BARNARD — Floyd Van Alstyne and Barnard both had something to celebrate on Tuesday. He turned 102, and Barnard was one of the only Upper Valley towns to hold its Town Meeting in person.
About 60 residents, some masked, took full advantage of the floor vote to express their differences.
Van Alstyne kept a close eye on the proceedings from his seat at the front of the room next to his wife, Marjorie. He has missed only three town meetings since his first in 1946. Then, he was elected “house officer” to mark the doors of households quarantining for polio or measles.
He was glad to see debate.
“It’s going the way it used to be,” he said. “We discussed. We had good arguments.”
The three-year term on the Selectboard became a contested race when Justin Lancaster nominated his brother, Richard, for the seat that Tim Johnson has filled for over 20 years.
Richard Lancaster highlighted his service as the town lister, but he kept his introduction brief.
“I’m still willing to serve,” Johnson said.
He said he is “as conservative as you can get,” and outnumbered.
The voters shredded bits of paper, wrote their choices and filed up to the front of room to drop them in a green wooden box. By a comfortable margin, they chose a change in leadership. 34 voted for Lancaster and 24 for Johnson, Doton announced.
The next article to stir discussion was a vote over whether to spend $11,655 to continue to fund an intermunicipal energy coordinator at Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission.
Johnson started the debate, arguing that the town already had the plans it needed to move ahead with improvements to municipal buildings.
Elizabeth Ferry, who is chairwoman of the energy committee, explained that the town had only preliminary reports. She argued that the town needed to research more as it tries to shift municipal buildings away from fossil fuel heating systems.
“We feel there is momentum. Now’s not the time to drop the ball,” she said.
Doton called a vote after extensive discussion, but the “yeas” and “nays” were both so loud that the vote went to a paper ballot. The voters approved funding the energy coordinator’s position for another year by 13 votes.
Each Town Meeting has a mood of its own, Doton said. He hadn’t anticipated a debate over less than $12,000 to take 45 minutes, while the town voted to approve budget of over $1 million after about five minutes.
Doton, the last commercial dairy farmer in Barnard, has served as town moderator since 1992. Before him, his father held the position. Doton’s experience has paid off — he kept discussions organized and residents laughing. “Who wants their name in the minutes next year?” he asked as he scanned the room for a second on an article.
State representatives also stopped in to introduce themselves and their legislative goals. Armed with a print-out of the Vermont Constitution, Van Alstyne confronted state Sen. Alison Clarkson, of Woodstock, and state Rep. Heather Surprenant, of Barnard, after they each spoke.
“You’re our slave,” he told Clarkson as he spoke of legislators’ constitutional duty to listen to their constituents. He asked them both to “come around to the people” more often.
Other residents took the opportunity to remind their representatives how much the town needs cellphone service. Without it, businesses are at a disadvantage and senior residents cannot alert medical services when they need help, they said.
Last year, only 30 people turned out to Town Meeting, so the 60 voting residents (and handful of well-behaved children) seemed like a step toward normal. Still, it was a far cry from the 150 people who packed the floor and the balcony in years past, he said.
When the meeting ended around noon, there was no lunch. Before the pandemic, the Progressive Club, a ladies’ club active for over a 100 years, hosted a potluck complete with pork and beans, pies and Sepp’s Chicken Soup (a secret recipe). They used the proceeds to fund a scholarship for high school students.
Instead, Barbara Kelley, a member of the club, stood up to encourage everyone to donate before residents went their separate ways.
Claire Potter is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at cpotter@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.
CORRECTION: Justin Lancaster nominated his brother, Richard, to serve on the Barnard Selectboard at Town Meeting. The voters chose to continue funding the intermunicipal regional energy coordinator by a margin of 13 votes. A previous version of this story listed the vote total and their names incorrectly.