Williston
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NOVEMBER 9, 2023
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
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Top police lieutenant resigns
Consultant: Department lacks succession plan BY JASON STARR Observer staff
What a kick CVU boys soccer senior captain Charlie Jennings, center, lofts the trophy in celebration after winning the Divison I state championship Sunday night. The top-seeded Redhawks defeated No. 2 South Burlington on penalty kicks at the University of Vermont’s Virtue Field. More on page 10. PHOTO BY PAUL LAMONTAGNE/VTSPORTSIMAGES.COM
Handy family buys Friendly’s parcel
The one-acre parcel in the heart of Taft Corners where the old Friendly’s Restaurant once operated has sold to a Handy family trio that anticipates leasing to a new restaurateur. The building and parking lot that sit at the southeast corner of the intersection of Route 2 and Route 2A has been vacant since the spring of 2022, when Friendly’s closed after roughly 40 years in business. According to Town of Williston land records, a company under the name Mountaha LLC bought the parcel in October. Mountaha LLC is owned by
Williston’s Friendly’s closed last year. The new owner is in talks to open a new eatery business there. OBSERVER FILE PHOTO
Anthony, Charles and Joan Handy, members of one of the Burlington area’s more prominent landowning families. “We have it for lease and there
What’s going on at deer camp?
are quite a few people who are interested in it,” Anthony Handy said of the property. “We are waiting to see who is the best fit.” He said the interested parties are in food service and would likely renovate and add on to the building. Mountaha LLC is listed with the Vermont Secretary of State as a land development company based in Burlington. It paid $1.25 million for the parcel, according to town land records. The parcel had been owned by the Mussen family of Essex, which had leased the land to Friendly’s. — Jason Starr
Josh Moore, who was second in command at the Williston Police Department, resigned in October after being placed on paid administrative leave in June. A separation agreement signed by Moore and Town Manager Erik Wells on Oct. 5 is “a resolution of all issues and claims related to” Moore’s employment with the town. The agreement required Moore to submit a resignation letter and not seek re-employment with the town, and both parties agreed to waive any right to future lawsuits against each other. It is unclear why Moore was placed on paid administrative leave in June. “The town does not comment on personnel matters,” Wells said. Moore was the department’s first and only lieutenant, a supervisor position created by Police Chief Patrick Foley in 2019 in part to develop a succession stepping stone to the police chief job. During his leave, Moore remained under Foley’s direction and continued to receive pay and benefits, but was required to relinquish access to town computer systems and police department equipment and to stop his policing duties, according to a copy of the notice of leave provided to the Observer. Without Moore, the depart-
Josh Moore
ment is left without a clear successor to Foley, who turns 70 this year. The department has never hired a chief from within the organization. “The chief has been around a long time, and you don’t know when he is going to decide it’s time to retire,” said Jim Baker, a consultant the town hired to assess the police department’s structure and needs. Baker delivered his report to the Williston Selectboard on Tuesday, and an unclear leadership future is among his primary findings. Two of the department’s four sergeants are due to retire in the next two years, he noted, and the department, like others in the region, is currently running shortstaffed on officers. At 17 officer positions and one office administrator, the department has not grown with the see MOORE page 7
6am-9am, Saturday, November 11th
HUNTER’S WIDOW SALE
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