BRISTOL — On Town Meeting Day, incumbent Ted Lylis defeated challenger Ian Albinson, 413-402, for a three-year term on the Bristol selectboard.
“I thank all of the voters who chose me for another term, and I will serve our community to the best of my abilities in our constant effort to make Bristol an ever pleasant place to live,” Lylis told the Independent in an email Wednesday morning.
Albinson could not be reached for comment by press time.
Because Lylis only won 11 more votes than Albinson, a margin of 1.3 percent, the race is eligible for a recount, should one be requested by March 15.
“The statute says the margin has to be smaller than 5 percent of the total voters for the election,” said Bristol Town Clerk Jen Stetson Myers. “Bristol had 840 voters turnout; 5 percent is 42; the margin of difference was 11; therefore Ian has 10 days to request a recount.”
John “Peeker” Heffernan, who ran unopposed, was re-elected to a two-year seat on the selectboard.
Myers, re-elected to one-year terms as town clerk and treasurer, also ran unopposed.
Two members of Bristol’s delegation to the Mount Abraham Unified School District (MAUSD) board were re-elected: Elizabeth Sayre and Krista Siringo, to three-year terms.
A third MAUSD board seat, which was vacated by Erin Lathrop, did not receive enough write-in candidates to produce a winner. The Bristol selectboard must now appoint someone to the seat for a one-year term. That person will then have to run for election next year to keep their seat.
Also on Town Meeting Day, Bristol voters, along with MAUSD voters from four other towns, approved a $30,950,235 school spending plan for the coming school year by a tally of 1,140 to 1,127; ballots from all five towns were commingled. An additional article on the school ballot, requesting the creation of a Capital Reserve Fund, easily passed, 1,514 to 756.
Bristol Police District voters approved by a comfortable margin spending in the amount of $468,769 for the coming year.
At Monday night’s meeting in Holley Hall, a large majority of 122 voters approved:
•  $774,101 in highway spending.
•  $895,716 in general fund spending.
•  $283,863 for the Arts, Parks and Recreation Department.
•  $490,000 for various reserve funds.
•  $105,756 for in-town requests.
•  $140,340 for Lawrence Memorial Library.
•  $29,000 for the Bristol Cemetery Association.
•  $1,500 each for the Turning Point Center of Addison County and Habitat for Humanity.
•  Another five-year property tax exemption for the Libanus Lodge No. 47 (Mason’s Lodge), whose property is currently assessed at $413,100.
Voters also approved the use of fiscal year 2017 surplus funds to pay off debt related to Holley Hall renovations and to contribute to the Capital Building Fund. From a fiscal year 2018 surplus, voters approved a contribution to the Capital Sidewalk Fund.
Bristol’s 2018 annual report was dedicated to Larry K. Gile, a Vietnam vet, longtime funeral director, founder of the Great Bristol Outhouse Race and a loyal member of the Old Farts Club.
As the meeting opened, Gile’s widow, Donna, was invited to say a few words.
“He lived and worked here in Bristol for 40 years,” she explained to the crowd. “And I think a lot of his happiness was because he loved all of you.”