MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury residents on Town Meeting Day will be asked to re-establish a police canine program and slightly increase the stipends their selectboard members receive for their duties.
Those requests are among several that local residents will face in Australian ballot voting on Tuesday, March 7.
Middlebury used to have a police dog program that was made possible through business/individual donations and the initiative of former Officer George Merkel. But the program ceased in Middlebury when Merkel was named chief of the Vergennes Police Department several years ago. Middlebury police Chief Tom Hanley and his officers have voiced a desire to rekindle the program to have a patrol dog that can assist in finding missing persons, search buildings, and help keep its handler and the public safe. The department is seeking $30,610 to resurrect the canine program.
Resident Ross Conrad petitioned the article seeking to raise selectboard members’ annual stipend from the current $1,500 to $1,800, with a recommended bump from $2,500 to $3,200 from the board chairperson. Conrad said the increase would symbolically recognize the many hours board members spend on town business, away from their respective families and jobs.
Other articles on the year’s Australian ballot seek $2,500 in support for Addison County Restorative Justice Services, and $1,200 for the Addison County Riverwatch Collaborative. If approved, the nonprofits would join other charitable organizations that receive regular annual funding through Middlebury’s municipal budget.
There will be no contested election in Middlebury this year. Incumbent selectboard members Brian Carpenter and Laura Asermily are both running unopposed for three-year terms, as are incumbent Middlebury school board members Amy Graham, Victoria Jette and Lorraine Morse running for additional terms of 10 months (see related story on Page 1A). James Douglas is seeking another year as town moderator, as is Jacqueline Sullivan for town treasurer. Faith Gong is seeking a three-year term as Ilsley Library trustee.
Meanwhile, on a separate ballot, Middlebury residents Victoria Jette, James Malcolm and Mary Gill will be among those running at-large (and unopposed) for three-year terms on the unified Addison Central School District board.
Middebury residents will have little business to take care of at their annual meeting on Monday, March 6.
They will decide a proposed 2017-2018 municipal budget of $10,321,456, of which $7,106,034 would be raised by taxes. The amount to be raised by taxes would result in a 0.42-cent decrease in the current municipal rate, which would drop to 95.22 cents per $100 in property value. The selectboard achieved this, in part, by applying a larger-than-anticipated surplus from fiscal year 2016.
Residents will also be asked to spend $106,000 to replace two police cruisers and a wood chipper for the Public Works Department.
For the first time in many decades, Middlebury residents will not decide a local school budget on Town Meeting Day. They — along with other voters in the newly unified Addison Central School District (ACSD) — will instead decide a K-12 budget for the entire seven-town district.
The proposed ACSD budget for 2017-2018 calls for approximately $37.7 million in spending to cover the combined operating costs for all nine district schools. The budget reflects $30,428,802 in net, local education spending, which represents a 0.60-percent decrease compared to this year, according to ACSD officials.
Middlebury’s homestead education property tax rate is projected to increase from the current $1.81 per $100 in property value to $1.84, according to the ACSD budget documents.
Middlebury town meeting will be held at the Middlebury Union High School auditorium at 73 Charles Ave. on Monday, March 6, at 7 p.m. Australian ballot voting will take place the next day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the town offices at 77 Main St.