Burlington residents approve police surveillance clause as Vermonters vote on absentee ballots in town

Updated November 6 at 07:10

In the midst of the presidential election and multiple statewide races, Vermont residents had plenty of absentee ballots to vote on Tuesday.

The items include several multimillion-dollar projects, including what has been called the largest infrastructure project in Shelburne history, as well as a proposal to build the state’s largest-ever solar project in western Vermont.

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5 November 2024, 18:166 November 2024 02:42

There were also critical policy decisions on residents’ ballots, including an item giving Burlington’s police commission greater civilian oversight authority and a citizen-led petition in Springfield to repeal an ordinance banning the discharge of weapons in a town recreation area.

This story will be updated as each town’s results are finalized.

Burlington police surveillance

Voters in Burlington approved a bill Tuesday night. offer Amending the city’s charter to give the city’s police commission more disciplinary and oversight powers and remove police chief Jon Murad.

Residents approved the measure by a vote of 62.5 percent to 37.5 percent, or 11,398 to 6,847, according to unofficial results from Burlington City Hall.

In a statement, Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak thanked voters and her city council colleagues “for their work to create a compromise that will move us in the right direction.”

“This work is critical as we continue to find ways to heed calls for racial justice and fair and impartial policing practices and work to rebuild a police department that reflects Burlington’s values,” he continued.

The Burlington City Council voted unanimously in July to put the charter amendment on the ballot; For the first time since the issue first emerged in 2019, Progressives and Democrats on the council agreed to at least bring a measure to voters.

Not all council members were in favor of the measure, and many Democratic council members said they would vote no. The ballot item was criticized by both Murad and the Burlington Police Officers Association, who said it would hurt efforts to attract police officers to the department.

Burlington Police Officers Association, The statement was published on social mediaHe said the ballot measure was “presented in a way that did not provide voters with the appropriate analysis to make a truly informed assessment.”

“While we value the opinions of all Burlington residents, as a union representing our members and with the best intentions of our community in mind, we will continue to express our disagreement with this charter change at the state level going forward,” the union said.

The Vermont Legislature will still need to sign off on the charter change. But if the legislation is approved by state lawmakers, the city’s police commission would be able to convene an independent panel to review officer misconduct and decide on disciplinary measures, taking sole authority away from the police chief.

“This is very important because right now only the police chief can decide this,” Mulvaney-Stanak said Tuesday afternoon outside the Robert Miller Community and Recreation Center on the city’s North Side. “I think it’s really important that no one person should be the final arbiter of an issue as important as police discipline. “This will be used rarely, but I think it’s an important piece of oversight that will build more trust and transparency within the police department.”

The measure was the latest in a years-long push by Burlington officials to include more civilian oversight in the city’s charter.

The Progressive-led council approved a measure in December 2020 that would give the community control board full authority to hire and fire police officers, including the chief. However, then-Mayor Miro Weinberger vetoed the proposal the following month.

A similar proposal was rejected by voters in 2023, this time after residents petitioned to put it on the Town Meeting Day ballot.

Shelburne wastewater treatment plant

Shelburne residents on Tuesday voted in favor of a $38 million bond to finance a new consolidated wastewater treatment plant. The largest infrastructure project in the history of the district.

Residents voted 3,694 in favor of the bond and 1,416 against it, according to unofficial results from the Shelburne Town Clerk.

The project, which took years to build, will cost more than $45 million (10 percent of the cost includes the possibility of construction adjusted for inflation, and more than 30 percent will be funded in the form of grants, according to Shelburne News).

Shelburne currently operates two treatment plants, one on Turtle Lane and the other on Crown Road. The town explored for several years whether to renovate both facilities or combine the two into a single facility.

Construction of the facility is expected to be completed in 2028 and debt repayment is expected to begin in 2029. The new facility will feature technology that makes the removal of chemicals such as phosphorus more efficient.

Panton solar array

Panton residents have voted against a controversial solar array that, if built, would be the largest solar array ever built in the state.

Voters in the western Vermont town voted 110 yes to 307 no votes. The ballot measure was advisory, but the selectboard said it plans to follow voters’ lead in deciding whether to recommend that the state’s Public Service Commission approve the proposal.

offer It would give Freepoint Commodities permission to install a 50-megawatt solar array on about 300 acres of land in town.

However, the project faced local opposition. About 300 people signed a petition opposing the project in spring this year, and the chairman of the town’s development review board said the scale of the project was too large for the area.

“I think it would be a big mistake, mostly because it doesn’t help Vermont,” said Sharon Ashcraft, 70, a retired photographer and Panton resident. He said Freepoint is unlikely to sell the energy to a utility in Vermont.

“This doesn’t seem like the right thing to do to me,” he added. “A lot of us don’t think this is the right thing for our district. This is huge.”

Freepoint Commodities, a global trading company headquartered in Connecticut, has proposed similar-scale projects in Fair Haven and Shaftsbury with its development partner, Pennsylvania-based renewable energy company SunEast Development LLC.

Lawmakers in Vermont are fighting to meet the state’s climate goals and reduce the state’s contribution to climate change, and in the 2024 session they passed H.289, a bill that would require Vermont utilities to invest more in large, local projects like Freepoint. and SunEast proposes.

Springfield firearms ban

In Springfield, residents voted 1,125 to 1,024 on Tuesday to repeal the new law municipal ordinance This bans gun shooting and, as a result, most hunting in the town’s historic forested Hartness Park.

The local board of elections approved the firearms ban in August to encourage walking and biking along the recreation area’s three-mile trails. But that has led a group of residents to petition Tuesday’s ballot question in hopes that people can continue hunting in the 90-year-old park, which is densely forested.

Colchester school bond

Colchester residents narrowly approve $115 million bond offer to renovate the town’s school district’s five school buildings.

The bond, which school officials said was critical to the school district’s future, passed with fewer than 100 votes; The vote was 4,503 in favor of the bond and 4,408 against it.

“We are extremely grateful, and with this support we can now invest in safer, more efficient school buildings that will truly serve our students and community into the future,” said Meghan Baule, the district’s communications director. “This journey to create spaces where children can grow, learn and thrive has just begun, and we are excited to share every step with you.”

The proposal was the first time the district has asked voters to support facility improvements of this magnitude. Many of the buildings in the area are in poor condition and their HVAC and electrical systems need serious upgrades.

“Our maintenance team has done a good job of trying to extend the life of all these major mechanical systems,” Colchester Superintendent Amy Minor said in a previous interview. “But at some point you have to invest in completely upgrading windows, roofs and insulation – that’s where our facilities are.”

Residents won’t feel the impact on their tax bills until 2027. This payment will increase over four years and peak in 2031; Residents with a home assessed at $350,000 will pay $733 in school taxes for the year, or $61 more per month. – before decreasing.

Minor had previously stated that construction would start in 2026 and renovations would be completed in 2030.

Renovations will begin at Porters Point School and Union Memorial School, both built in the 1950s, and, once completed, at Colchester Secondary School, which has yet to be significantly renovated since the building was constructed in the 1960s.

The final phase of construction will see renovations at Malletts Bay School and Colchester High School.

Kevin O’Connor, Emma Cotton and Klara Bauters contributed reporting.