WESTON — Months after last year’s historic statewide flooding, Moderator Wayne Granquist opened Town Meeting here on Tuesday as he has for nearly two decades — except, in a first, at a podium up the road from its traditional local playhouse location that’s still under repair.
In neighboring Londonderry, residents gathered as usual, although this time to vote on a nearly $800,000 bond for a $7.9 million pair of wastewater systems to help village areas subject to submersion.
“Londonderry has a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” a flyer noted of state funding that will pay for all but a 10% local match.
Southwest in Stamford, residents skeptical of government help (the town unsuccessfully tried to “terminate” the state’s Covid-19 orders in 2020) debated whether “not to participate” in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood buyout program that removes land from tax rolls, restricts future development and requires the municipality to maintain it.
Stamford’s resulting 80-25 vote to reject aid came with a bucket of cold water: The citizen-petitioned article was only advisory, as the selectboard has the sole authority to decide.
The lingering costs of last year’s storms have seeped onto March Town Meeting agendas from Groton in the Northeast Kingdom — where damage totaled a manageable $9,586 — to Grafton in southern Vermont — whose number is nearly 100 times more, at close to $1 million.
As communities across the state considered these questions into Tuesday night, a number had already held meetings over the weekend and Monday night.
At least 60 of Vermont’s 247 cities and towns are facing short-term deficits because flood cleanup bills they paid last year have yet to be reimbursed by the federal and state government.
Take Middlesex, which has calculated more than $2 million in emergency spending and the need for another $2.5 million in permanent road repairs and hazard mitigation — a total that’s nearly three times its $1.6 million annual budget.
“Will FEMA reimburse the town up to 75% of the flood-repair expenses by June 30, 2024?” the selectboard wrote in its annual report. “Would the state chip in to make up the 25%? If so, how much would the state pay? Also, what will happen if another natural disaster hits in the upcoming year?”
Middlesex is still awaiting answers, although local leaders have told residents that a 3.75% rise in the municipal budget to cover interest on flood debt just about equals a 3.63% hike in day-to-day operating costs.
Other communities are still assessing the temporary torrent of red ink. Barre City and Barre Town voted in the state’s presidential primary on Tuesday but have moved their municipal ballots to May 14 as they calculate how their cleanup bills (the city’s alone is more than $2 million) will affect the coming fiscal year.
Amid all the talk of stormwater, one community had a spirited reason to decide it no longer wants to stay dry.
Athens, population 380, not only reported flooding, but also has been one of 20 communities in the state to prohibit the sale of alcohol.
More than 80 residents of the Windham County town gathered Monday night to finally permit the sale of “malt” and “vinous beverages,” spirits and “fortified wines.” Some questioned the need, as the town doesn’t have a store or restaurant. But others noted the longtime law banned not just over-the-counter purchases, but also caterers and wine clubs from delivering alcohol to local homes.
“Is there a potential concern of this leading to a liquor store?” one man asked.
Replied selectboard member Krista Gay: “We don’t even have a gas station.”
In other Vermont communities, Town Meeting agendas promised debate on everything from road graders (Calais requested a $335,000 bond for one) to Gaza (Newfane was set to review a citizen-petitioned advisory article calling for “an immediate ceasefire” and end of U.S. weapon sales to Israel for its war against Hamas).
Castleton was voting on whether to spend $7,000 for a free-admission “Ethan Allen in Castleton Day” 250th anniversary celebration in 2025.
Norwich suggested changing its “Fire Station Fund” to the “Fire Department Apparatus Bay Fund.”
Peacham asked voters to choose a name for the town plow truck “for a term of three years.”
And Greensboro was scheduled to consider a resolution declaring it to be “a Pollinator-Friendly Community” under which “the town encourages adoption of policies and practices that protect and support pollinator health by minimizing the sale and use of insecticides.”
Bee supporters said they hoped the item would spark plenty of buzz.
