ST. JOHNSBURY- The results are in from Town Meeting Day in Saint Johnsbury. In what was described by the Town Clerk as a “disgustingly” low voter turnout there were only 982 voters who made it to the polls out of the over 4,000 registered voters in the town, Voters who did manage to make it out to the polls put democracy into action by passing all of the items on the warning.
The 8.675 million dollar bond deal for the infrastructure upgrades to the Pleasant Street and Gilman Avenue area, which would allow for the town to continue making improvements to the water, sewerage, and drainage piping. In addition, the out flow in to the Moose River will be upgraded so that water will not flow back in to the drainage area and flood the streets. Deborah Turner is a resident of Saint Johnsbury who was out at the polls yesterday morning, when asked about her thoughts on the Pleasant Street and Gilman Avenue bond deal, she exclaimed that “It needs to be done! You can’t just put off and say well maybe next year or the next year. It probably, if I remember right, it’s falling apart water is going everywhere and that’s not really good for the cemetery there or the homes.”
Residents also barely passed the 22 million dollar budget for the Saint Johnsbury School District, sliding by with a narrow margin of 12 votes. The budget which was up 16% from the previous year called on residents to make up funding for grants that are expiring, many of which go to funding after school programs and tobacco safety education programs. Turner states that “if you look at the prices; transportation, printing, and things like that, they’ve all gone up. And so that 11% is a reasonable amount and I voted for it”. According to results from the voting machine, there were 30 ballots submitted that did not have school budget votes filled out on them.