Around Town

WILLISTON•VERMONT

Glaser plan committee convenes

The first meeting of the Glaser Specific Plan Advisory Committee is set for 5 p.m. on Thursday Jan. 26 in the Town Hall Annex conference room at 7878 Williston Road and online via Zoom. The meeting will cover the committee’s role in crafting a development plan for the proposed neighborhood on the Glaser property, at the corner of Old Stage and Mountain View roads.

A committee chair will be chosen. More information is available on the Williston town website (www.town.williston.vt.us).

Free home repairs, upgrades for older homeowners

Could your home be made safer and more comfortable? Cathedral Square is offering free home assessments and upgrades to older Vermonters so that they can stay safe and independent. Work can address kitchen and bathroom accessibility, improvements to entryways and thresholds for safe walking, lighting to enhance safety and other needs. Qualified homeowners must be at least 62 years of age, meet income requirements and reside in the towns of Williston, Richmond, Bolton, Hinesburg, Huntington, Jericho or Underhill.

To learn more and enroll, contact Carolyn Gipson at gipson@ catheralsquare.org, 802-488-0734.

Tree Talk Tuesdays: Hemlock and Red Maple

Dip your toes into tree identification and learn how climate change is likely to affect some of your favorite hardwoods and softwoods. Join the Vermont Land Trust’s forestry team for lively 30-minute presentations

Correction

A story on the front page of last week’s Observer headlined “Back to the good old days” mistakenly reported the Town Meeting start time on Monday, March 6 at Williston Central School to be 6 p.m. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

that will help you identify various species, inform you on the climate futures of those trees, and give you ways to manage them to promote and protect the special values they bring to Vermont’s forests.

The first in this four-part series will use photos to help you distinguish between hemlock and red maple and their look-alikes and will look at what the future may hold for these two species and the other trees they commonly grow with as our climate continues to shift. Tuesday, Jan. 31, 12-12:30 p.m.

Sign up at https://vlt.org/events/ tree-talk-tuesdays-hemlock-andred-maple/.

VEC seeks candidates for board of directors

Vermont Electric Co-op (VEC) is seeking petitions from eligible candidates for three board of directors seats that are up for election in May.

The seat representing VEC’s “West Zone At-large Towns” — including Williston — is among those up for election.

Directors are elected to serve four-year terms. The board gener- ally meets in the afternoon on the last Tuesday of each month, either at VEC’s main office in Johnson or virtually via teleconference. In order to run for the board, a candidate must be a VEC member and have a principal residence in the district they are running to represent.

Established in 1938, VEC is a non-profit, member-owned electric distribution utility that provides electricity throughout northern Vermont.

Applications are due by March 3. Visit https://vermontelectric. coop/board-candidate-information or email support@vermontelectric. coop for more information.

Ethan Allen Homestead Museum presents online book club

Ethan Allen Homestead Museum presents a discussion of “Seven Years of Grace: The Inspired Mission of Ascha W. Sprague” by Sara Rath and published by the Vermont Historical Society. The book is a historical novel based on a true story and steeped in primary source research about Achsa W. Sprague (1827–1862) of Plymouth, Vermont, one of America’s best-known spiritualists of the 19th century. In addition to spiritualism, Sprague was active in the abolition of slavery, women’s rights and prison reform.

The event is Sunday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. You do not have to read the book to attend. Anyone interested in the topic or the discussion is welcome. To register and/or to buy the book, go to www.ethanallenhomestead.org. For more information, call (802) 863-5403 or email jdevino1791@gmail.com.

Eight-week grief group starting in Richmond

Address themes of grief and loss and adjusting to life without someone; understand myths of grief and identify “normal” grief; and recognize the importance of tending to our grieving selves. This eightweek grief group is facilitated by Ally Parker and is set for Wednesdays 2:30-4 p.m. beginning Feb. 1 at Richmond Town Center, Conference Room C.

To register, email martha@ cscvt.org. For more information, contact Ally Parker at (802) 3559471.

classrooms have been used at ABS in the past, when the school accommodated more grade levels. The new classrooms are expected to be in place until the school board requests — and voters approve — bond funding for permanent additions to ABS and other district schools.

A demographic study the board commissioned last year estimated that the student population at ABS will increase by 55 students over the next five years.

“Space will continue to be an issue in the building until a larger renovation can happen,” said Marino.

Brady To Step Down From School Board

Erin Brady, who was re-elected in November to a second term representing Williston in the Vermont Legislature, said she will not seek re-election to the Champlain Valley School Board. Her term expires in March.

Brady, a high school teacher in the Colchester School District, has been on the school board since 2015.

“Board service has been an incredibly enriching experi - ence and helped me understand our schools from a different lens than I can as a teacher and parent,” she said. “I am humbled to now be serving as the vice chair of the House Education Committee and need to devote more time to legislative work. I appreciate the trust Williston voters have placed in me on our school board. I look forward to supporting new voices on the board and will continue to work on behalf of our schools from Montpelier.”

Candidates interested in having their name on the Town Meeting Day ballot for the board seat need to have petitions filed with the Williston Town Clerk by Monday, Jan. 30. The opening is for a threeyear seat.

School Budget Proposal Set For Town Meeting

The school board finalized a $96 million annual budget proposal for Town Meeting Day last Tuesday, an increase of $6.7 million over the current fiscal year.

Due to an increased per-pupil contribution from the state education fund, the 7.5 percent spending increase will result in only a 2 percent increase in property taxes, according to estimates from Marckres, the school district’s COO.

Voters in the five-town district will weigh in on the proposal on Town Meeting Day, March 7, or through early voting by requesting a ballot from the Town Clerk.

The increased spending is mostly attributable to an increase in salaries and benefits in the employment contract approved earlier this month between the school board and the teachers’ union. Inflation in the cost of supplies and energy also factor in.

If approved, the budget will increase taxes for Williston property owners by roughly 3 cents for every $100 of assessed property value, according to Marckres.

School district voters will also be asked to allow the district to use $600,000 in its reserve fund as revenue for the upcoming fiscal year, leaving $1.37 million remaining in the fund; and to allow the district to borrow up to $395,000 to buy three new school buses.