Stockbridge OKs Retail Pot
Stockbridge, Vermont. Original photo by Magicpiano taken in 2015 can be found here.
Stockbridge voters went to the polls on Tuesday to decide on the town budget, a new fire truck, and whether cannabis retailers and growers will be allowed to do business in town.
That last item was met with positivity by voters as Stockbridge added itself to the growing list of Vermont towns which are welcoming cannabis retail operations into their communities.
The measure was broken into two articles—Article 9 concerned cannabis retailers, while Article 10 covered commercial growers, cultivation, and retail operations. Each passed with about 60% majorities, 111-75 for Article 9 and 114-71 for Article 10.
Stockbridge is the 66th municipality in Vermont to approve of retail cannabis operations, including Randolph and Strafford in the White River Valley, which passed measures in 2021; 32 Vermont towns passed such measures on Town Meeting Day earlier this month.
Fire Chief Dave Brown’s wish for a replacement for the 1987 fire engine was enthusiastically passed by voters 150-28. Money from the fire and highway department equipment funds were proposed to cover the replacement of the 35-year-old truck. The cost to replace the truck is estimated at $348,000.
The proposed town budget of $931,393, a 14.4% ($117,324) increase over last year’s budget, passed 160-20. In informational meetings, selectboard members indicated that a large portion of that increase was due to a small expansion of the highway department.
Article 2, related to the auditors report, passed 146-8. Article’s 3 and 4, which covered the logistics of tax collection passed 185-1 and 184- 1, respectively.
More financial logistics were covered in Articles 6 and 7. The former, which allows the selectboard to borrow money in anticipation of taxes, passed 174-11. The latter, which rolls the $9,750 unspent from the 2021 audit expense and 2021 land record expense into the budget, passed 171-14.
According to Lori Scott, the Stockbridge Town Clerk, 542 ballots were sent out and 186 were returned.
Elections
On the ballot, the only contested election was between incumbent Jim Shands and Michael Ketchum, but Shands, in a letter to the editor in the March 10 Herald, voiced his desire to step down from the board and his support for Ketchum. Ketchum won the race with 105 votes, Shands tallied 57, and eight write-ins were submitted.
Janet Whitaker, running for a one-year lister term, won with 16 votes, but write-in candidates gathered 12, and 158 voters left the item blank.
All other elections were uncontested, including Beth Dawley for a three-year lister term, Rich Furman for a two-year lister term, Pamela Lyman for auditor, Susan Pelletier for collector of delinquent taxes, Joanne Green Mills for agent to defend and prosecute suits, Nathaniel Kennedy for first constable, Mary Ellen Dorman for trustee of public funds, Louis Chap for grand juror, Mette Rea for cemetery commissioner, and Suzanne Butterfield for Memorial Day chair.
With no candidates for the second constable position, the selectboard can appoint someone to that post.
Original story can be found at The Herald.
