Town and School Budgets pass on Town Meeting Day

On Tuesday, March 3, Springfield citizens voted on a variety of issues ranging from the town budget to who would serve on the Select Board.
http://www.vermontjournal.com/content/town-budget-and-school-budget-pass-town-meeting-day

Town Budget and School Budget Pass on Town Meeting Day Submitted by VT Journal on Tue, 03/10/2015 - 2:34pm By LAUREN DRASLER The Shopper SPRINGFIELD, VT -On Tuesday, March 3, residents of Springfield headed to Riverside Middle School to cast their votes in the Town Meeting Day Election. Springfield citizens voted on a variety of issues ranging from the town budget to who would serve on the Select Board. Other items on the ballot included the school budget, budget for the River Valley Technical Center, and Town Moderator. In local elections, there is no separation of the districts of Springfield, which means that all residents were eligible to vote at the middle school. Patrick M. Ankuda ran unopposed for the Town Moderator position, and received 1288 total votes for the position. Ankuda also ran unopposed for the School Moderator position, and received 1277 total votes. Both positions are a one-year term. Both Stephen Karaffa and Laura L. Ryan were elected as School Director with 1010 votes and 1043 votes respectively. Josephine Hingston and Sandra Richardson were both elected to the Library Trustee Board. Hingston received 1076 votes, while Richardson received 1098. Deborah Luse, who received 1153 votes, filled the Trustee of Public Funds position, and Gerald Patch was elected as the Cemetery Commissioner with 1196 votes. Both Luse and Patch were running unopposed for their positions. Stephen Ankuda, who was running unopposed for the Town Agent office was elected with 1258 votes, while the First Constable position remains unoccupied. First Constable was a write-in category, and although many people wrote-in candidates, there were not enough votes for any one person, so the office remains open. Terry Perkins was elected as the Town Lister with 1163 total votes. Perkins ran unopposed. In the Select Board race, voters were asked to vote for two candidates out of the four individuals that were running. Carol Cole, Peter MacGillivray, Walter Martone and David Yesman were all running on a variety of different platforms, but only Martone and MacGillivray, were elected to serve three-year terms the Select Board with 806 votes and 768 votes respectively. Martone said that he was excited about the results of the election. “I was surprised and very pleased by the results, especially since I entered the race with almost no name recognition,” he said. “I decided at the beginning of the campaign to meet and talk with as many of my fellow Springfielders as possible. In those conversations I got some great insight into what people think about the town and their hopes for its future.” According to Martone, he and many Springfield residents share similar ideas about how to improve Springfield, like cleaning up dilapidated housing and implementing strategies for economic development. “I think voters realized that I'm someone who sees and values the positive attributes of this town,” he said. “I don't underestimate the challenges, but I can see the strengths, and I know we have to build on them. I'm excited to be a member of the Select Board and I’m grateful to the voters. I feel like 2015 will be a year of change for the better in Springfield.” Peter MacGillivray said that he was glad to be re-elected to serve another three-year term on the Select Board. “I’m excited about being re-elected,” he said. “I was told way back that it takes about a year to learn this job, and I think that’s true, and I’m really now starting to feel comfortable being a member of the Select Board.” MacGillivray said that he is excited about two things that the Select Board will be working on in the near future. “We might have the chance to do something with the old armory, so I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “We are also hoping to re-develop the old J and L building, and the Bryant’s building, which will both be big projects, and take a lot of work.” Although MacGillivray is looking forward to his term on the Select Board, he said he also excited to have a new person on the board as well. “I’m very happy we have a new guy [Martone] on board who has expressed a great deal of enthusiasm, and seems to want really good things for Springfield,” he said. “We got to talk quite a bit both before and after the election, and I’m excited that this is what the people decided to do.” Though there were many offices to vote on, there were also a number of issues that the people of Springfield decided during the election. Perhaps the most pressing issue was the Town Budget, which passed with 878 total “yes” votes and 477 total “no” votes. “Everyone that participated in the budget process is grateful for the town’s support in passing the budget,” Town Manager Tom Yennerell said, “There was a strong ‘yes’ vote in this election, and it’s very much appreciated.” Yennerell said that there are a variety of people involved in making the budget from the budget advisory committee to the Select Board. “There are a lot of people that participate in this process,” he said. “Everyone works hard to come up with good recommendations for the budget. The Select Board makes the final decision, and then the budget goes to the voters. It’s a long process that takes many months.” Though this year’s budget was comparable to past years, Yennerell said that getting the budget passed was a little more difficult, because there were added costs. The total budget for the fiscal year of 2015-2016 is $10,255,571, which is an increase from last year’s budget that was $9,904,671 for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Yennerell said that this year’s budget is slightly higher because of increasing costs that were unforeseeable. “The budget is increased this year because of bond payments, salary increases in new labor contracts, and the price of road salt increasing,” he said. “All the services that are routinely provided, such as the full-service police department, fire department and other services, cost $9,145,081 yearly, so the other costs are additional.” A few planned achievements that are scheduled for Springfield this year are road paving, road reconstruction and potentially sidewalk reconstruction as well. There are also plans to install police car cameras, cameras on Main Street, Library Energy Saving Items and improvements to the town pool and community center, a Town of Springfield Budget pamphlet stated. Another important item on the ballot was the Springfield School District Budget, which passed with 724 “yes” votes to 626 “no” votes. The River Valley Technical Center’s budget was also on the ballot, and this budget passed with 856 “yes” votes, and 508 “no” votes. Other items that passed were payment for Select Board members, School Board members and payment for both the Town Moderator and School Moderator. Springfield residents also voted to create an unsafe building fund, and also voted to allocate $100,000 for this fund to be used to deal with dilapidated housing in Springfield. The budget’s for SEVCA, Visiting Nurses, Senior Solutions, Valley Health, the Current Bus, Windsor County Partners, Springfield Supported Housing, Meals on Wheels, the Family Center and the Women’s Freedom Center all passed by a healthy margin. However, the budget for HCRS was defeated with 686 “no” votes and 667 “yes” votes. Residents of Springfield were in favor of more solar funding, and the Community Band will also receive funds for concerts throughout the year. - See more at: http://www.vermontjournal.com/content/town-budget-and-school-budget-pass-town-meeting-day#sthash.QDqQ9mjj.dpuf