CAVENDISH, Vt. — At their Jan. 8 meeting, the Cavendish Selectboard dissolved the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) committee, approved the use of the Australian ballot system for this year’s Town Meeting, and decided to create a committee to finish the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. They also authorized town manager Rick Chambers to waive certain regulations on the sale of the Academy Building if given the town attorney’s approval.
Before its dissolution later in the meeting, the ARPA committee gave the selectboard its recommendations for how to spend the remaining money from the $421,000 Cavendish received. These recommendations were based on questionnaires distributed throughout the town and individual applications by projects for funding. In total, the committee approved 11 applications for funding, which will not exceed Cavedish’s ARPA allotment if the list is approved by the selectboard.
The selectboard also heard from the Cavendish representatives of the Green Mountain Unified School District (GMUSD) about a potential budget change. Representative Lisa Sanders said that the state is changing how it counts pupils to try to prioritize funding for districts with more higher-needs students. According to this new formula, GMUSD would qualify to receive more funding for special education, but only if the district demonstrates the need for this funding by raising its budget. Sanders said that raising the budget by up to 10% would likely only require a 4.1% property tax increase (beyond 10% the state would need to conduct a more thorough examination of the GMUSD budget). This would be in addition to the statewide forecasted increase of 18.5% in property tax rates driven by state spending on education. Sanders said that the Cavendish representatives are in favor of raising the budget to receive these funds, and would work to ensure that they were spent on special education.
The selectboard approved voting by Australian ballot for this year, but changing to Australian ballot permanently would require a Town Meeting vote. The selectboard agreed to add such a vote to the Town Meeting warning. If the town voted against this change, regular floor voting would resume next year.
In safety news, Chambers proposed creating refrigerator magnets with town emergency information, including the location of the town shelter. He presented a draft of a design for the magnets, adding that he might change some of the information on it to minimize confusion. The selectboard authorized Chambers to do this, and to print the magnets.
Currently the town office has to call VT Alerts to add updates on town emergencies. However, if Chambers, the town safety coordinator, and the fire chiefs go through a 90-minute training program, they could start posting updates to the software themselves. They are waiting until this training becomes available remotely rather than in-person.
Chambers requested that photos of damage from this summer’s floods be texted to 802-738-6445. This will help the town to get FEMA aid. Chambers also announced that there is an immediate job opening for a highway crew member; applications are on the town website, www.cavendishvt.com, and can be mailed to the town office. The selectboard also observed a moment of silence for Roger Sheehan, who recently passed away.
The Cavendish Selectboard has a budget meeting on Jan. 18. Their normal meetings are held on the second Monday of each month, at 6:30 p.m., at the town office.