Kane Sweeney: Looking to a second year on the Select Board

February 15, 2024

Friends, 

A year ago, when I came to you asking for your vote for a one-year seat on the Selectboard, I made a point to drive home the need for housing, both affordable and market rate. Along with housing, I rallied against the conditions of our roads and voiced a desperate need to repair them. You put your confidence in me to get the ball rolling on these problems and in my year on the select board, we pushed the proverbial ball. 

Kane Sweeney | Courtesy photo

Housing has made its way to the forefront of our agendas for multiple meetings. In the very early meetings of my year on the board, the Selectboard moved a considerable amount of ARPA funding into the 51 S. Main Street project and began the process of lobbying the state to acquire the Stanley-Wasson site for future housing projects. Though this is a small step forward, we have a lot more work to do. 

The slow work began this year on fixing our worst roads. By the end of summer, Howard Avenue in Waterbury Center was chewed up and replaced with a brand-new blacktop. The pavement on Blush Hill crawled further up the hill and an extension of paved surface was provided to Little River Road with the addition of speed humps to provide a new level of safety to the residents of the area. 

The July and December flooding dug up our collective trauma from Irene but along with it, a circling of the wagons that showcased Waterbury’s resilience. During the flood, many of our neighbors were left asking, “Why weren’t we prepared for this?” That question led me to propose a new committee to the Selectboard. One that would get us prepared and keep us prepared for future natural disasters. Though the committee is still in its infancy, I have every confidence that the committee members will keep Waterbury ready for whatever nature can throw at us, should it happen again. 

With all of this said, there is a lot more work to be done on all of these fronts. So I am once again asking for your confidence and your vote on March 5th.

Kane Sweeney

Waterbury 

Kane Sweeney is a member of the Waterbury Select Board and a candidate for one of two one-year seats on the board on the March 5 ballot.