WOODBURY – The Saturday town meeting began with Stephen Murphy’s election as Woodbury Town Moderator, February 28, then moved on to correct errors in the 2025 Town Report.
The names of Cemetery Commission Secretary Stephanie Appleton and Member Amy Eldred were added and the amount requested by the Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force was corrected to $200. Then, Stephanie Appleton was added to the names of band members not in the photo on the back cover.
Later, budget items passed for General Fund expenditures of $639,081 and Highway Fund expenditures of $864,599 for the year beginning July 1.
Lilly Baron was elected town treasurer on a vote of 98 to Brandy Smith’s 18.
John Gorden was elected to fill a three-year select board term, Ron Wells to three years as a lister and one year as collector of delinquent taxes and Susan Martin to serve three years as auditor.
Cemetery commissioners elected were Susan Stitely to serve five years and Cacky Peltz for two years.
Allison Schmitt will serve two years as a library trustee and Steven Freihofner for three years as Hazen Union School District Director.
At the Mountain View Union Elementary School District meeting, February 24, Darren Usinowicz was elected to a three-year term as Mountain View Union School Director.
The tax article passed as written: “Shall the Town have its taxes paid to the Town Treasurer, as Tax Receiver, sixty days after tax bills are mailed? (Estimated due date will be Oct. 29, 2026.) After the due date, taxes will become delinquent and be turned over to the collector of delinquent taxes for collection with a penalty of one-half percent per month, that increases by one-half percent per month of delinquency up to a maximum of six percent if delinquent for one full year.
“Interest of one-half percent per month will also be charged. All of this revenue goes to the town.
The property owned by and used for the purposes of the non-profit volunteer fire, rescue and ambulance services was exempted from town and education taxes. $25,888 was appropriated to the Woodbury Volunteer Fire Department to fund a truck loan payment in the amount of $23,888.00 and to fund a truck maintenance reserve in the amount of $2,000.
$134,990.88 was then approved to fund the operations of the Woodbury Volunteer Fire Department, its Capital Replacement Fund for $35,000 and operating expenses of $99,990.88, with an additional $100,100 appropriation to fund a loan payment for the fire and emergency operations center.
Further appropriations all passed, with $26,987 going to the Woodbury Community Library; $17,300 to cemeteries; $2,500 to the Woodbury/Calais Food Shelf; $750 to Aid to Women, Men and Children in Abuse and Rape Emergencies (AWARE); $250 to the American Red Cross of New Hampsire and Vermont; $600 to Central Vermont Adult Basic Education; $750 to Central Vermont Council on Aging; $300 to Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation; $2,000 to Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice; $650 to CIRCLE (Battered Women’s Services); $500 to Elevate Youth Services (Washington County Youth Services); $100 to the Family Center of Washington County; $484 to Green Mountain Transit; $50 to Green Up Vermont; $750 to Hardwick Community Television; $200 to Mosaic VT (Sexual Assault Crisis Team); $200 to Our House of Central Vermont; $100 to People’s Health and Wellness Clinic; $500 to Rural Community Transportation; $200 to Salvation Farms; $2,500 to Twin Valley Senior Center; $210 to Vermont Center for Independent Living; $200 to the Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force; $1,000 to Washington County Mental Health Service.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
