a change is gonna come
Big shoutout to the Bookstock team for an amazing weekend! The kids tent was a marvel (though I am wondering if anyone has figured out how to preserve face paint through nap time?) And it’s beginning to feel like the weather we longed for in February (and March, and April) is finally here.
Votes of the last meeting
The Selectboard took the following actions at our first monthly meeting in May:
Appointed George Manter to the Conservation Commission.
Approved a dispatch contract with the Town of Weathersfield. Weathersfield had previously contracted with the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department, which contracted with Woodstock for dispatch services, so this removes the middle man from the arrangement. The win is additional revenue for services we were already providing.
Approved a single porta potty at the Vondell-Cobb Reserve on a trial basis. The contract is month-to-month and the cost will be borne by WAMBA. This is step towards making the land more accessible for many - including persons with disabilities and families.
Approved an allocation of local options tax funds for the Chamber of Commerce to enable seasonal tree lighting, flower baskets, Wassail logistics, and what I’m most excited for - restoration of wireless internet on the Village Green.
Approved a contract for MSK Engineers for water system improvement projects. They will be leading the work on Option 1B (the new pipe from the water tank on Cox District to the Rec Center bridge) and the new well.
Approved the creation and purpose of a new Housing Task Force to report to our Economic Development Director. If you are interested, please let me know and I will send you the application.
And now for something completely different
Last week, I announced my resignation from the Selectboard. I have been lucky to learn so much in this role and meet so many of our community members. I had a longer list of thanks in my statement during our meeting on Tuesday, but please know if you are reading this, I am grateful for your participation our town. We live in such a special place and I wish for many reasons that I could stay in this role.
In the days following my announcement, I received these emails, which only affirmed my decision:
This behavior is endemic here - why? I have yet to grasp it.
Over the past couple of years I have watched our community be ravaged by similar actions. Other nonprofit and public boards made to pause their work to navigate lawfare. Despite my belief in the essential goodness of people, I have to ask - are you more or less likely to serve your community knowing these risks? I don’t regret my choice to serve this community, and I don’t regret my words last week. But there is a threshold each person has for such destructive behavior. And this is mine.
Hope is not passive. It’s willful against contempt and cynicism. And I do have hope for our community, though I don’t know the path forward in this moment. I want to tell you to continue finding the ways you can have an impact, because there are many. I want to tell you that goodness will prevail. I want to tell you that this place is worth fighting for. I want to tell you that more than ever we need to show our friends and kids that we can do hard things.
But right now, I’m just doing one day at a time. And relying on Ben & Jerry’s for endorphins.
P.S.
I’ve heard from many of you how helpful these newsletters are so I’m planning to continue them (albeit less frequently) and my site will remain active. We also have some big races coming up in August (the universe has answered my prayer for a Phil Scott challenger) and I’ll be putting a voter guide together there.
spring cleaning
Should have figured we’d have snow since I put my sweaters away last week. A short update from me since these keep getting caught in spam filters.
Water and sewer bills have gone out!
Thank you for your patience. If you missed our last meeting where we set the new user rates, we are increasing rates incrementally and the board expects to revisit a new rate card in the future (thanks to the Finance Committee for their work on this). We’re also investigating new meters since those will help with users that 1. aren’t currently on meters and 2. those of us that have old meters which as they age, aren’t as accurate.
Upcoming events (the theme is literacy!):
The Woodstock Rotary is partnering with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to bring the program to Bridgewater, Barnard, Pomfret, and Woodstock. The Imagination Library mails one book per month to any child enrolled from birth until their 5th birthday. You can support this initiative at the OYC on May 3, 2026, from 4-6 pm! Radio Bear will be playing live music! Suggested donation at the door is $20 per adult; kids are free.
Upper Valley Educators Institute is hosting a screening of Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars on Saturday, May 9th at 4:00pm at Billings Farm, followed by a panel discussion with local leaders, educators, and students to discuss the future of literacy teaching and learning in the Upper Valley. Suggested ticket donation is $15-$25.
red bird
How are we getting through false spring/third winter/pre-mudseason? I’m personally surviving on peanut butter M&Ms. Don’t tell my PCP.
It’s been a minute since Town Meeting - let’s catch up!
Return of Votes
The town, water, and sewer budgets passed on Town Meeting Day (part 1). Here’s the breakdown of the votes from Town Meeting Day (part 2).
Votes of last meeting
Here’s what we voted on in the last regular SB meeting:
approved several liquor and a tobacco licenses. One of the SB’s many hats is as the local liquor control board.
appointed Nina Phalen to the Town Development Review Board. The TDRB is a quasi-judicial body that administers Woodstock’s land use regulations. We still have two open vacancies on our Planning Commission for anyone interested in land use policy.
approved a letter of thanks to the Economic Development Commission for their decade of work advising the Selectboard on the allocation of the Economic Development and Community Fund (funded by the meals, alcohol, and lodging tax). Raise your hand if you’ve been positively impacted by the EDC (raises hand).
approved an allocation of $35,000 to supporting a housing development strategy through our Economic Development Director Abbie Sherman.
approved a driveway variance on Carlton Hill Road
set advertising rates for the WoodstockVT.com website at $1,500 for 3 months. The revenue from the site is split with the Chamber of Commerce as the town co-owns the website with them, Chamber members receive a discount on website ads per the Memorandum of Understanding agreed to last year.
delegated warrants review and approval to Chair Ford and myself as backup. We have a multi-step, multi-approval process for how town bills get paid. After the Municipal Manager, Treasure, and Finance Department review the bills and payroll, they are sent to the board for approval. We each sign off on the payments before they are issued.
set a new schedule for the Selectboard meetings in hopes of reducing the number of special meetings. The new schedule is 8:30am on the first Tuesday of the month; 6pm on the third Tuesday of the month.
Next meeting
We will be meeting Tuesday, April 7th at 8:30am to set sewer and water rates and potentially vote on the purchase & sale of the portion of the Vondell Cobb Reserve we have previously discussed conserving with the Vermont Land Trust.
Thanks for your patience on sewer and water bills! They will be issued soon!
Upcoming events (the theme is literacy!):
The Woodstock Rotary is partnering with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to bring the program to Bridgewater, Barnard, Pomfret, and Woodstock. The Imagination Library mails one book per month to any child enrolled from birth until their 5th birthday. You can support this initiative at the OYC on May 3, 2026, from 4-6 pm! Radio Bear will be playing live music! Suggested donation at the door is $20 per adult; kids are free.
Upper Valley Educators Institute is hosting a screening of Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars on Saturday, May 9th at 4:00pm at Billings Farm, followed by a panel discussion with local leaders, educators, and students to discuss the future of literacy teaching and learning in the Upper Valley. Suggested ticket donation is $15-$25.
Reading/listening:
part two
Spam filters are still my enemy apparently! Last week’s newsletter is posted on my site, but I’m going to try an email without links to see if that helps.
Town Meeting intermission
On Saturday, we had a good turnout at Town Hall for Town Meeting (part 1). Many thanks to WCTV for recording, the Cub Scouts of America for running the microphones, and Change the World Kids for childcare.
We will resume voting tomorrow, March 3rd from 7am-7pm via ballots. Sample ballots are on the town website and linked in my ballot guide.
Schools are part of the solution
Tomorrow, MVSU district voters will be asked to vote on a bond to rebuild the middle school and high school that has two contingencies: 1. the decoupling of school construction debt from per pupil spending and 2. that at least 25% of the cost of the bond is raised via state construction aid, grants, or private donations. Here are the reasons I am supporting this bond that I hope you will consider:
We are already paying for the new school
In 2023, voters approved a bond of $1.65M for design and permitting of the new school. Tomorrow, we will vote on two additional bonds for repairs to address immediate issues in the building. The maintenance team estimates we have spent $2M in the past two years on repairs and we have tens more in the next few years to address if we don’t have a new facility. Pouring millions into repairs when the facility is beyond it’s expiration leaves us with the same problem: we need to replace the building, and construction costs are increasing at historical rate.
We are ineligble for state aid for a renovation
Our building is in such poor condition that it does not meet state criteria for aid if we were to renovate. Said another way, the state considers renovating our building a poor investment.
Education costs are a symptom; not the cause
A lot of the rhetoric around the past few Town Meeting Days is that we as Vermonters can’t afford the rising costs of operating our public schools. The conversation quickly turns to “what can we cut?” But the real issue isn’t simply our spending — it’s our stagnant tax base.
Vermont has an aging population, slow population growth, and a limited workforce, which means the cost of public services (bloating more each year due to health insurance costs and recently, tariffs) falls on fewer taxpayers. As it stands, more than half of Vermont’s residents pay their property tax bills at a subsidized rate due to income.
If we want lower pressure on property taxes, the solution isn’t defunding our public services, it’s growing the tax base — attracting families, supporting businesses, expanding housing, and strengthening the workforce. Safe and successful schools are part of that strategy, not an obstacle to it.
Please let me know if you have any questions about voting.
all things Town Meeting
Starting with good news:
The long-awaited Town Hall conference tech has been installed! Come to a meeting and check it out!
Farmer and the Bell has a new donut flavor called brown butter maple bourbon biscoff and it’s going to make you wish you never met a pants zipper.
The station wagon has a new home! We bid farewell to Big Red this past weekend. You might still see it around as its new owners live in Pomfret.
A note of thanks to Deanna Jones, the Executive Director of The Thompson Senior Center, who testified this week in front of the House Committee on Human Services to advocate for expanded support of Meals on Wheels across the state. If you want to see her moving testimony, you can watch (and learn!) here. If you want to support our local Meals on Wheels program, you can make a donation to the Senior Center or volunteer as a driver.
a demonstration of the aerobic granular sludge process that will be replacing the current activated sludge process at the main wastewater treatment plant
Let’s get into it!
We are 8 days away from Town Meeting Day, part 1. Town Meeting in Woodstock is held in person on Saturday, February 28th at 10am in Town Hall. We will be voting on Articles 1-8 and also hosting an information session about the wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
For part 2: We will be voting via ballot at Town Hall anytime from 7am-7pm on Articles 9-25. This includes the wastewater treatment plant bond, elected offices, school budget, and the school rebuild bond.
Sample ballots are available here if you want to study them. The Town Ballot will be one page, the School District ballots will be 4 pages.
I also have a guide available to walk you through each article on the Town Ballot.
How to register
You can register to vote online at vote.vermont.gov. You will need either a valid photo ID (driver’s license or passport), current utility bill, current bank statement, or another government document containing your residential address.
You can register to vote in person at the Town Clerk’s office any time they are open, including Town Meeting Day. The office is on the first floor of Town Hall (31 The Green), hours listed here.
Voting absentee
Absentee ballots are currently available. You can vote absentee for measures we are voting on Tuesday 3/3, but not for the Saturday portion of our town warning.
If you plan to vote absentee, I would recommend hand-delivering the ballots to the Clerk’s office as postmarks cannot be honored.
What else?
I’m working with Change the World Kids to provide childcare for kids 4+. I’ll keep you updated!
If you have any questions, let me know!
Reading/watching:
right makes right
Firstly, please check your spam folders for my last email if you didn’t get it. My Squarespace batch email sender seems to have been flagged by some inboxes.
My house is just getting out from under the flu. It’s been a rough go and I do not recommend. 0/10. Many thanks to my lovely neighbors and friends who sent fresh sourdough, electrolyte packets, donuts, brownies, mac and cheese, puzzles, Heated Rivalry memes, and books during what I’m calling the Plague of 2026.
Catching up
Since I last wrote the Selectboard has voted to:
approve the FY27 budget to be voted on Town Meeting Day. As a reminder, Town Meeting Day happens in two parts in Woodstock. The town budget (as well as the budgets for the water and the sewer departments) are voted on in person on Saturday.
set the allocation for the Main Wastewater Treatment Plant bond. The bond will be paid for by sewer users only, with $150,000 annual offset from our infrastructure local options tax and some other funds set aside in sewer capital reserves. (The language of the bond doesn’t specify these amounts in case they need to change over the course of the bond).
We also found out that Woodstock has been named the recipient of a $1M Congressionally Directed Spending request for the Main Wastewater Treatment Plant. Another win for Harry “Grants” Falconer of TRORC and our town staff who worked with Senator Welch’s office to secure this. We will still need to jump through some hoops with the EPA, but this is a huge and very unexpected win.
Upcoming
We are a month away from Town Meeting Day(s). Here’s a ballot guide for you. I will post the sample ballots when they are available. Please let me know if you have any questions.
We are working with Change the World Kids to provide onsite daycare for Town Meeting Day (Saturday, Feb 28th).
Reading
Salt shortage forces Upper Valley towns to prioritize, and more coverage
A state land bank? (Do Phil Scott and I finally agree on something?)
slogging through
We have entered 2026 on another tidal wave of unprecedented events. So, here are the things that have brought me joy lately:
The giant bow above Woody’s made by owner Suzi Curtis!
Peanut butter kiss cookies baked by Annie Mears. (Friends know my entire family is allergic to peanuts so I seek out peanut butter like a hound when I leave my house)
Peter and Wendy at Northern Stage. Abby and I went as guests of her friend’s family and had the best time.
Two hometown book announcements:
Town wide reappraisal
The town wide reaappraisal is underway. The assessors and reappraisal consultants have started in the Village. You can expect to receive the above notice in the mail prompting you to make an appointment for a reappraisal. The time will vary by the size of the property, but it is in your best interest to let them inside your home so they can examine the interior and accurately estimate the value. This will save you and the assessors time so that they have the best information possible and avoid the grievance process later.
The reappraisal consultants and assessors are driving cars which readily identify them.
WWTP
The Main Wastewater Treatment Plant is going to bond this Town Meeting Day and we are currently working on the allocation for paying the bond. The bond payment will add about ~1.6m to the sewer budget each year (the current budget is $1.5m) Options thrown out at the last meeting were:
90/10 split between users and all parcels (effectively 95/5 between users and non-users)
allocation from the infrastructure fund (local options tax #2) and users only
At our public forums, I’ve heard a reflection of the sentiments of the above options from private septic users: that non-users should pay nothing or they should pay something, but very, very little. Let me know if you have thoughts, we are hopefully setting the allocation on Monday’s meeting so that it can be included in the warning for Town Meeting.
The board will be hosting public forums every Wednesday until Town Meeting (schedule here). Please join us if you have questions about this or other ballot-related questions. Here is the website with all the info about the plant upgrades and renovations.
Budget
We are close to finalizing the budget. Items of note:
adding 2.5 firefighter/EMTs to the Fire Department (including a full time training specialist)
buying down the tax rate by ~0.5% with funds from the undesignated fund balance
adding to our sand and salt budgets, as well as road stabilization (If you recall last year, I said we can expect these line items to keep growing as we experience more extreme climate related events)
Reading/watching:
it’s the time of the season
First, I want to say thank you for everyone who helped make Wassail Weekend happen. This is a tremendous feat for our town and it’s an all-hands-on-deck exercise. From the road crews removing snow starting at midnight on Friday, to our public safety personnel making sure the parade-goers stay out of harm’s (and horses’ way), from our public works folks staying on top of trash, to the many volunteers who organized, coordinated, and produced lovely and cheerful events.
Catching up
Since I last wrote the Selectboard has voted to:
pause currently EDC grant programs. This means that those already awarded grants will be funded but we are no longer accepting applications for previously advertised housing, storefront, or other grants. This will give a chance for the fund to regenerate while Economic Development Director establishes how she would like to recommend the fund be used.
adopt new sewer abatement guidelines. They can be found here.
allocate 10% of staff time within the budget to the new water department. Right now, staff allocate their time across 4 functions: Town, Village, Sewer. The addition of the water utility brings us to a new allocation of Town: 55%, Village: 25%, Sewer Dept: 10%, Water Dept: 10%.
appoint Nori Pepe and Aimee Bartlett to the Marketing Committee. The committee is advisory and supports the work of our Marketing Coordinator, Jess Kirby.
Looking forward
We have discussed and are likely to vote on the following in the next few meetings:
a policy for plaques and memorials on town property
a penalty for filing homestead declaration late. Currently, full-time residents are required to file a homestead declaration each year along with income taxes. This ensures they are charged the correct tax rate. Towns are able to charge a penalty of up to 8% of your education tax bill if you do not file on time. Other towns like Barnard are already enforcing this policy.
a possible spend of local options tax funding on way finding signage that will allow visitors to more easily navigate the Village.
Fun at the Vail Field Rink
Budget FY27
Budget season is upon us. The Selectboard has heard from department heads and now has the municipal manager’s recommended budget. This year’s theme: still course-correcting and building reserves.
The largest budgetary change from last year’s budget for the town is the Fire Department’s request to add more personnel to to enable staffing 4 full time shifts. Our current shift schedule/short staffing is leading to burnout and increased costs due to overtime.
We will be meeting again in early January to continue our discussions about the budget.
You can view the WIP budgets for Town, Village, water, and sewer here.
Affordability while we recover from years of underinvestment is a lofty goal, but one the joint boards are committed to.
On accountability
Last week, the joint boards received a letter from town hall staff asking us to direct immediate attention to “establish clear expectations for public conduct,” and review “safety and security measures” to keep them from ongoing situations in which they feel vulnerable and unsafe. The letter was read into the record and representatives of the board are planning to meet with staff after the holiday to come up with an action plan.
There is much that makes our small town charming. But often, I find in Woodstock, too much is an open secret—ignored or minimized so no one has to confront it. Those who harass and terrorize our town staff are empowered by the silence of our small town, by the power self-preservation and avoidance have on many of us. I am grateful to those few who have spoken out against bullying and harassment and have publicly voiced support for our town staff. I hope our community (including our boards) can do more to hold accountable those who disregard the safety and wellbeing of others.
what’s sludge got to do with it
Kicking off with the good news:
The SBOOKY Halloween party at NWPL was a huge hit! Thanks to Adrian, Emily, and library staff for making it so fun for the little ones.
WUHS football team is heading to the finals after a shutout against Otter Creek on Friday!
The Selectboard has appointed our 5th Musketeer: Cliff Johnson. Thanks to all of the incredible applicants and welcome, Cliff!
We made it to the first snow of the season! Do I regret putting the winter bins in the basement? Yes.
It’s that time of the season
Budget season has kicked off! I highly recommend watching the video from our joint board meeting last week. Highlights: police cruisers now have snow tires, but we need new cameras (state-mandated); reassessment is nigh; and the sludge truck from 1999 needs replacing. Tensions continue to be in staffing and maintenance costs. The next step will be department heads submitting actual budgets for consideration.
The budget is incredibly consequential and I encourage anyone who is available to attend our meetings in person or via Zoom to learn and/or offer feedback.
Vondell Cobb Reservoir
The Selectboard has concluded our listening tours about the conservation easement for the Vondell. It appears that most are in favor of the easement with Vermont Land Trust, which could would set us up to receive a grant from VHCB for $650,000 if we were to include the previous excluded parcels by Grassy Lane. The board still wants to hear from the community on how much private donors should seek to raise to augment the grant in exchange for the restrictions.
While we cannot pre-pay the bond for the land (remember we voted to buy the land last year for $1.6M), the board could vote to use these funds to pay for dam repairs that we know are imminent.
What’s next:
Tours of the main wastewater treatment plant will be held this Saturday, 11/15 from 10am-2pm. Please dress warmly.
Members of the Senate Education Committee will be visiting Woodstock Union High School on 11/18 at 2:45pm. Polly Mikula at Mountain Times has a comprehensive guide on the Redistricting Task Force’s current work; though they did convene yesterday and reject the CTE-based map. If you care about the future of our schools, please come to this event. Childcare will be provided, look for details in the listserv.
Our next Selectboard meeting
Reading/watching:
Skinny Pancake to close amid staffing, housing struggles (thanks to Jess for sharing)
Affordability, opportunity decides who stays in small towns (h/t Rob G.)
Don’t Talk About Politics - I cannot recommend this enough. If you’re going to buy/borrow one book this year, make it this one.
Woodstock Community Food Shelf continues to be a beacon in these dark times. Please consider donating.