Norwich Selectboard and School Board candidates

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Two Selectboard seats and three School Board seats are up for election in 2020. Only one seat on the Selectboard is contested. Who’s running? The official list provided by Town Clerk Bonnie Munday: Selectboard Three year seat:  Robert Gere and Douglas Wilberding.  Two year seat: Claudette Brochu. There is a contest in the race for the Selectboard seat with a three-year term. Ms. Brochu, an incumbent, is unopposed.. School Board Dresden Norwich School Director – three year seat: Tom Candon. Continue reading Norwich Selectboard and School Board candidates→

Selectboard opts to not extend Town Manager’s contract

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Herb Durfee’s tenure as Norwich Town Manager may be drawing to a close. By a 2-3 vote at Friday’s special Selectboard meeting, a motion to discuss extending his contract failed. The Town Manager’s contract expires at the end of April. However, under that agreement, the deadline for the Town to offer Mr. Durfee a new contract is January 30. The Selectboard met several times in executive session since December 11 to discuss the topic. The draft meeting minutes released Sunday Continue reading Selectboard opts to not extend Town Manager’s contract→

TIL: Norwich, VT is carbon neutral, and then some

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Today I learned that our small town is carbon neutral. We could increase our population by a third and remain so. Here’s the quote from page 9 of the draft Town Plan approved by the Planning Commission: The mature trees on these forest lands perform critical ecosystem services including absorbing and sequestering carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas. Data gathered by the US Energy Information Administration tracks annual carbon dioxide emission by state, which shows that each Vermonter produces approximately Continue reading TIL: Norwich, VT is carbon neutral, and then some→

Are solar siting standards in the draft Town Plan too lax?

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Imagine Norwich clear cut of all trees and replaced by acres and acres of solar panel farms. Far fetched – yes. But, such a scenario is supported by the Renewable Energy Project Siting Standards at pages 28 and 29 in the Planning Commission’s draft of the Town Plan. I submitted a written public comment to the Planning Commission on this topic, which is at the end of this blog post. Here is my thinking in 6 sentences. Under the draft Continue reading Are solar siting standards in the draft Town Plan too lax?→

Norwich School Board Elections: Only one of three incumbents plans to run

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Three of the five Norwich School Board seats are up for election this year. Only one incumbent is seeking reelection. School Board Chair Tom Candon is running for reelection. However, at the Board meeting on January 8, as seen on CATV, both Jim Mackall and Lauren Morando Rhim indicated they would not be running. Mr. Mackall is the Norwich Vice Chair, while Ms. Rhim is the Secretary. At the meeting, Mr. Mackall said he is “strongly encouraging members of the Continue reading Norwich School Board Elections: Only one of three incumbents plans to run→

Town Facilities Working Group Recommends $2 Million No-Bid Contract To Reduce Fossil Fuel Use By 15%

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At its first meeting of the year on January 8, the Norwich Selectboard will consider the recommendation of the Town Facilities Working Group that voters be asked to approve a bond of up to $2,054,569.38, in order to reduce by 15% the town government’s use of fossil fuels. The work, improvements to Tracy Hall, Public Safety Building and DPW Garage, would not be put out for competitive bid. The Town Facilities Working Group has been meeting without the public notice Continue reading Town Facilities Working Group Recommends $2 Million No-Bid Contract To Reduce Fossil Fuel Use By 15%→

Welcome to the new home of the Norwich Observer

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This is a continuation of my blog from the website HereCast, which went on hiatus on December 31. A few of my older posts are here. I may post others. I’ll be posting soon about what seems to me to be a $2 million no-bid contract proposal. Other topics: Town and school budgets are being finalized. Two Selectboard seats and three School Board seats are up for election. My pet peeve will be the missing Town Manager reports. Monthly reports Continue reading Welcome to the new home of the Norwich Observer→

HereCast Shuts Down

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HereCast, the website dedicated to content ‘by locals for locals’, went dark on December 31. This is big loss for residents of and visitors to the Upper Valley specifically and for hyperlocal coverage in rural communities in general. Previously known as the dailyUV, the site was very popular here, “reaching more than half of Upper Valley residents month-in, month-out,” said the HereCast website. “HereCast showed that — given the opportunity — people from all walks of life will step up Continue reading HereCast Shuts Down→

Norwich ‘Working Group’ Fails In Transparency

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A Working Group of public officials, formed in November by the Norwich Selectboard, is apparently not giving public notice of its meetings or posting meeting minutes. This failure seemingly violates Vermont’s Open Meeting Law. The group, known as the the Town Facilities Working Group, is to make recommendations to the Selectboard later this month regarding $4 million in improvements to Town buildings to reduce their carbon footprint. The ambitious goal is to have an Article on the ballot at Town Continue reading Norwich ‘Working Group’ Fails In Transparency→