WILLISTON — In Rick McGuire’s 22 years as Williston town manager, the Chittenden County town has seen immense growth.
McGuire has overseen developments and expansion of municipal services, and helped the town manage a population increase that has far outpaced the state’s average.
The 67-year-old announced in early January that he would retire after more than two decades in the job. He plans to step down June 30.
Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, was chair of the Williston Selectboard when they hired McGuire in February 1998.
“Rick had been my first choice,” Lyons said. Offering McGuire the position was “one of the best things we have done, not just for Williston, but for Chittenden County and the state.”
“Rick is a long time, tireless public servant for the town of Williston, working way, way more hours I’m very sure than he’s (been) compensated for throughout the years,” Rep. Jim McCullough, D-Williston, said.
When McGuire was hired as town manager, Williston’s population was 6,831, according to U.S. Census data. By 2018, 9,870 people lived there — a nearly 45% population increase over McGuire’s tenure.
Vermont as a whole has only grown about 5.5% over that time, and Williston is now the 10th most populous town in Vermont. The town was ranked 17th in 1998, according to Vermont Department of Health data.
For McGuire, this growth shows that Williston’s approach is working, attracting new residents, businesses and a Vermont Technical College campus. But the new people present a new challenge to municipal government, a level of governing McGuire called “closest to the people.” More people requires the town to provide more services.
Lyons said McGuire brought together staff, departments and boards that were struggling with consistent structure to town government.
“Rick really organized the town in such a way that people understand their jobs and the scope of their work in a way we hadn’t seen,” Lyons said.
Through McGuire’s time, Williston has almost doubled its full-time staff and built new fire and police stations. The Dorothy Alling Memorial Library has been expanded and Williston’s two schools have seen improvements; parks and nature trails have been upgraded and protected.
“There’s been increasing focus on the quality of life,” McGuire said in a Jan. 23 interview. “And we’re increasingly having to address that so we don’t lose the quality of life we have here.”
More people require more homes, and also create more noise. Increased complaints about barking dogs or loud parties led Williston to enact a noise ordinance in 2004.
Ten years into McGuire’s service, the country was hit with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
“We went through a period of several years where we really had to kind of freeze our budget,” McGuire said. “Even though the town was still growing, and the demand for services that goes with that growth was still happening.”
Williston, which relies on its 1% local option tax for about a quarter of its budget, was able to weather the financial turbulence without tax increases. Some services, though, were eliminated and have not been restored since, like the number of street lights.
The local option tax accounts for about $3.1 million of the town’s $11.7 million proposed budget for fiscal year 2021. Now a major source of municipal funding, the tax was highly controversial before it was adopted in 2003.
“The biggest first issue I had to deal with was whether or not to impose a local option tax,” McGuire said. “It was hugely controversial.”
McGuire recalled a town meeting that overflowed from an auditorium into a gymnasium; organizers used walkie-talkies and a live video feed to communicate between the rooms. Residents voted down the tax overwhelmingly, then passed the option two years later.
Williston has undergone substantial physical changes during McGuire’s tenure.
“When I first came to town, the town was being criticized across the state as being a horrible example of something called ‘sprawl,’ which means growth going out and it’s just spreading out all over the place,” McGuire said.
But what others didn’t see, he said, was the vision that went into creating the shopping and restaurant center the town is known for.
Design plans for Maple Tree Place had already been approved when McGuire started working for Williston. The original plans had called for a large mall, which the town had reservations about, and through mutual agreement with the developer and town staff, the mixed use of big box stores, restaurants, office space and affordable housing was realized.
Lyons recalled while on the Selectboard that Williston residents were split pretty evenly about the Maple Tree Place development. Before McGuire was hired, Lyons said town officials had addressed the most divisive opposition to the project, “but, his leadership as manager really helped to pull together the town planner and the developers… the Development Review Board and the Selectboard.”
A newer development that McGuire has helped to oversee is Finney Crossing, a mixed use neighborhood featuring apartments, townhomes and retail space on land that used to be a horse farm.
McGuire also worked on land preservation efforts. Williston has enacted protections on more than 1,300 acres of land and upgraded and established new nature trails and hiking paths.
“It’s just been a great community and I’ve been very blessed to have the opportunity to serve,” McGuire said.
The Selectboard will be looking for a replacement in the coming months, and McGuire recommended they work with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns to find a candidate.
