BRISTOL — Bristol voters will convene at Holley Hall on Monday, March 5, at 7 p.m. for the annual town meeting, which will also include the last official school meeting for the independent Bristol School District. Voting by Australian ballot will take place at the same place on the next day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Bristol voters are being asked to approve $2,609,402 in town spending, which represents a 1.5 percent increase in total expenditures over last year.
Highway fund spending, if approved, would increase by less than 1 percent to $775,541, and general fund spending would decrease by less than 1 percent to $926,739.
Bristol Recreation Department spending is budgeted to decrease by $25,802, or 10.3 percent, to $224,393. Adjustments to personnel — including the departure of long-time Rec Director Darla Senecal — account for the unusually large shift.
Moderator Fred Baser will suggest adjourning town meeting after Article 7, so the town school board can hold its last official meeting, and afterward reconvening town meeting to discuss the remainder of the articles on the warning.
Article 8: Voters will be asked to appropriate what after an expected amendment will amount to $310,000 for the town reserve fund, a $5,000 increase over what voters approved last year.
Articles 9-13 address some of the most significant spending increases in the town budget.
A new line item for the Fire Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund would appropriate $70,000 — a 20.6 percent increase over the revenue raised last year.
Lawrence Memorial Library asks the voters to approve a 2 percent spending increase to $137,872.
To accommodate an increase in mowing costs, the Bristol Cemetery Association is requesting a 214 percent budget increase to $22,000.
And the town has added a new appropriation ($2,100) for the Charter House Coalition to provide emergency shelter and meals.
There is no change in the proposed spending for the 27 items listed in Article 15.
At Monday’s meeting, residents will also be asked to support a nonbinding resolution urging the state of Vermont to develop renewable energy, support energy efficiency, delay any natural gas pipeline expansion that would interfere with Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan, and ensure that the state’s transition to renewable energy is fair and equitable for all.
People who live in the Bristol Police District (primarily the village) on Town Meeting Day will consider a proposed budget of $461,374 — a 0.34 percent decrease over last year.
There will be one contested election. Kevin Hanson and Krista Siringo are running for a single three-year seat on the Mount Abraham Unified School District (MAUSD) board, and Erin Lathrop is running unopposed to keep her seat for a one-year term.
There are no candidates, however, for a two-year term on the same board — nor is there a candidate for a three-year term that doesn’t appear on the ballot due to an error.
Two members of the Bristol selectboard are running unopposed to keep their seats: Joel Bouvier for a three-year term and Peter Coffey for a two-year term.
Town meeting agendas will no longer include budget discussions for individual schools. The new MAUSD Board scheduled its own annual meeting for this Feb. 27, as well as a public information hearing on the bond proposed for the renovation of Mount Abraham Union Middle/High School on Feb. 28. On Tuesday, when Bristol residents go to their polling places to approve town meeting business, they — like residents in the other four school district towns — will also be asked to adopt a $28,343,828 MAUSD budget — a 1 percent spending increase per equalized pupil — and the $29.5 million bond. The bond would cover renovation of the 50-year-old Mount Abe high school building. Voters in the school district have rejected two similar bonds — both for more money — in the past three years.