Newly elected officials in Barre City, following the recent town meeting on May 13, have brought some changes to the city council. Beth Hilgartner emerged victorious in the two-way race for the open seat in Ward 1, previously held by Emel Cambel, defeating Eddie Rousse with a vote count of 201 to 172. Meanwhile, Jeff Bergeron retained his position as Ward 2 Councilor without any opposition, receiving 162 votes compared to 14 write-in votes. However, Samn Stockwell lost her seat to Don Routhier by a close margin of 110 to 124 votes.
The voters also made decisions on various articles during the town meeting. They approved Article 1, authorizing a general fund budget of $14,800,120, with a portion not exceeding $10,762,686 to be raised through local property taxes for the fiscal year running from July 1 to June 30, 2026. The vote tally for this article stood at 514 ‘yes’ votes to 311 ‘no’ votes. Additionally, the residents voted in favor of allocating $600,000 for street and sidewalk reconstruction by a significant margin of 747 to 82.
On the other hand, the proposed amendment to the Barre City Charter to make the clerk an appointee of the city council was rejected by the voters, with 482 votes against and 338 in favor. The authorization for the city manager and city council to sign off on real estate transactions also received approval, with 522 votes in favor and 293 against. Moreover, the decision to retain an amount equivalent to one month’s worth of general fund expenses as an undesignated fund for reducing the tax rate in the subsequent budget was supported by a vote count of 618 to 174.
In terms of funding for various organizations and initiatives, the voters agreed to allocate specific amounts to several entities, including the Barre Area Senior Center, Barre Partnership/Heritage Festival, Capstone Community Action, Inc., Central Vermont Adult Education, Central Vermont Council on Aging, and many others. They also approved funding for the Vermont Granite Museum and Youth First Mentoring.
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