CAVENDISH, Vt. – The March 14 regular meeting of the Cavendish Selectboard began with the annual organizational meeting. The selectboard approved Robert W. Glidden and Mike Ripley as chair and vice chair, respectively, and appointed various town positions. The selectboard will continue to meet on the second Monday of every month, at 6:30 p.m., at the town office, and the Vermont Journal will be the official paper of record.
After that, the selectboard heard updates from Margo Caulfield about high-speed internet coverage and the Black River Action Team’s (BRAT) Don’t Pitch in the Ditch campaign, approved use of the town office space for the Cavendish GOP’s monthly meetings, scheduled a public hearing on the Town Plan Enhanced Energy Chapter, established the selectboard as Cavendish’s Local Cannabis Control Board (CCB), approved $24,800 from ARPA funds for updating the Town Parcel Map, discussed how to encourage participation in the annual Town Informational Meeting, and authorized the use of the Town Green for the annual Town-wide Tag Sale, and the Cavendish Community and Conservation Association (CCCA)’s Summer Concert Series.
After a town votes to allow cannabis retail – as Cavendish did earlier this month – the state offers them the opportunity of creating a local cannabis control board. Prospective cannabis retailers will have to ask permission from this board first, which affords the town slightly more agency over the approval of cannabis retailers. Towns cannot make special ordinances on cannabis retail, and without a local control board, all licensing decisions would be determined by the state. The selectboard will serve as the cannabis control board.
As discussed at Town Meeting, many Cavendish residents would like to see Town Meeting moved to the Saturday afternoon before voting day. The selectboard supported this idea unanimously. This would allow more people with regular working hours to attend, and eliminate potentially dangerous nighttime driving for older residents. On-site childcare would also allow more parents of younger children to attend, which Ripley suggested could be offered by high school students earning volunteer hours. Ripley hopes that if the Town Informational Meeting can attract a high turnout, it will help convince the town that in-person participation can represent a large enough percentage of the town to return to floor voting in a few years.
Speaking from the audience, Caulfield reminded the selectboard that Cavendish government events rarely attract over a hundred people in person. The last time this happened, she said, was after much-beloved former town manager Richard Svec died in 2018. Voter participation is lacking in both Town Meeting and the selectboard’s budget meeting. Town manager Richard Chambers said that for the latter, there has always been a town budget committee composed of Cavendish residents that he personally enjoys working with, but no one has been on the committee for the last several years. If anyone is interested in volunteering, he said to contact the town office. The selectboard will advertise more broadly about this in August or September.
The next Cavendish Selectboard meeting will be on April 15, immediately after the 6 p.m. public hearing on the Town Plan Enhanced Energy Chapter.