Cavendish residents to vote on $2.45 million operational budget Select Board ponders appointing Town Clerk, Treasurer

By Lorien Strange
©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Echoes of last year’s changes to Town Meeting ran through the Monday, Jan. 13 Cavendish Select Board meeting as the board approved the FY 26 budget, moved the date of the Town Informational Meeting, and discussed the future of the Town Clerk and Town Treasurer positions.

Like many towns, Cavendish switched to voting on Town Meeting articles by Australian ballot after the Covid-19 pandemic, but it wasn’t until last year that voters made this change permanent. Since then, the Select Board has been considering how to bring back the sense of gathering the whole community several members feel has been lost over the years.

Reviving an idea from meetings from last year, the board officially moved the date of the Town Informational Meeting to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 1. The hope is that the weekend date and afternoon time will allow more people to come, and Select Board member Mike Ripley suggested they recruit Green Mountain High students who have completed babysitting and CPR training to provide free childcare.

Town Manager Richard Chambers also encouraged anyone interested in arranging snacks at the event to give him a call at 802-226-7291.

As the Town Clerk and Treasurer, Diane McNamara performs many duties outside what is typically assigned to either role. In addition to optional additional services such as processing certain DMV registrations, she’s also responsible for managing and updating the Grand List.

With McNamara planning to retire later this year, the town is puzzling over how to fill the vacancies she’ll leave in the Town Office — and lighten the workload of both positions.

Chambers, McNamara and the Select Board have been discussing asking voters this March to  make the Town Clerk and Treasurer appointed rather than elected officials. Several area towns, including Chester, Londonderry  and Putney, have all made the change, after the passage of Act 27 of 2017, which allows towns to appoint—but not elect—Town Clerks and Treasurers who don’t live in the town they’re serving.

This would broaden the pool of potential applicants and their qualifications, but Chambers says he now fears the move may be a bit too soon for Cavendish.

“It’s difficult,” he said, taking a pause to collect his thoughts. “With Town Meeting going informational, it might be a lot for people to have Town Clerk and Town Treasurer become appointed the very next year. The Town Clerk is the face of the Town Office, and I don’t think people will want to lose the connection of that being an elected position. I don’t want to lose that connection.”

Chambers stressed that in the end, the goal of any appointments or changes to the offices would be to lighten the immense pressure on the positions.

The $2,447,632.29 FY26 operational budget that the Select Board approved during the meeting includes funds for a financial manager and hiring a part-time lister. That budget will be voted on by town voters on by Australian ballot on Town Meeting Day, Tuesday, March 4.

• The Town Solar Array, while operational, hasn’t been communicating to its associated online software since August of 2020, which means in part that renewable energy credits have not be collected. Chambers got a quote for repairs from a company in Rutland for $4,000 to $5,000, not including fees for the software and for the Renewable Energy Credits broker.
• The relatively new Cavendish Cannabis Control Commission — consisting of the Select Board — had been notified of an  application for an Outdoor Cultivation Tier 1 site on Tarbell Hill Road. The operation can be no more than 1,000 square feet of total plant canopy, or about 125 plants. The Select Board approved the  local control license for the site.
• Newly sworn in Rep. VL Coffin, a Republican representing Windsor-2, said that he is now on the House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs and that he is co-sponsoring a bill (H.16) to repeal the Affordable Heat Act (Act 18 of 2023), which has been sent to the Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure. He encouraged voters to write to their representatives in support of the bill to repeal the act.

Chambers also noted that the last day to petition for an article on the March ballot is Thursday, Jan. 16, and the last day to submit a petition to run for a local election position is Monday afternoon, Jan. 27.