S. BURLINGTON – At its Town Fair last Wednesday, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) presented 2025 Municipal Service Awards to Linda Martin of Wolcott and Farley Brown of Craftsbury, with Hardwick’s Kristen Leahy recognized as a nominee.
Several hundred people were in attendance at VLCT’s Town Fair 2025 in South Burlington when Mary Ann Goulette, VLCT Board President and West Rutland Town Manager, announced this year’s winners of VLCT’s awards for outstanding service to Vermont local government, said a VLCT report.
The 2025 VLCT Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Bill Fraser, former Montpelier City Manager and past VLCT Board President.
The Municipal Service Award is given to a Vermont municipal official who has shown an active commitment to strong local government, both within their community and beyond its borders, or to a person outside of local government who works to improve the governance and support of or service to Vermont cities, towns and villages.
For the second year in a row, two 2025 Municipal Service Awards were presented.
“Linda Martin has served the community of Wolcott for almost 40 years in numerous positions. In 1986 she was elected as the Wolcott Town Clerk and Treasurer and served in that role until five years ago, when she was elected to the selectboard and became its chair, noted the announcement.
“During her tenure she was instrumental in modernizing recordkeeping systems from paper to digital formats. She served in the state legislature for 12 years, advocating for municipal government on the House Committee for Government Operations. Linda is also an active board member of the Lamoille County Planning Commission and its brownfields and transportation advisory committees.
“Linda’s ability to constantly participate and engage in a cross section of topics important to her community has effectively advanced many goals of the Wolcott Town Plan and, in fact, the region’s goals. Whether it be wastewater, flood recovery, transportation, or recreation, Linda engages the community and meets people where they are.”
“Vermont’s small rural communities struggle to develop infrastructure. Linda’s leadership on the Wolcott wastewater system has provided a clear template for small communities. The model Linda has created for identifying and obtaining funds, project administration, and community buy-in provides a model for other communities to follow,” said Sarah Haskins, Town of Morristown.
“For over two decades, Farley Brown has served the Town of Craftsbury as a member of both the planning commission and the conservation commission. She has worked with the Northeastern Vermont Development Association on multiple updates to the Craftsbury Town Plan, village center designations, energy planning, and master planning for the village,” said VLCT in presenting the award.
“Her work is always marked by extraordinary commitment to leadership, professionalism, respect, and willingness to engage with all members of the community, while doing her utmost to ensure that all voices are heard.
“As planning commission chair/co-chair, Farley has facilitated an ongoing dialog among diverse viewpoints, empowering each member to have a say in the difficult conversation of responding to growth and change – and to consider the role of land use regulations in Craftsbury’s future. “The latter topic can be fraught with emotion in Craftsbury, and Farley has always demonstrated patience and compassion in ensuring the dialog stays productive. Farley has served on multiple other committees, and she is a professor at Sterling College, which has allowed her to integrate the school’s programming to the benefit of the community.”
“We believe Farley embodies the spirit of outstanding municipal service this award seeks to recognize. Her long-standing dedicated and knowledgeable efforts have made a lasting positive impact on the Town of Craftsbury.” Bruce Urie, Craftsbury Select Board.
Kristen Leahy, the Town of Hardwick Zoning and Floodplain Administrator was nominated by Matt Hand, Hazard Mitigation Planner for the State of Vermont. He noted “her demonstrated ability to go above and beyond to assist her community by taking an active role in the application process for many buyouts under various Vermont and FEMA programs.
“Kristen has spearheaded the Town of Hardwick’s efforts to reduce future flooding and assist vulnerable residents with getting out of flood zones. She and the Town of Hardwick have taken a targeted yet compassionate approach to flood mitigation, by addressing the needs of those in the toughest situations first, while also having an overarching goal/plan to reduce future flooding in the community.”
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
