Chester residents approve $3M operating budget at town meeting

By TORY DENIS
[email protected]
CHESTER — Approximately 90 Chester residents turned out on Monday evening at Town Hall to make their voices heard, voting by a solid show of unanimous “Yeas” on 19 articles in the first part of the town’s two-day Annual Town Meeting process.

The first part of the Town School District Meeting also took place on Monday night.

For the municipal Town Meeting, articles 5 through 23, including for the town’s annual operating budget, all passed unanimously.

The approved articles included a budget of $3,038,539.63, to be paid to the Town Treasurer on Sept. 17, and to be used to pay for current expenses and any of the town’s indebtedness.  

Voters also approved a town expenditure from the Capital Budget Reserve Fund of $447,051.38, with $125,000 going toward the purchase of a new dump truck for the Highway Department, $45,500 for the excavator lease for the Highway Department, $35,000 for sidewalk improvement, and $20,000 for new signage. That total also included $60,000 to repair Route 35, $48,000 to purchase a new police cruiser, $34,500 to purchase new emergency equipment, $20,000 to pay a library loan, $15,000 for Town Hall renovations, and $8,000 for tree management.

Voters at the Town Meeting also approved $36,051.38 to be transferred to the Town of Chester’s Bond Plan. All amounts were as they appeared on the town’s Capital Budget Program schedule, less any future incoming grant funds.

Town Manager David Pisha explained the town’s Capital Budget and bond program in a presentation before that vote.

The Bond Plan was created to help keep the tax rate from “jumping,” Pisha said. The town’s Bond Plan and Capital Plan are “interlocked,” he said, meaning that the transfer going into the Bond Plan is no higher than what would have gone into the Capital Plan alone in past years.

The passed articles on Monday night also included several funding requests, such as for $2,500 in support of fireworks for the town of Chester’s Labor Day weekend celebration; $13,807 to support the services of Visiting Nurse Association of New Hampshire and Vermont; and several funding allocations to support family and community services including Senior Solutions, Health Care and Rehabilitation Services, Southern Vermont Community Action, Chester-Andover Family Center, Windsor Partners, and the Meals on Wheels Program of Greater Springfield.

Chester Select Board members present at Town Meeting included Chair Arne Jonynas, Heather Chase, and Lee Gustafson.

In the Town School annual meeting’s first part on Monday, voters unanimously approved two articles, to authorize the Town School District to accept payment from the State Department of Taxes under Act 68, and to act on the reports of the Town School District officers for the year ending in December 2017.

This year’s school district budget is approximately $12,547,513, an increase of less than $15,000 over last year’s combined budget, according to Green Mountain Union School District Board Chair Marilyn Mahusky, who was present to answer questions at the school district portion of the meeting. That total does not include the budget for the vocational program, which is separate, she said.

Vermont Sen. Alison Clarkson and State Rep. Tom Bock both attended on Monday, each presenting an update on current state legislation discussion, including on gun safety regulations, financing for education, economic development, health care, and clean water regulations.

Voters return to the Chester Town Hall today for the second part of the annual town meeting and election process and to cast their ballots for the remaining town articles 1-4, election of town officials and approval of several general obligation bonds, and to elect school directors.

The Eagle Times will have those results once they are available.