2024 Town Meetings

CVEDC supports 22 municipalities in Washington and Orange counties, Vermont. These municipalities support CVEDC back through annual financial contributions that comprise a portion of our operating budget. Our volunteer Board of Directors brings together residents of many of these towns who own businesses or are professional leaders in our region.

This year, the CVEDC Executive Director and staff joined 11 town meetings to listen to the stories, concerns, and topics at hand for the municipalities we support and the residents of those towns. We also presented on our services, helping more of the public know about the free services CVEDC has available for them.

Photo credit: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur, The Times Argus. See more of Jeb’s coverage here.

Are you new to Town Meeting Day in Vermont? Vermont Public has produced a guide to this exciting change to engage directly with your town’s democratic process.

The CVEDC staff has over 60 years of lived experience in Vermont and yet we have only engaged minimally with our own town meetings in the past, and definitely never had the opportunity to peek into a town meeting where we did not personally reside. All three of us were grateful for this opportunity to see many town meetings. Special thanks go to the residents and moderators of East Montpelier, Williamstown, Berlin, Warren, and Middlesex for giving us some space on the agenda to speak about our work.

Here were some takeaways we had from these important and engaging town meetings: throughout our region, there was great evidence of respect and appreciation for public safety and emergency medical services. At the same time, there was also lots of discussion about how costs are increasing and properly funding continuous coverage is a challenge. Public buildings and roads were also top concerns voiced by voters. Sometimes this intersects, such as in Williamstown where the maintenance of the dirt roads and accessibility for ambulance services can be tied together.

Every voice we heard seemed to recognize the difficulties that lie ahead in the next twelve months of budgeting. As we continue to reflect on the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, whether from the point of view of a municipality, resident, or business owner, we also now operate under a reality where the programs and funding opportunities that supported us during that time are no longer available.

We continued to hear about flood impact in many communities. Recovery from the 2023 floods is not an issue for the Montpelier and Barre downtowns alone, though we know those two cities are still on their own rebuilding pathways. Other municipalities, and the residents and businesses of those towns, must still work to respond to the impact of these devastating events.

Thank you again for allowing CVEDC to join your towns, and for the important work of the town offices, moderators, and citizens who come together to make successful town meetings.