Over the last several years, Middlebury town officials and the selectboard have identified, scoped and developed plans for three much-needed infrastructure projects, which are presented as bond votes for this year’s town meeting:
•  Article 8: Court Square/Court Street Water Main Improvements;
•  Article 9: East Middlebury Flood Resiliency Project; and
•  Article 10: Rehabilitation of the former Wastewater Treatment Facility on Lucius Shaw Lane.
To minimize the cost for taxpayers and, in the case of the water mains improvement project, water utility customers, the selectboard has structured financing strategies for each project using a combination of local option tax revenues, Cross Street Bridge Fund reserves and/or grant funds to defray project expenses, as outlined in last Thursday’s edition of the Addison Independent and the selectboard’s Annual Report (townofmiddlebury.org). 
Fiscal responsibility — balancing the need for capital improvements without undue increases in property taxes or utility rates — has been and continues to be a priority for the Middlebury selectboard. When the town’s needs are many and resources are few, we believe that creative funding approaches to large projects like these serve our community well.
We would appreciate your support of these projects with an affirmative vote on town meeting ballot Article 8, water system improvements; Article 9, flood resiliency; and Article 10, rehabilitation of the former wastewater treatment facility.
Brian R. Carpenter, Chair
Middlebury Selectboard