CORNWALL — Cornwall residents passed virtually all items on their town meeting warning and had no contested elections.
Items earning voter approval with virtually no discussion included the proposed 2018-2019 highway budget of $404,975 (up from $400,950 the previous year), the general fund request of $473,329 (up less than $20,000 from last year), an appropriation of $74,400 to help pay operating expenses for the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department, $4,000 for the Cornwall Free Public Library and a combined total of $26,920 to support various Addison County social services agencies.
Residents did, however, spend some time discussing and amending Article 10 on the warning, a non-binding resolution.  That resolution asked the Vermont Legislature to commit to developing renewable energy, delay any new expansion of natural gas pipelines unless or until it is determined that it will not cause the state to exceed the goal of no more than 10 percent of the state’s energy coming from fossil fuels by the year 2050, and ensure the transition to renewable energy is “fair and equitable for all residents.”
Cornwall Town Clerk Sue Johnson said residents amended the resolution to remove the natural gas language. The resolution went to a paper ballot vote and was endorsed by a 75 to 11 tally, according to Johnson.
Those running unopposed this year included Cy Tall, moderator, one year; Susan Johnson, town clerk and treasurer, three years; John Roberts, selectboard, three years; Benjamin Marks, selectboard, two years; and Laura Fetterolf, library trustee, two years.
Cornwall residents are part of the consolidated Addison Central School District that delivers K-12 public education to seven Middlebury-area towns. See separate story, this issue, on how the 2018-2019 ACSD and Patricia Hannaford Career Center budgets fared at the polls.