Duxbury: It’s all on the ballot for Town Meeting Day
March 6, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti As towns across Vermont ease back into their pre-pandemic Town Meeting Day routines, Duxbury is moving on by embracing the paper ballot format it used for the past two years that resulted in higher voter turnout than before.
Lars Dickson addresses the special Town Meeting last November where Duxbury voters decided to end in-person March Town Meetings and put all business on paper ballots. Photo by Gordon Miller
On Tuesday, all of the town’s business and elections will be decided on paper ballots – also known as “Australian ballots” – a practice the town switched to in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and decided last fall to continue. After participation increased 300% for the past two years, town officials went to the voters to ask if they wanted to return to deciding all business at a daytime meeting in person. Last November, people met to make that call and opted to switch to paper ballots.
At the Citizens Have Your Say Day meeting on Jan. 7, Duxbury residents gathered to review the draft budget, hear from potential candidates and share many kinds of pie. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
As a way to not entirely forgo the tradition of gathering and the ability to question the selectboard about the budget and hear from people running for office, the town held a “Citizens Have Your Say Day” in early January. The draft budget presentation elicited many questions and comments but resulted in no significant changes. The occasion included pie and a contest to name the town’s new dump truck – results from that were just announced last week and the winner was “Big Blue” submitted by Greg Trulson, Brenda Hartshorn and Gwenna Peters.
Tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., voting will be set up outside the town office and town garage along Vermont Route 100 in the drive-through format that Duxbury has grown accustomed to since 2020.
Town Clerk Maureen Harvey prefers the setup that includes a red-white-and-blue check-in booth. (Word has it there will be a new check-out booth as well.)
The Duxbury ballot will have eight articles of business for voters to decide and elections to fill a number of town offices plus two seats on the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board.
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 that starts mid-year is $1,086,960. Two separate articles ask voters to approve putting $30,000 into the paving escrow account (same as in 2022) and $113,000 into the capital reserve account, an increase of $2,000 from last year.
Together that comes to $1,229,960 which is 4.3% (nearly $56,000) less than what taxpayers approved in 2022.
Other articles take care of housekeeping items such as setting the tax payment deadline for Oct. 13 with the penalties for late payments noted. Voters also will be asked to update the term lengths for several town offices: extending the two town constable positions from one year to two-year terms, and changing the delinquent tax collector office from a one-year to a three-year term. (If approved, those changes would go into effect in 2024.)
None of the elections on the ballot are contested and several have no candidates although voters may write in their choices. Two selectboard seats are on the ballot: Jamison Ervin, who has served a one-year term, is running for a three-year seat; Ann Harvey is seeking the open one-year spot.
Other town offices to be filled are moderator, a lister position, three spots on the cemetery commission, two constables and the delinquent tax collector. Both of Duxbury’s incumbent school board members, Cindy Senning and Life LeGeros, are on the ballot. Senning is running for a full three-year term having served two years; appointed in 2022, LeGeros is looking to serve out the remaining two years of his term.
Updates from town officials and departments along with a detailed budget breakdown and other key information for the town over the past year such as vital statistics (births, deaths, marriages) are available in the Duxbury Annual Report. Copies were mailed to each household and extras are available at the town offices. An electronic version is on the town website as well.
Among the updates from the Duxbury Selectboard is a note on the American Rescue Plan Act federal funding. The town received $390,098 that needs to be allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by 2026. So far, $157,584 has been spent with allocations to CVFiber and Waterbury Ambulance Service’s new station project; other uses included the town garage repairs, online access for public meetings, online records, attorney fees and election costs, according to the report. That leaves $232,514 (about 60%) to be allocated.
Town officials offer details on bridge and road projects on River Road, Scrabble Hill and Camel’s Hump Road that are under way and needed. In addition, it references background on the ongoing work to assess and prioritize rebuilding the sections of the town’s gravel roads in greatest need of repair.
The election day booth awaits Duxbury voters outside the town offices and garage before the November 2022 general election. Photo by Shawnee Perry
Two projects on the horizon for this year are construction of a new town salt shed and work to build a new solar array on town-owned land along Vermont Route 100. The salt shed has been in the design stage for several years and has been scaled back to be covered by a state grant and is anticipated to be built this year, according to town officials. The Energy Committee worked on the proposal for the solar project planned for a spot on the former gravel pit. Town officials have chosen Norwich Solar in Waterbury for the project.
The final page of the report contains a new Town of Duxbury Inclusion Statement adopted unanimously by the Duxbury Selectboard on Jan. 23. It states: “The Town of Duxbury wants it to be known that it denounces racism. We welcome and invite all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, age, disability and strive to protect all from injustice. As a community, we will not accept any form of racism and will protect the rights of our townspeople. We are proud to be a place where everyone can live in harmony and share their thoughts and opinions.”