Sharon
Residents at that morning’s floor meeting, which drew more than 100 people to the Sharon Elementary School gym, also approved a request to accept donation of riverfront recreational land and voted to establish a legal defense fund for the town.
On the Selectboard, Kevin Gish won a three-way race over incumbent Chairman Kevin Blakeman and Keith Lyman Sr. for a single three-year seat on the panel. Gish received 192 votes, Blakeman 53 and Lyman 30.
The $1.53 million municipal operations budget for the fiscal year ending in 2018, which represents a 4 percent increase over the current year, passed by voice vote without discussion, but several other items generated significant debate.
Chief among them was a proposal to declare townspeople’s opposition to NewVistas, a vision by Utah engineer David Hall to create a self-sustaining settlement in the hills of Royalton, Sharon, Strafford and Tunbridge based on designs by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon faith. Residents called for a paper ballot on the issue, rather than a voice vote, and the anti-NewVistas article passed by a large margin: 100-16.
Townspeople also debated a warning article authorizing the acceptance of the Rikert property on the banks of the White River, which the Vermont River Conservancy is donating to Sharon for recreational use.
Blakeman and other residents expressed concern that the town could be liable for injuries that may occur on the property. Selectman Luke Pettengill said he opposed the town’s taking ownership of the property on principle but felt the Selectboard should hew to its earlier votes, where it expressed interest in the land, prompting the conservancy to raise money to put together a management plan.
Selectwoman Mary Gavin agreed with the latter part of Pettengill’s point and emphasized that the land would be a resource to townspeople. She and Pettengill also mentioned that the River Conservancy held an insurance policy on the parcel that covered Sharon. The article passed by voice vote with only a few nays.
At the school meeting, which took place Monday night, residents in short order passed all articles on the warning. Overall school expenditures are decreasing by about $200,000, to roughly $4.1 million; however, per-pupil spending, the figure that more closely influences the tax rate, will increase by about 4 percent to $15,502 per equalized pupil.
School officials are anticipating an extra 4 cents in taxes per $100 of property valuation. That translates to about $100 more on a $250,000 house. On the municipal side of things, residents are expected to pay about a penny more per $100 of valuation, or $25 more on the same property.