March 30 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti

The Waterbury Select Board meets on Monday with a full agenda that includes interviewing applicants for open seats on the Harwood school board, reviewing permits for a number of large spring and summer events, a vicious dog hearing, and a first look at a draft rental property ordinance.

*Circus Smirkus has applied for an event permit to perform in Waterbury July 2-4. File photo by Gordon Miller*

School board candidate interviews are at the top of the list. Four candidates have applied for three board openings. (see letters at the bottom of this post)

Waterbury has four seats on the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board and currently, three are vacant. Two were up for election on Town Meeting Day but no candidates filed to get on the ballot. One other spot became open recently when member Jake Pitman stepped down after accepting the head coaching position for the Harwood Track and Field team.

The school district’s process to fill openings in between election cycles is to solicit applicants and make appointments that run until the next March election. Those appointed to the current vacancies would serve until March 2025. Part of the process is to invite the town select board to meet the candidates and make a recommendation, although the appointment choice is up to the school board.

The school board meets next on Wednesday, April 3, in a special meeting to decide the next version of the 2024-25 school budget to put before voters in a second vote. The first proposed budget of $50.8 million failed to win approval on Town Meeting Day. It now is considering a revised budget of $48.8 million. The board plans to fill the Waterbury seats at its April 10 meeting.

Also on Monday, the Select Board will review applications for a number of upcoming events seeking permits: the Waterbury Area Trails Alliance Gravel Grinder bike event, Clyde Whittemore Little League Parade, the 100on100 and Leaf Peeper foot races, Circus Smirkus at Farr’s Field. The Waterbury Rotary Club’s summer Concerts in the Park are also on the agenda.

Details were not available on Friday regarding the dog hearing which will take place in public with the board possibly holding a closed deliberative session to decide on action to take.

The board also will hear an update on the town charter proposal which voters approved in December. The measure has recently been approved by the Vermont legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott on Friday. The charter will allow Waterbury to levy local option sales taxes and it clarifies details on town staff hiring procedures. Municipal Manager Tom Leitz will update the board on the next steps toward implementing the new sales taxes in the coming months.

A new topic the board will begin to consider is a recommendation from the Waterbury Housing Task Force to create a rental registry which would require the Select Board to adopt an ordinance outlining how that would work. The board will review a first draft and samples of similar ordinances from other Vermont communities.

Leitz said the proposal begins with the aim to include both long-term and short-term rental properties on a registry. The board heard a presentation from Joe Camaratta from the Housing Task Force in January on this topic. The presentation is inclu d ed in the Jan. 22 Select Board meeting minutes and available to watch on the ORCA Media recording of that meeting.

The board meets at 7 p.m. in the Steele Community Room at the municipal offices and via Zoom. The agenda has the Zoom link information. Meetings also are recorded by ORCA Media and available to watch online there.