WHITING — Whiting Town Clerk Gail Quenneville said it looks like next Tuesday evening’s town meeting could be short and sweet, but there will be several important decisions made and discussions had at the meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at Whiting Town Hall.
The pocketbook issue on the town meeting warning is the town budget, which asks residents to OK a $351,923 spending plan, which would raised $227,941 in taxes. The spending proposal represents a 3.6 percent decline from the figure approved last year but the amount to be raised from taxes would rise $65,492, or about 40 percent. Quenneville explained that jump in tax burden was a combination of things, including the fact that the town had a much smaller balance at the beginning of this year compared to the start of the previous year; also, she said she accounted for the Current Use money differently last year, which had an impact on this year’s budget.
A small item that was not included in last year’s budget was the creation of a town website, which has gone live: www.whitingvt.com.
Whiting nominates and votes for candidates for town offices from the floor of town meeting. This year Selectman Steve Quenneville’s term expires; he is likely to accept nomination to re-election to that position. Town Clerk and Town Treasurer Gail Quenneville’s terms expire, as well; she said she has put so much work into learning the job that she very much would like to continue in it. Eleven other town officers — from road foreman to grand juror — will also be elected.
The selectboard will lead a discussion of a possible ordinance that would allow ATVs on secondary roads. The board would like citizen input before determining if it should allow such use.
A meeting for the Otter Valley Unified Union School District, comprising the towns of Whiting, Goshen, Brandon, Leicester, Pittsford and Sudbury, took place on Wednesday, March 1, (after deadline for this issue of the Independent) at Otter Valley Union High School. Among other items, attendees elected a moderator, clerk and treasurer.
Prior to Whiting’s town meeting on Tuesday, voters will be asked to cast ballots on the OVUUSD spending proposal and for OVUUSD school board members. Australian ballot voting will take place in town hall from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
The proposed school spending plan for the unified district is $19,772,608. If approved, education spending would increase to $14,708 per equalized student, which is 1.47 percent higher than spending for the 2016 fiscal year.
Whiting residents will also vote for three at-large school directors for the OVUUSD — two candidates are facing off to finish the remaining two years on a three-year seat, Barbara Ebling and Eileen Guyette; plus two candidates for two three-year seats are running unopposed, Emily Nelson and Matt Philo.