NEWS
By a margin of precisely three-to-one, Waterbury voters on Town Meeting Day gave their approval to authorizing future bonding of up to $4.3 million if necessary for a major flood mitigation project in the downtown cornfield that’s recently become known as Randall Meadow.
Roundabout contributor Sarah Andrews spent part of Tuesday’s town meeting stretch talking with voters after they cast their ballots and picked up their “I voted” stickers. Here are highlights from her conversations.
Approximately 180 voters gathered for the annual in-person town meeting at Brookside Primary School on Tuesday. Voters adopted a town budget in which they voted to give raises to elected town officials, purchase a firetruck, and make an adjustment to erase a property tax increase.
In an election with turnout comparable to a presidential primary, Waterbury voters on Tuesday elected three new members to the Waterbury Select Board.
Buoyed by strong voter turnout in Waterbury, voters in the Harwood Unified Union School District on Tuesday accepted the proposed $51.9 million budget for the 2026-27 school year by a wide margin.
Casting their ballots in the drive-through loop at the town office and highway garage on Tuesday, Duxbury voters registered strong approval for the proposed $1.18 million town budget and all other financial questions, including $183,000 to purchase a new tandem truck.
Waterbury Town Meeting voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a $4.3 million bond to support a flood mitigation project proposed for the Randall Meadow property along the Winooski River. Preliminary election results show Martha Staskus and Sandy Sabin won select board seats. Write-in votes are still being reviewed.
At its most recent meeting, the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board approved a budget of $1,036,000 for building maintenance projects in 2026-27 that school officials deemed most critical for safety, code compliance and overdue replacement of equipment. Meanwhile the list of deferred projects exceeds $100 million as voters are asked to allocate $500,000 on March 3.
Duxbury voters will go to the polls to vote on all town business and elections by ballot using their now-familiar drive-through format. The ballot has a lower budget than last year, a truck purchase, no contested elections, and a few candidate openings.
Voters across 18 communities in Central Vermont this Town Meeting Day will be casting ballots on the Central Vermont Career Center’s $5.47 million proposed budget for the 2026-27 school year.
Hearing and reading support from friends and community members to return as town clerk and treasurer, Karen Petrovic says she’s not a candidate.
In the race for an open three-year seat on the Waterbury Select Board, Chris Viens is on the ballot and Don Schneider is a write-in challenger. Both shared their views on running for office this Town Meeting Day.
Each year, the Waterbury Select Board’s two one-year positions are on the Town Meeting Day ballot. With neither incumbent running this year, three candidates have emerged: Evan Karl Hoffman, Sandy Sabin and Martha Stauskas.
Waterbury Roundabout caught up with the five candidates for Waterbury Select Board. We asked them to tell voters a little about themselves and share their thoughts on some of the top issues they are likely to encounter if elected. Here are their answers.
Nine positions on the 14-member Harwood Unified Union School District School Board will be on upcoming election ballots across the six-town district. UPDATE Feb. 28: Waterbury, Warren and Fayston now have write-in candidates.
On Feb. 19, the Harwood school board will host the second of two online forums to review the $51.9 million proposed 2026-27 budget that voters will consider on Town Meeting Day. The first forum was held on Feb. 4 - click to read an edited summary of the questions and answers from that event.
In what is likely its last regular meeting in its current membership, the Waterbury Select Board meets tonight at a slightly earlier time to accommodate a public hearing on the upcoming Randall Meadow bond vote and a lengthy to-do list on its agenda.
Voters in the Harwood Unified Union School District are being asked to consider a $51.9 million budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year along with a $500,000 addition to the district’s maintenance reserve fund. A Feb. 4 budget information session was recorded; another is set for Feb. 19.
Continuing efforts to increase participation in Moretown Town Meeting and town meeting decisions, Moretown officials have scheduled a Pre-Town Meeting for Tuesday, Feb. 17.
With Vermont’s Town Meeting Day now three weeks away, voters around the state can start voting early and find copies of their town’s annual reports to read up on local issues.
The Waterbury Select Board has finalized the list of town business for voters to enact on Town Meeting Day that includes a $6.6 million 2026 budget, a bond vote to move a major flood mitigation project forward, nearly $1 million in allocations of local option tax revenues, and a new fire truck purchase.
Waterbury Select Board Vice Chair Kane Sweeney has announced he will step down from the board, creating a fourth opening for a new member after three seats are filled in the March 3 election.
Waterbury’s March election is shaping up to be as much a story about who is not running as it is about those who are on the ballot.
With a particularly long roster of open local offices to fill in the March election, Duxbury has attracted candidates for most of the openings on the Town Meeting Day ballot.
Meeting Warnings
The Town of Waterbury will hold voting on the listed articles by Australian ballot in the Brookside Primary gym at 47 Stowe St. on March 3, 2026 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Click to read the full meeting warning and view a sample ballot.
The town of Duxbury will hold voting on the listed articles by Australian ballot at the town offices on March 3, 2026 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Click to read the full meeting warning and view a sample ballot.
The legal voters of the Central Vermont Career Center School District are hereby notified and warned to meet at the Central Vermont Career Center School District, Barre, Vermont in said district on February 23, 2026 at 6:00 P.M., to transact and vote on the annual business.
The Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) will hold its annual meeting on Monday, March 2 and vote on articles by Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 3. Click to read the full meeting warning and view a sample ballot.
From the Candidates
Dear Waterbury voters - wow! I am truly humbled by your support and the trust you've placed in me.
To the Community: I want to thank all my supporters, your vote meant a lot to me.
I am seeking to represent Fayston on the HUUSD School Board for the next year as a write-in candidate in the election this coming Tuesday. My interest in joining the board stems from three places:
I'm Macon Phillips, and I'm running as a write-in candidate for the Warren seat on the Harwood Unified Union School District Board.
My name is Robert Perry, and I am a write-in candidate for Warren representative to the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board.
My name is Theo Hanna, and I am running as a write-in candidate for Waterbury's 1-year unexpired term seat on the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board.
I am announcing my candidacy for a second term as Washington County Sheriff, reaffirming my commitment to public safety, responsible leadership, and dedicated service to the citizens of Washington County.
I’ve been attending Select Board meetings for two years now, and I’ve become so much more connected to the community I grew up in. Now, it’s time for me to take the next step and start giving back.
I am running for Select Board because I believe serving our town is a responsibility. Waterbury is at an important moment, and steady, experienced leadership matters.
My name is Michael Frank, and I am writing to announce my write-in candidacy to represent Waterbury on the Harwood School Board.
I’m running for a one-year seat on the Waterbury Select Board because the challenges we face aren’t abstract or political – they’re practical, everyday concerns.
I am Martha Staskus and I am running for a one-year Waterbury Select Board seat. I will bring stability, experience, and a long tenure in service to our local government.
Given the current challenges that are facing our town, I have decided to run as a write-in candidate for the 3-year Waterbury Select Board term, which will be voted on at Town Meeting.
OPINION
Send us your letters! Have thoughts to share about a candidate or an issue on the Town Meeting Day ballot? Send us your letters and commentaries (signed with your real name) by Friday, Feb. 27, to waterburyroundabout@gmail.com.
There was a lively discussion in the Roundabout’s Facebook comments this weekend that prompted me to chime in with election process details that I previously thought were redundant, but appeared worth repeating nonetheless.
To the Community: as the leadership of the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to the members of our communities for supporting the 2026 school budget.
State Reps. Tom Stevens and Theresa Wood will be visiting town meetings on Tuesday in the communities they represent. Printed copies of their annual joint report will be available at town meeting. Here is the text of that report.
I am writing to enthusiastically support Martha Staskus for a 1-year seat on the Waterbury Select Board. Our town needs the seasoned leadership and clear communication skills that Martha offers.
The debate over the Randall Meadow bond vote has generated a lot of discussion in recent weeks, and it’s easy to understand why. Flooding has cost this community enormously — in dollars, in stress, in lost time — and people want to know that we are making wise investments.
Nearly everyone agrees that “affordability” is one of the most serious problems facing Vermonters. The price of housing, homelessness, healthcare, drug addiction, childcare and education all continue to spiral further out of control.
Thank you to everyone who has reached out to ask about my intentions regarding the position of Waterbury Town Clerk. I sincerely appreciate your calls, messages, and continued support.
The Randall Meadow project to remove 100,000 cubic yards of soil will increase flood water storage by 20 million gallons on the floodplain, thus decreasing flooding of properties.
After attending the Waterbury Select Board’s Feb. 17 public hearing on the proposed $4.3 million Randall Meadow bond vote, I would like to share my assessment of the merits of the project as presented to date.
As members of the Harwood Unified Union School Board, we are writing to share an urgent concern regarding current legislative discussions about statewide spending caps and structural changes to Vermont’s education system.
We are extremely lucky to have a group of candidates running for Select Board who truly care about our community. Their integrity is inspiring. However, because our town is navigating so many complex changes right now, I feel we need leaders who have already been walking this path with us.
Looking forward to Waterbury's Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 3, at 9 a.m. at the Brookside Primary School gym, the warning and town annual reports can be found at several locations around town, and on the Town of Waterbury website.
Members of the Harwood School Board and state Rep. Dara Torre answered critical questions Thursday night and on Feb. 4 about this year's proposed school budget, the complex education funding formula, district consolidation discussions, and more.
Vermont has an extremely complicated education funding system. My goal here is to examine another small aspect of the system in a bit more detail. The phrase “cost per pupil” is used regularly, and my opinion is that it may or may not mean what the public thinks it means.
I am excited to WRITE IN Don Schneider for the 3-year seat on the Waterbury Select Board!
Everyone is invited to attend the Harwood Unified Union School District’s second Zoom Budget Forum on Thursday, Feb. 19, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Our town is navigating an important period of leadership transition. Moments like this call for leaders who are steady, experienced, and deeply rooted in the community, people who understand Waterbury’s history, values, and future possibilities. That is why I am proud to support Don Schneider as a write-in candidate for the three-year term on the Waterbury Select Board.
Having spent some time trying to understand the Frankenstein school budget and funding system that Vermont’s Legislature has crafted (which makes following the facts nearly impossible), I will attempt to reason through some issues.
Unless you want to open your property tax bill for the coming year and find yourself shocked and dismayed, please read this.
On Town Meeting Day, there will be an Australian ballot article pertaining to a $4.3 million bond vote for the Randall Meadow project. Because this project has several moving parts, we wanted to provide a clear explanation of the project and the need for the bond vote.
Our school board posted on Front Porch Forum that the proposed increase in the "per pupil" expense this year will be 4.8%. Actually, school board financial documents show that the overall school budget increase will be 5.4%. Why didn't the board just tell us that?
The discussion begins on the proposed school budget, described in the budget warning (and a recent FPF post) as a per-pupil expenditure increase of 4.8%. I'll have more to say on the per-pupil cost in the future, but for now, let's just clarify that the actual school budget requested is a 5.44% increase.
ORCA Media recorded Waterbury’s 4.5-hour town meeting on March 3. If you missed it, find the video here.