Here is the link to the News 7 news report on the 2010 Newbury Town Meeting.
www.lyndonstate.edu/news7/archive.htm
Click on "Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Newscast" and THEN click on "Newbury Meeting" in the video drop down player.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
News 7 News Report
Here is the link to the News 7 news report on the 2010 Newbury Town Meeting.
www.lyndonstate.edu/news7/archive.htm
Click on "Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Newscast" and THEN click on "Newbury Meeting" in the video drop down player.
Post Town Meeting Day
Town Meeting Day is officially over, and every article was passed last Tuesday on the town warning. There was only ONE contested race for selectboard, and Brian Emerson was the winner. He replaces Don Waterman, who was on the selectboard for decades. He decided to retire this year. Emerson has been the town meeting moderator in Newbury for the past several years. He ran against Russ Haviland. Here are the rest of the officials who will be serving in their town positions again.
Town Clerk: Susan Underwood
Town Treasurer: Mary Collins
Selectboard: Alma Roystan, Phil Page, Brian Emerson
Town Constable: Glen Godfrey
Town Clerk: Susan Underwood
Town Treasurer: Mary Collins
Selectboard: Alma Roystan, Phil Page, Brian Emerson
Town Constable: Glen Godfrey
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Newbury Town Meeting 2010
Around one-hundred people filled up the Newbury Town School Gymnasium to speak their minds at the annual Town Meeting.The Town Meeting started at 10:00 AM with a number of hot button issues on the town warning.
It took around thirty minutes for the moderator to go through the town report booklet and open up the floor for discussion. There were several reports in the town report book including a report for the Tenney Library, The Cottage Hospital, and the Newbury Conservation Committee.
The first big article that was brought up during the meeting was about local taxes. Newbury wants to penalize delinquent tax payers with a penalty of eight-percent and interest charges of one percent per month. The town would also sell off the delinquent taxpayer's houses and other property to make up for the lost tax revenue. Some people thought that the interest charges and the seizure of property was too harsh because some people just don't have the money to pay for taxes on time in the bad economy. The article eventually passed with the majority of "I's".
Another big article on the town warning is whether or not the town should raise taxes in the amount of $550,000 for highway purposes. A lot of people thought that was a high amount of money for Newbury highway purposes, but the article passed after some discussion. The town also wants to authorize the use of $55,000 from the Bridge Reserve Fund to repair two bridges in the town. The bridges that need to be fixed are the Peachbrook Road Bridge and the Old County Road Bridge. The town received some grants from stimulus money, but needed more money to fix the bridges. That article also passed.
Three of the articles on the warning were about senior living. There are many seniors that live in Newbury, and the town wants to help the senior citizens in the community. The town wanted to allot around $2,000 towards three senior programs. $1,465 would go towards Stagecoach Transportation, who provides public transportation services to medical appointments, shopping, and social services for the elderly. $500 would go towards the Central Vermont Council on Aging, who keep elders aging successfully and live independently in their homes and communities as long as possible. $200 would fund the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, who helps meet community needs by placing volunteers in services provided by area non-profit organizations. That article passed anonymously.
Newbury is having their Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2013, and the committee that was set up for the celebration needs $1,000 for the initial planning of the celebration. The celebration would span over a year with events, performances, and other festivities. There were several people that wanted to know why the committee needed that much money three years in advanced, and the representative of the committee explained that they need start-up money to start fund-raising for the celebration. There were also people who thought it was a great idea to celebrate the celebration, and fully supported it. That article was passed after some discussion.
The last article on the town warning was whether or not Newbury should raise taxes to the amount of $466,500 to pay for the expenses of Newbury. The discussion lasted for around thirty minutes. Another article on protecting a local watershed was informally added to the warning, which raised the tax amount to around $474,000. Many people questioned why it was being added to the warning, and how "unprecedented" it was to do that. The moderator decided to stop for a lunch break at 12 PM, since lunch was supposed to be at 11:30 AM. When the residents came back from the recess, the discussion lasted for another thirty minutes. The budget was eventually passed after a long and heated discussion.
The meeting ended at around 2:00 PM and the many people I talked to were satisfied with the Town Meeting.
The meeting was a little different from last year, because not as many people showed up. There were probably around 200 people at last year's meeting. There weren't as many hot button issues as last year, so that was probably why not as many people showed up. The meeting also moved very fast, ending around one-hour early. Last year, over an hour was spent on one article early in the meeting, and that pushed back the meeting a lot. The meeting didn't end until around 4 PM last year.
Overall the meeting was a success this year, and Newbury got to participate again in an old Vermont tradition.
It took around thirty minutes for the moderator to go through the town report booklet and open up the floor for discussion. There were several reports in the town report book including a report for the Tenney Library, The Cottage Hospital, and the Newbury Conservation Committee.
The first big article that was brought up during the meeting was about local taxes. Newbury wants to penalize delinquent tax payers with a penalty of eight-percent and interest charges of one percent per month. The town would also sell off the delinquent taxpayer's houses and other property to make up for the lost tax revenue. Some people thought that the interest charges and the seizure of property was too harsh because some people just don't have the money to pay for taxes on time in the bad economy. The article eventually passed with the majority of "I's".
Another big article on the town warning is whether or not the town should raise taxes in the amount of $550,000 for highway purposes. A lot of people thought that was a high amount of money for Newbury highway purposes, but the article passed after some discussion. The town also wants to authorize the use of $55,000 from the Bridge Reserve Fund to repair two bridges in the town. The bridges that need to be fixed are the Peachbrook Road Bridge and the Old County Road Bridge. The town received some grants from stimulus money, but needed more money to fix the bridges. That article also passed.
Three of the articles on the warning were about senior living. There are many seniors that live in Newbury, and the town wants to help the senior citizens in the community. The town wanted to allot around $2,000 towards three senior programs. $1,465 would go towards Stagecoach Transportation, who provides public transportation services to medical appointments, shopping, and social services for the elderly. $500 would go towards the Central Vermont Council on Aging, who keep elders aging successfully and live independently in their homes and communities as long as possible. $200 would fund the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, who helps meet community needs by placing volunteers in services provided by area non-profit organizations. That article passed anonymously.
Newbury is having their Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2013, and the committee that was set up for the celebration needs $1,000 for the initial planning of the celebration. The celebration would span over a year with events, performances, and other festivities. There were several people that wanted to know why the committee needed that much money three years in advanced, and the representative of the committee explained that they need start-up money to start fund-raising for the celebration. There were also people who thought it was a great idea to celebrate the celebration, and fully supported it. That article was passed after some discussion.
The last article on the town warning was whether or not Newbury should raise taxes to the amount of $466,500 to pay for the expenses of Newbury. The discussion lasted for around thirty minutes. Another article on protecting a local watershed was informally added to the warning, which raised the tax amount to around $474,000. Many people questioned why it was being added to the warning, and how "unprecedented" it was to do that. The moderator decided to stop for a lunch break at 12 PM, since lunch was supposed to be at 11:30 AM. When the residents came back from the recess, the discussion lasted for another thirty minutes. The budget was eventually passed after a long and heated discussion.
The meeting ended at around 2:00 PM and the many people I talked to were satisfied with the Town Meeting.
The meeting was a little different from last year, because not as many people showed up. There were probably around 200 people at last year's meeting. There weren't as many hot button issues as last year, so that was probably why not as many people showed up. The meeting also moved very fast, ending around one-hour early. Last year, over an hour was spent on one article early in the meeting, and that pushed back the meeting a lot. The meeting didn't end until around 4 PM last year.
Overall the meeting was a success this year, and Newbury got to participate again in an old Vermont tradition.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Recent Visit To Newbury
Newbury is a quaint town that sits along U.S. Route 5. There is a nice town center with a country store, a post office, town clerk's office, and a school. The village also has a bank, a library, a church, and senior housing. There are quite a few nice older victorian houses located in Newbury. When I walked into the Newbury Village Store, the store was bustling with customers buying their daily paper and sandwich from the deli. Kids were playing on the playground at the school, and the United States flag flew from the green. The only other action in the town is Route 5, with a car driving through every minute. Newbury is a small town that hasn't been built up with chain gas stations or retail stores. It's your typical Vermont town.
Save The Date!
Newbury Town Meeting Day 2010
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Watch on News 7 March 2nd, 2010 at 5:30 for the full news report!
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Watch on News 7 March 2nd, 2010 at 5:30 for the full news report!
Snapshot!
Newbury Town School
(Town Meeting is held in the building to the left of the school)
Courtesy: Google Fair-Use Images
Media!
Watch the Town Meeting Day preview for Newbury, Vermont on LSC-TV News 7:
News 7 Archives
CLICK on "Thursday, February 18th, 2010 Newscast"!
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