MIDDLEBURY — Three seats on the seven-member Middlebury selectboard will be up for grabs on Town Meeting Day this March. Incumbent Selectpersons Isabel Gogarty and Andy Hooper confirmed they’ll seek reelection, while incumbent Heather Seeley will step down after nine years in office.

Candidates for local municipal and school offices have until the end of the business day on Monday, Jan. 27, to file their nomination petitions at their town clerk’s offices. Their petitions must be signed by 30 voters or 1% of the local checklist —whichever is less.

IZZY GOGARTY

ISABEL GOGARTY

Gogarty joined the selectboard during the fall of 2022, succeeding former board member Esther Charlestin. Gogarty recently concluded a five-year stint as wellness educator at Middlebury Union Middle School and is now a program associate with the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.

“I have really enjoyed these past few years, bringing the perspective of a young professional to the board,” said Gogarty, 26.

She’s been an eager and active participant in board affairs, including on the town’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workgroup, and the Parks & Recreation and Policy Review committees.

As a wellness educator, Gogarty has brought special perspective on board discussions related to education, physical health, mental health and substance use. She believes her new job at the state chamber will broaden her input.

“Now I can provide a lot of perspective on the local economy, what makes a vibrant community, and small businesses,” she said. “That’s exciting and something I’ll run on as I’m seeking election this winter — this new perspective that I have on small businesses and their essential role in our community.”

Looking toward the next three years, Gogarty wants to see Middlebury provide more housing opportunities while diligently repairing its infrastructure.

She’s pleased to see work begin on Stonecrop Meadows, a 200-unit, mixed-income housing project off Seminary Street Extension.

“I want to support our planning office and our development review board team to make sure we’re situated for more projects like Stonecrop,” she said. “What I’d like people to realize is developers just don’t come along and say, ‘We’re going to start this (building) process.’ It’s really about having a strong town plan that aligns with the county’s regional plan … and making sure we continue a lot of work we’ve been doing to make sure we’re right at the top for grants for related infrastructure.”

Gogarty credited past and current town staff for proactively seeking grants to lessen the financial impact of needed upgrades to local roads, bridges, water and sewer systems essential to growth. She specifically lauded Director of Public Works Planning Emmalee Cherington and Ilsley Library Director Dana Hart for their dogged pursuit of state and federal aid.

If reelected, Gogarty promised to “lead with curiosity, ask questions, and be as helpful as I can to the (town staff) who already do a great job.”

ANDY HOOPER

Hooper is the selectboard’s current vice chair. He’s seeking a second consecutive three-year term on the panel. Hooper began his civic career in Middlebury after previously serving four terms on the Montpelier City Council.

He got his first taste of public service in the county’s shire town serving on the Ilsley Library board. The library has been in the news a lot lately, given its impending $17 million makeover. Hooper is pleased to have helped influence the Ilsley expansion and renovation project on two separate boards.

“The first three years (on the selectboard) have been fantastic,” Hooper said.

Seeing through that project, which will begin this spring, will be on the next selectboard’s to-do list, and Hooper would like to be a part of it. As recently reported by the Independent, the board during the next few weeks will need to troubleshoot a revenue shortfall for the Ilsley project that might require taxpayers to absorb a larger proportion of the debt.

“The transition from the Ilsley Library board to the selectboard as the Ilsley 100 project gained steam and got to the point where it needed bonding and plans were really concrete and needed to go forward, was great,” he said.

Hooper was asked to assess some of the challenges the selectboard will have to take on during the next three years. At the top of his list is an issue that all Vermont municipalities must confront.

“We have infrastructure that’s 100 years old with deferred maintenance across generations — and bills coming due,” he explained. “We need to communicate clearly what it costs for citizens to own a town and keep it in good repair, and make sure we can get to that point and do it in a stable, well-communicated, well-thought-out, fiscally prudent way.”

Middlebury’s infrastructure repair needs have been well chronicled.

Town officials have been working on a 10-year plan for upgrading the community’s 54-mile municipal water system — some of it more than 100 years old.

On Town Meeting Day this March, residents will be asked to endorse a $49.5 million sewer plant upgrade.

And that’s in addition to repairs to local roads, culverts, bridges and sidewalks the town diligently performs on an annual basis.

The long-term answer, Hooper believes, could be more regionalization of services. In essence, towns pooling their resources to regionalize services to reduce costs — ranging from building inspections to fire protection.

“When we buy a $750,000 firetruck, we should be thinking about it in a broader context, making sure we have the right response for Addison County, or whatever the right geographic region is, instead of having each fire department making these decisions in a vacuum,” Hooper said.

He cited the Addison County Solid Waste District, the Addison County Regional Planning Commission, and the county sheriff/court systems as current examples of successful regionalization efforts.

Hooper wants to participate in regionalization in a tangible way. He said he wants to collaborate with the Vermont League of Cities & Towns — or create a nonprofit — to provide IT services to municipalities and “quasi-municipalities.”

Hooper until recently worked for 12 years as a programmer for Cabot Creamery; he’s now the security director for Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co.

Like Gogarty, Hooper is pleased with a town staff that’s been taking care of the town’s day-to-day needs while allowing the selectboard to focus on policy.

“Particularly thanks to (former Town Manager) Kathleen Ramsay, we weathered a huge inflation spike with modest tax increases. That takes a lot of good financial management, and I think we’ve got a great team that’s always making sure we spend residents’ money wisely,” he said.

HEATHER SEELEY

HEATHER SEELEY

Seeley, a three-term incumbent, will leave big shoes to fill.

She ran for the board nine years ago seeking to boost women’s voice on the board and share her experience on public works and construction, cultivated through co-management of Seeley Earthmoving Inc. (she’s now senior payroll and benefits specialist for the Vermont Community Foundation).

Seeley has been a key member of the town’s Infrastructure Committee, sharing insights in project development and how the town might save money by doing projects a little differently.

“It was really what I was most familiar with,” Seeley said of the construction industry. “I also wanted to bring attention to some of the things that people take for granted — that their toilets flush, that water comes out of their faucets when they turn them on. I don’t think most people understand what it takes to provide those services, and how much they cost.”

She noted the big capital projects tend to get the headlines, be it the $17 million Ilsley Library makeover or the downtown Middlebury tunnel project. But of equal importance are the things towns do to keep the water flowing, the traffic moving and the roads plowed.

“There’s not always a lot of interest when we talk about making sure the wastewater treatment plant is operating at 100%,” Seeley said. “Housing has been one of the board’s top priorities for a couple of years, but what we don’t talk about is you can’t have housing if you don’t have a wastewater treatment plant and a water system that can handle the increase (in demand),” she said.

Through the years, Seeley also preached frugality, noting taxpayers’ limits. For example, she heartily endorsed the idea of repairing and repurposing one of the former wastewater treatment plant buildings off Lucius Shaw Lane to use for storing police cruisers and equipment from the adjacent Middlebury Police headquarters.

“That’s a project I’m proud to have seen go forward,” she said.

Seeley echoes her colleagues’ praise of municipal staff, saying, “A lot of this stuff wouldn’t happen without them.”

And a lot has happened during Seeley’s watch.

The opening of a new town office building and recreation center.

Completion of the aforementioned downtown rail tunnel, which included the expansion of Triangle Park and creation of the Lazarus Family Park. A lot of that work took place during the COVID pandemic.

Planning for the Ilsley Library project, with work getting underway soon after she leaves office, is another milestone.

What will Seeley do after bidding farewell to the selectboard?

Well, she’s become interested in increasing ice hockey opportunities for local girls. Her 14-year-old daughter, Becka, is a player, and Seeley is involved with the Middlebury Amateur Hockey Association.

Seeley will miss her interactions with town staff, citizens and fellow board members, but she said she doesn’t want to overstay her welcome.

“Nine years is enough,” she said. “It’s good for the board to see some turnover and get new ideas and perspectives,” she said.

Seeley is inviting prospective candidates to contact her at [email protected]. She said she’d be happy to chat about what the job entails.

John Flowers is at [email protected].