HARDWICK – A well-attended select board meeting with an overflow crowd upstairs in the Hardwick Memorial Building last Thursday began with an announcement by the Trust for Public Lands’ (TPL) Hannah Redmon announcing that a $465,000 grant had been awarded by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) for the Buffalo Mountain Town Forest purchase.
photo by Paul Fixx
The board quickly moved through the town manager’s and police department reports, approving liquor license renewals for the Agri-Mark/Yellow Barn Cabot store and the House of Pizza.
Almost 15 minutes early, Select Board Chair Ceilidh Galloway-Kane took up a petition many of those in attendance were there for, calling for a revote on an article approved at town meeting to contribute $25,000 toward the town forest purchase. Town Clerk Tonia Chase presented the valid petition signed by 5% of Hardwick’s 2,333 voters. After almost 45 minutes of discussion the reconsideration vote was set for May 19, at 6:30 p.m., with the board voting unanimously for the motion.
After that, Chase presented two other valid petitions she’d received. The first called for Australian ballot votes to be held on all town meeting questions beginning with the March 2027 meeting. The second petition was for all reconsideration votes to be voted by Australian ballot. The second was quickly dismissed as irrelevant because state law requires revotes to be held in the same manner as the original vote, which was interpreted to mean either by an in-person meeting (where the vote could be taken by voice, hand or paper ballot as those assembled properly decided), or by Australian ballot.
The board voted to add the first question to the May 19 meeting agenda; “Shall the Town of Hardwick vote to require that all public questions, town budget and appropriations currently voted from the floor at Town Meeting be voted by Australian ballot beginning with the next Annual Town Meeting.”
Three board members voted in favor, with Shari Cornish voting nay and Tim Ricciardello absent.
In considering the petition, Cornish said that voting everything by Australian ballot would essentially be doing away with town meetings; elected officials would be the only thing voted on from the floor.
Adding votes for elected officials to the motion was considered after it was suggested by Town Manager David Upson, but the idea was abandoned.
Orise Ainsworth said Fairfax has a Saturday town meeting to educate the voters about all of the items on the warning and then have voting on Town Meeting Day.
In other comments, Hardwick resident Paul Fixx suggested an informational meeting be held before the May 19 vote.
Former Select Board Chair Eric Remick said he thinks a special meeting would have less turnout than a typical town meeting. He suggested waiting until the 2027 town meeting for the item to be voted on.
Chase advised that the select board is required to act on the petitions received within 60 days, waiting is not an option.
Responding to a question from Joe Nudell, Chase said 505 Australian ballots had been cast on Town Meeting Day compared to about 300 attending the meeting. Resident Rachel Kane commented that doing away with town meeting floor votes is a pretty serious decision.
Galloway-Kane said options can be discussed at a future select board meeting before the vote and moved on to the remainder of the town’s business.
During discussion of the town forest petition Orise Ainsworth and Roberta Foster shared their concerns about how the original town meeting vote had been conducted, but neither ended up being germane because of the reconsideration now scheduled May 19.
It was confirmed that reconsideration of the town forest vote would only be in the question of whether the town contributes $25,000. Redmond noted that a lack of town contribution would require other funds to be found and could affect funders’ willingness to support the project.
Sue Rivard expressed concern that the town had agreed to take ownership of the property at its December 18 meeting without any public discussion and questioned voting to allocate funds before residents fully understood potential uses of the property.
Later Redmon confirmed that and said the select board had been asked to make the decision because the property was actively listed for sale and entering into an agreement with landowners Ken and Chris Davis was important to prevent it from being sold elsewhere. Redmon later confirmed the town plan specifically mentioned the importance of Buffalo Mountain to the town, leading members of the Hardwick Conservation Commission to recommend that the opportunity not be missed.
Claire Hill asked how those that voted at town meeting were known to be registered voters for the hand count since they weren’t checked in the way they were with a paper ballot for the budget vote before it. Chase responded to that, saying, because of that same concern shared by others, she will be implementing a new procedure for future town meetings. Those arriving for town meeting will be checked in against the voter checklist, which is maintained by the town’s Justices of the Peace, then given a colored index card that will be selected that day so no one can bring their own. Those index cards must then be raised when a show of hands is called for by the moderator.
In awarding its grant for the Buffalo Mountain Town Forest to the TPL, Town of Hardwick and Northern Rivers Land Trust (NRLT), the VHCB said “Buffalo Mountain is a backdrop to Hardwick’s village and a defining feature of the community’s identity, ecology and recreational life.” The addition of 329 acres will “nearly quadruple Hardwick’s town forest holdings” and “include the summit of Buffalo Mountain, 1.1 miles of Lamoille River frontage and 15 distinct natural community types.
“The property is within walking distance of downtown, local schools, and the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. It supports rare species including the globally vulnerable Wright’s spike-rush and hosts the largest known population of grove hawthorn in New England.
“Located within a Highest Priority Interior Forest Block per Vermont Conservation Design, the land will be owned by the Town of Hardwick with a conservation easement co-held by VHCB and NRLT, and open for hiking, hunting, wildlife viewing, crosscountry skiing and snowmobiling.” The VHCB further noted, the “total project cost is $785,197, with $316,250 in leverage from foundations, The Nature Conservancy’s Vermont Biodiversity Protection Fund, the Town of Hardwick general fund and individual gifts.”
Phil Mercier asked whether the land will be tax exempt and what will happen with recreational activities such as hunting and riding ATVs. Galloway-Kane said the town does not tax itself, so there will be no tax on the property if it becomes a town forest.
She added that trails and public access can generate tourism dollars for the community as a whole.
A steering committee will make proposals about the use and collaborate with the select board to create a management plan.
Rachel Kane said turning the property into a town forest will be an estimated $5,000 tax loss to the town. A comment was made that it is actually $6,300 according to the most recent tax bill.
Later Redmon said, “It’s really exciting to see how many people are interested in the future of their community and I’m looking forward to getting more input through the steering committee.”
After the meeting, Redmon shared a copy of the easement for the Wolcott Town Forest, which she said will be similar to the one for Hardwick. That document clearly allows current uses and must include opportunities for public input as it is developed, with terms that say it shall: Provide for the use and management of the Protected Property in a fashion which is consistent with and advances the Purposes of this Grant; and . . . provide for public access and meaningful recreational links to private and public lands . . . provide for the sustainable use of fish and wildlife resources . . . and provide for use by educational programs.
Creation of the plan must include “appropriate public input from the general public,” and approval, which “shall not be unreasonably withheld” by NRLT and VHCB.
The select board did not take action on a request that the select board send a letter to support the non-binding apartheid-free community pledge approved by town meeting voters.
They quickly moved through the remainder of the town’s business for the evening, including comments from Upson about the importance of obtaining public input before the town makes big decisions and how well projects have gone when that’s happened.
To end the meeting, a new Assistant Town Clerk and Treasurer Kendra Parks was to be starting work on Monday, April 6, said Chase, then Galloway-Kane mentioned the recent joint meeting of the select board and Hardwick Electric Department’s commissioners during which reports on Jackson Dam and the Caspian Lake beach were given and discussed.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
