Voters approve $11.2M budget, revitalization fund

Springfield voters on Tuesday approved an $11.2 million town operating budget and two warrant articles in support of a $100,000 Springfield Revitalization Fund to help boost downtown redevelopment.

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2017-03-08 / Front Page 2017-03-08 / Front Page Springfield voters approve $11.2M budget, revitalization fund By TORY JONES toryb@eagletimes.com Springfield residents Hugh Putnam, left, Springfield Selectboard member Walter Martone, and Randy Gray stand outside the polls on Tuesday, March 7 at Riverside Middle School for the annual town meeting vote. Martone displayed a sign in support of Articles 8 and 9, to create a revitalization fund. — TORY JONES Springfield residents Hugh Putnam, left, Springfield Selectboard member Walter Martone, and Randy Gray stand outside the polls on Tuesday, March 7 at Riverside Middle School for the annual town meeting vote. Martone displayed a sign in support of Articles 8 and 9, to create a revitalization fund. — TORY JONES SPRINGFIELD — Springfield voters on Tuesday approved an $11.2 million town operating budget and two warrant articles in support of a $100,000 Springfield Revitalization Fund to help boost downtown redevelopment. More than 1,300 voters came out to the Annual Town and School District Meeting on Tuesday, March 7 at Riverside Middle School. Article 8, which called for the creation of the revitalization fund, and Article 9, to appropriate $100,000 into that fund, have been the subject of discussion at several recent Springfield Selectboard meetings as selectboard members talked over the idea of investing in the town with seed money that could be used to encourage further growth, investment and grant funding for economic development. Both articles passed on Tuesday, with a vote of 921-412 for Article 8 and 841-483 for Article 9, according to the unofficial vote results, which do not include write-ins, as of 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 7. Springfield Selectman Walter Martone was outside the polling station on Tuesday afternoon with Hugh Putnam and Randy Gray. Gray was campaigning as a selectboard write-in, and Putnam was supporting the Springfield Art and Historical Society. Martone was speaking to passers-by who wanted to discuss what the articles would mean if passed. “If you live in Springfield and you don’t know (about the revitalization effort), you’re not paying attention,” Gray said. Several people had stopped to ask for more information, though many were aware of the effort to pass the two articles, Martone said. Inside, voter registration was slow but steady in the early afternoon, as residents made their way into the gymnasium to cast paper ballot votes for officials, town and school budgets, and other articles. Voters approved the proposed annual municipal operating budget of $11,255,307, to cover salaries and expenses including highways, with a vote of 884-440. For the school district, voters approved, 741-590, an annual budget of $29,220,446 for the upcoming fiscal year. Voters also approved, 1,088-240, a request for $500,000 for repaving, road construction, and other road improvements, all according to results provided by the town clerk. Article 7, to adopt an amended Springfield Town Charter, passed by a vote of 930-317. Article 10, which would allow the town to expand the use of the Unsafe Building Reserve Fund to also allow the use of those funds to defray costs of “repairs, demolition, abatement, and enforcement expenses and costs” under the School Zone Blight Ordinance and the Vacant Building Ordinance, general nuisance provisions, “or any other means to reduce blight,” also passed by a vote of 953-368. Election officials, or “checkers,” including from left Katrine Dutton, Gay Mobus and Pat Graves, check in registered voters on Tuesday, March 7 at the annual town meeting polling station at Riverside Middle School in Springfield. — TORY JONES Election officials, or “checkers,” including from left Katrine Dutton, Gay Mobus and Pat Graves, check in registered voters on Tuesday, March 7 at the annual town meeting polling station at Riverside Middle School in Springfield. — TORY JONES Voters also authorized the Springfield School District Board of Directors to enter into a 10-year lease for the Southview School with the Springfield Community Players. Several articles also passed to financially support social services and community organizations through town appropriation. They included $63,500 for Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; $55,000 for the Springfield Family Care Center; and $12,500 for The Current (Southeast Vermont Transit). Approved articles for community services also included funding for the following: $10,000 for Health Care and Rehabilitation Services (HCRS); $9,500 for the Springfield Art and Historical Society; $9,000 for Turning Point Recovery Center Drop-In Center and Transition House; $2,000 for the Springfield Community Band for eight concerts; $9,000 to Southern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA); $8,500 for Senior Solutions; $4,000 for Valley Health Connections; $3,300 for Green Mountain Retired Seniors Volunteer Program and Volunteer Center of Windsor County; $10,000 for Meals on Wheels of Greater Springfield; $3,000 for Windsor County Partners; $5,000 for Springfield Supported Housing; and $4,000 for the Women’s Freedom Center. Other articles approved on Tuesday, for both the town and school districts, included authorization for the town treasurer to borrow money to meet district requirements, and stipends for the town’s moderator, selectboard members and school board members. Elected town officials voted in on Tuesday included the following: Two selectboard seats, 3-year terms: Kristi C. Morris, with 1084 votes, and Michael E. Martin with 1037 School director, 3-year term: Edward F. Caron, who defeated Troy Palmer, 566-563 Town moderator, 1-year term: Patrick Ankuda, with 1254 School moderator, 1-year term: Patrick Ankuda, with 1253 Library trustees, two seats, 3-year terms: Sara Allen Druen, with 1,095, and Herb Jamison, with 981 Trustee of public funds, one 3-year term: Jane Barlow Waysville, with 1,180 Cemetery commissioner, one 5-year term: Scott A. Page, with 1,228 Town agent, 1-year term: Stephen Ankuda, with 1,226 Lister, 3-year term: Lee Murray, with 1178 First Constable, 1-year term: Results not yet available, due to no candidates on ballot and write-in candidates not yet tallied. All write-in candidates will be tallied manually on Wednesday, March 8, according to the town clerk. Springfield OKs budgets Rutland Herald | March 08, 2017 By SUSAN SMALLHEER STAFF WRITER Hugh Putnam of the Springfield Art and Historical Society, left, and Selectman Kristi Morris greet voters outside the polls on Town Meeting Day in Springfield. PHOTO BY LEN EEMRY Hugh Putnam of the Springfield Art and Historical Society, left, and Selectman Kristi Morris greet voters outside the polls on Town Meeting Day in Springfield. PHOTO BY LEN EEMRY SPRINGFIELD — Voters approved town and school budgets Tuesday, as well as special articles for paving, setting up a downtown revitalization fund and paying for it. But voter turnout was so low the proposed town charter revisions did not muster the 25 percent voter turnout needed for approval, Town Clerk Barbara Courchesne said, while announcing the results to a group of town officials and residents at Riverside Middle School. The only race of the day was extremely close — too close to call, really: Springfield School Board Chairman Edward Caron led challenger, Troy Palmer, by a mere three votes, 566- 563, in the unofficial tally. Courchesne said election workers still had to review the ballots for an official tally. “We’re still looking for voter intent,” she said. The charter revisions were approved 930-317, but the existing charter specifies that 25 percent of the registered voters — about 1,700 — had to participate in the vote for it to stick, and only about 1,247 voted. The biggest margin of victory Tuesday was a special article calling for an additional $500,000 to be spent on paving. It was approved, 1,088- 240, astonishing Select Board Chairman Kristi Morris. Two articles that would create a downtown revitalization fund and then fund it to the tune of $100,000 easily won support, 921-412, and 841-483, respectively. The town budget of $11.2 million was approved by a 2-1 margin, 884-440. Town taxes are expected to go up about 3 percent. On the school side, the margin was much closer for the $29 million school budget, which passed 741-590. School taxes are expected to go down slightly. “Hallelujah,” said Springfield School Board member Jeanice Garfield after the vote totals were announced. Garfield, Caron and fellow School Board member Stephen Karaffa said the school budget vote has historically always been closer than the town budget. “It always is,” said Karaffa. “It costs so much more to educate our kids,” said Garfield. “We do so much more than pave roads.” On the town side, Morris and Select Board member Walter Martone, who spent most of the day outside the polls with a sign urging voters to approve the downtown revitalization fund, both said they were extremely gratified by strong support for their efforts to attack blight and revitalize the town. Morris in particular was stunned by the margin in support of additional paving. “It is a mandate,” he said, noting that the Select Board debated long and hard whether townspeople would support the extra funding. Morris was re-elected to a three-year term, and newcomer Michael Martin was also elected to the open seat on the board. Randy Gray mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign, but Courchesne did not have his vote totals yet. Courchesne, who was a member of the charter review committee, said she would ask Town Attorney Stephen Ankuda to review the language that bans any revote of the proposed charter changes for three years. She said it wasn’t clear that the three-year ban applied to the lack of turnout, as well as an outright defeat.