Bear’s head tooth
Pot setbacks
Schoolkids pitch pick for state mushroom
Legislature eyes changes to cannabis growing rules
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March 21, 2024
Weekly news coverage for Charlotte and Hinesburg
Wastewater bids come in lower
Golden trio
thecitizenvt.com
New school budget plan cuts $4 mil, 42 positions
New numbers are $2.5 million less
COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
After its first budget failed on Town Meeting Day, the Champlain Valley School District is now moving forward with a $101.8 million budget that would reduce spending by $4 million and cut 42 full-time positions. The district’s original $105.8 million budget was voted down by nearly 2,000 votes. The new budget eliminates 17 support staff positions, previously funded through federal dollars that board members hoped to fund on their own, as well as $1.5 million in one-time spending for various school infrastructure. Tax rate hikes expected for the district’s five member towns would be reduced by several points but would still remain in the double digits. A revote is now set for April 16. Champlain Valley Superintendent Rene Sanchez, during the board’s emergency March 12 meeting, said that the district “took the message to heart about reducing the tax impact that largely led to the March failed vote and the community feedback that we received in town meetings and in town halls and other venues.” During the meeting, district board
Hinesburg has received four bids for a new wastewater treatment facility that town officials say is $2.5 million cheaper than what was first proposed last year. Selectboard chair Merrily Lovell during the town’s informational meeting before March elections said that after rejecting last year’s bids, the engineering firm Aldrich and Elliot went back to the drawing board last summer to find new ways to cut costs. Four new bids were returned to the selectboard earlier this month, with the lowest bid at $12,592,222 — nearly $2.5 million less than the lowest bid received in April 2023. All three bids that the town received and later rejected last year topped $15 million. The new proposals bring some optimism to the town’s efforts to build a new wastewater treatment facility — “a major concern” for the town in recent years, Lovell said. Hinesburg since 2018 has faced a mandatory order to rebuild its wastewater treatment facility after a state discharge permit was issued that required the town to reduce the amount of phosphorus and ammonia in its wastewater discharged into PHOTO BY LEE KROHN
See BIDS on page 13
A walker at Mt. Philo State Park takes her three golden retrievers for a hike last week.
See BUDGET on page 16
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