Waterbury approves budget, re-elects incumbents, opts-in to legal weed
March 3, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti
UPDATE: This story was updated with comments from Town Clerk Carla Lawrence about election turnout.
Waterbury voters approved everything on their Town Meeting Day ballot on Tuesday including a $5.2 million budget and a question on whether the town should “opt-in” to allow for legal recreational cannabis cultivation, processing, and retail as the state establishes that marketplace in the coming months.
Two incumbents won re-election to the Waterbury Select Board – Mark Frier, 695 votes, and Katie Martin, 585 votes, both will return to one-year terms. They edged out Noah Fishman who received 508 votes, and Brock Coderre who won 110.
Frier, who is part-owner of several area restaurants including The Reservoir in Waterbury, previously held a three-year seat but opted to run for the one-year term. That left the three-year seat wide open. Dani Kehlmann defeated Scott Culver for that spot, 633-372.
Martin, who was elected to the board for the first time in 2020, said she was grateful voters chose her again and was looking forward to a better year ahead. She took office last March just before Gov. Phil Scott’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order which banned in-person meetings. Her first year on the Select Board was entirely remote.
"I would just like to thank the community for coming out to vote this past town meeting day, and I'm very honored to be re-elected. I'm looking forward to another year serving the community, and working with my peers on the board to help make Waterbury the best that it can be,” she said. “I hope to see many community members engage in conversations or public comment at our meetings, and I can't wait for a better year to come!"
Martin works as a behavior interventionist with a firm that contracts with the Harwood Union school district, and as a high school hockey and field hockey coach; she also covers high school sports for Waterbury Roundabout.
Kehlmann posted a thank-you message to supporters on social media Wednesday: “Thank you, Waterbury voters, for your support and trust in me to serve on the Select Board for the next 3 years. I will continue to be present and engaged with a focus on authenticity, accountability, and transparency,” she wrote. “Perfection is a myth, so together we can focus on progress and consistency to keep Waterbury on a path towards the healthiest, happiest, strongest version of itself.”
In an email Wednesday afternoon, Fishman looked past his loss and congratulated the winners in the race and commended Kehlmann in particular whose day job is director of the Waterbury Area Food Shelf.
“It was great to see so much interest in running for selectboard. Dani is a wonderful addition and someone who brings a strong perspective on community needs and social justice,” Fishman said. “Overall, I'm happy with the results and excited to work with the town from the outside.”
Aside from his own race, Fishman said he was happy to see his wife, Marlena Tucker-Fishman, win a seat on the Harwood school board. He also was pleased with the town’s 635-430 vote on Article 8, which authorizes the town to opt-in to the process for setting up a commercial marketplace for cannabis. Waterbury was one of about 30 towns across Vermont to consider the question including Duxbury, Waitsfield, Montpelier and Burlington; voters Richmond turned it down.
State legislation last year that establishes a process for legal weed to be grown, processed and sold in the state requires public votes by town to determine where such businesses may be located. A state board to oversee particular rules regarding the various licenses that will be issued and other details have yet to be named by Gov. Scott whose staff has said they are still interviewing applicants.
Fishman, an owner of Zenbarn and Zenbarn Farms, called Waterbury’s vote “a big step forward for our town, which is poised to be a leader in the industry.” He said cannabis cultivation and retail will create jobs both within the industry and to other local businesses that will benefit. “Zenbarn Farms is poised to be one of the area's first retail cannabis businesses and [is] excited to partner with local farmers and synergistic businesses,” he said.
Healthy turnout, long ballot
Turnout of 1,094 voters was just under 24% of the town’s 4,599 registered voters, according to Town Clerk Carla Lawrence, who was unopposed for re-election as clerk and treasurer. Lawrence said that despite the pandemic and the lack of an in-person town meeting, turnout exceeded her expectations. "I thought it was an excellent turnout. We usually only have 600-700 voters," she said.
All other candidates on the ballot were unopposed: Jeffrey Kilgore for moderator, Bob Butler for lister, Maroni Minter for library commissioner, and John Woodruff for cemetery commissioner.
Waterbury also had three of the seven open seats on the Harwood Unified Union School Board to fill. It returned incumbent Caitlin Hollister to a one-year seat having run unopposed.
Incumbent Michael Frank won a full three-year term along with newcomer Marlena Tucker-Fishman. Culver also sought that office and came up short in third place. (see chart)
Without an in-person town meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all business was on the paper ballot without any opportunity for amendments as at a traditional meeting. That made for a particularly long ballot this year with 33 articles. Each of the annual requests for contributions of tax dollars to various social service agencies and community groups was a separate ballot question.
Voters approved all of those requests that together totaled $56,898. They ranged from small contributions such as $500 for Good Beginnings of Central Vermont that supports parents of newborns to $7,323 for Green Mountain Transit public transportation, to $20,000 for the Waterbury Area Senior Center. The latter is in addition to a $10,000 appropriation contained in the town’s general fund budget.
The town budget voters approved this year is 5.7% less than the spending approved at Town Meeting in 2020. Voters last March approved a budget of $5.5 million. This year’s budget totaled $5,203,773 when the special articles on the ballot were added.
Voters in 2020 approved a tax rate of $0.55 per $100 of assessed property value. This year’s budget will rely on a tax rate of $0.53 cents. The select board, town manager and department heads worked to craft the lower budget working from the even lower spending that actually occurred in 2020 after cuts due to the pandemic such as layoffs and deferred spending. When property owners received tax bills last year, they were charged just $0.51 cents as a tax rate.
The ballot specified the three main sections of the town budget: the general fund at $2,966,145; the highway fund at $1,672,555; and the library fund at $508,175. The general fund was proposed at $9,600 less than 2020, and the library fund came in $1,550 less than last year. The highway fund for 2021 is just over $316,000 less than last year. Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk gives a detailed discussion of the budget specifics in his manager’s report in the annual town report that’s on the town website and in printed copies available at the municipal offices and Waterbury Public Library.
Article 5 sets the property tax payment due dates this year at Aug. 13 and Nov. 5.
Article 6 authorizes the town to spend $1,564,030 already in capital improvement savings accounts for purchases of vehicles and equipment along with improvements to town buildings, etc.
Waterbury results provided by Town Clerk Clarla Lawrence
