ballot question. That would allow them to piggyback on the Aug. 11 primary election instead of holding a standalone town election with a single-question ballot as they did last week. “If possible, I’d really like to do it on primary day,” said board chair Charity Clark, who, incidentally, will be seeking the Democratic nomination for Vermont attorney general that day. Clark’s comment came during the trustees’ first meeting since the narrow defeat of a $13.9 million bond question that would have financed a two-story library addition, renovation and improvements to the adjacent Village Green. The defeat was a reconsideration of the Town Meeting
Kids rallied in support of a proposed library expansion during voting last Tuesday in Williston Village. OBSERVER COURTESY PHOTO BY LAUREN MILES
Day approval of the bond in March, forced by a petition of people opposed mostly to the cost of the project and the increase in property taxes that would come with the bonded debt. “We get it. It was a big ask,” said trustee Karla Karstens. “This is a very tough time for people. I can’t begrudge them for voting no.” The trustees are ready to whittle
down the plan, perhaps designing a single-story addition instead of two stories, and likely eliminating the improvement plan for the Village Green. But their first step will be to survey residents with two basic questions: How much money would you support the town spending on library renovations or expansion, and what elements of the existing project
(meeting rooms, makerspace, energy efficiency, expanded parking, etc.) should be prioritized? “We worked on this for three years, and we included everything that people wanted,” trustee Stephen Perkins said. “Now we need to prioritize those wants so we can narrow the scope and have a smaller price.” Williston architect John
contract. The current three-year contract expires in June. While there has been no public record of the meetings, several support staffers aired their frustration with the negotiations during last week’s meeting of the full school board, revealing that a third-party mediator will be brought in to bring the two sides together. At issue is compensation.
Support staff includes bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians and para-educators across the district’s six schools. Starting wages range from $21-$40 per hour in the current contract, depending on job description, years of experience and level of education. Additionally, the school district covers 80 percent of health insurance premiums under the terms of a statewide contract
with all Vermont public school educators, and provides a cash payment in lieu of health insurance if an employee opts out of the district’s health coverage. Staff lead negotiator Gloria Mantagaris, a para-educator at Shelburne Community School, said the board’s current wage proposal for a new contract “does not … adequately reflect the value of our
Hemmelgarn drew up the plans for the original project. According to Library Director Kevin Unrath, Hemmelgarn is now retired but has volunteered to work on revised plans for public inspection ahead of an August vote. “That is really helpful because we don’t really have funds for an architect right now,” Unrath said. In order to get on the Aug. 11 ballot, the selectboard will need to approve a bond question by mid-July, Town Manager Erik Wells said. The next possible election after that would be the November general election, then Town Meeting Day next March. “Every day that passes, it’s going to cost more money,” Clark said, noting the increasing cost of construction. “(August) feels like a hustle, but I think it’s do-able … I don’t think we need to massively restructure this. We’ve already done so much of the work. We’re just taking things out now.” The trustees said they welcome the opportunity to better unify the community around the project. “Even though this was a step back, I think in the long run it will be a positive for the support of the library,” said Clark. “We are all going to know, ‘this is what we are doing and this is why.’”
School staff, board bring in mediator on contract talks
BY JASON STARR Observer staff
The Champlain Valley School Board’s Human Resources Committee has been meeting in closed-door sessions throughout the school year with union representatives from the district’s educational support staff to come to an agreement on a new employment
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education support professionals or address the financial instability our staff continues to experience.” Wearing red shirts representing the Champlain Valley teachers union, several staff members described to the board struggles keeping up with the cost of living. “When school employees must work multiple jobs to sustain see TALKS page 16
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