Guide to 2021 Woodstock Village Meeting

Lights illuminating Woodstock Village during the colder months. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

Woodstock’s annual Village Meeting is going online for the first time, after Town Meeting also went virtual due to the pandemic.

The Village Trustees are holding an informational meeting on Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. There will be no amendments, and all voting is by Australian ballot. Among the ballot items are the village budget and elected officers. The village polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 16 at town hall. Printed copies of the 2020 Village Report are available at town hall and other locations, and the report is also online. Absentee ballots can be returned to the town clerk up until 4:30 p.m. on March 15, or voters can turn them in at the polls on March 16.

On Tuesday, a number of topics will be presented by the Trustees, and one of them is the state-run Route 4 paving project in the village. The Route 4 project will begin on approximately May 1 and must be finished by Sept. 26, according to Village Trustees Chair Jeff Kahn. The first month of the project will involve grinding pavement, and two surface layers will be put down in the following weeks. Traffic will continue, but sometimes it will be down to one lane. Along with Route 4 in the village, this project entails the village portion of Route 12 and also the village section of South Road (Route 106). 

Having this project done in the second year of the pandemic is a challenge, with businesses already suffering, Kahn noted. He encouraged residents to support local businesses during the project period. 

“The plus, of course, is that hopefully that road will hold up and won't need to be done for another decade," Kahn said. 

On the brighter side, Kahn noted that, in spite of a difficult 2020, the new East End Park was able to open. The scenic park along the Ottauquechee River is about to go into its first full season, available to the public for play, picnicking and special events. Kahn said Pentangle is planning to move their summer music series to the park and is planning a town-wide celebration at the end of the 2022 series.  

In other good news: Teagle Landing, located by the Kedron Brook off Central Street, is set to be renovated this year. That work will start in May and will be completed sometime in the summer.

Additionally, other topics presented Tuesday night will be the local mask ordinance, the short-term rental ordinance, the Cannabis Committee, the overlength trucks, the police union contract, the new parking meters and kiosks, and local parks. 

The local Cannabis Committee is studying the issue of retail cannabis operations as it relates to Woodstock. This comes after a new law allowing a tax-and-regulate system for cannabis went into effect last October in Vermont. This month, a number of Vermont towns held votes over whether to permit such businesses locally. Kahn anticipated a village vote on the matter in 2022, and the committee is gathering information.  

“The village will provide information from both sides of the question, pluses and minuses, so voters can make an informed decision,” he said. 

Regarding overlength trucks, Kahn said the village is working to maintain the free truck permits that keep the number of oversized trucks down in the village. There is currently an effort in the Legislature to remove these permits. 

As for the $1,345,829 village budget proposal, it includes $578,655 to be raised by taxes. A slight change is anticipated in the tax rate, going up to a rate of .2021, meaning an increase of 62 cents per $100,000 of valuation. That’s an increase of $2.48 for a $400,000 home.  

“That small an increase is one I think the public should be very pleased with," Kahn said. 

Municipal Manager William Kerbin said the village was very conscious of controlling costs as much as possible, given the ongoing impact of the pandemic. 

“We really kind of held the bottom line here, when we looked at keeping the overall costs down,” Kerbin said.

On Tuesday night, Village Trustee incumbents Kahn, Brenda Blakeman and William Corson will address the public about their bids for reelection this year. All three are running unopposed.

The informational meeting isn’t the only event on Tuesday evening: It will be followed by a regular Village Trustees meeting.

— Gareth Henderson