Burlington residents approve police oversight item, while Vermont residents cast votes on city ballot items

Updated November 6 at 7:10 am

Amid a presidential election and multiple statewide races, Vermonters also had to cast their votes on several ballot items Tuesday.

Items include several multimillion-dollar projects — including what is being called the largest infrastructure project in Shelburne's history — as well as a proposal to build the state's largest-ever solar array in western Vermont.

Major policy decisions were also on residents' ballots, including an item to give the Burlington Police Commission more civilian oversight powers and a citizen-led petition in Springfield to repeal an ordinance banning the shooting of guns in a municipal recreation area.

This story will be updated as results from individual cities become available.

Burlington Police Oversight

In Burlington, voters Tuesday night approved a proposal to amend the city's charter to give the city's Police Commission more disciplinary and oversight powers and separate it from its police chief, Jon Murad.

According to unofficial results from Burlington City Hall, residents voted for the measure 62.5 percent to 37.5 percent, or 11,398 votes to 6,847.

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak thanked voters and her colleagues on the City Council “for their work to find a compromise that moves us in the right direction” in a statement.

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

The Burlington City Council voted unanimously to place the charter change on the ballot in July. This was the first time since the issue first arose in 2019 that progressives and Democrats on the City Council at least agreed to put a measure before voters.

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

The Burlington Police Officers Association said in a statement posted on social media that the ballot item “was presented to voters in a manner that did not allow for adequate analysis to make a truly informed assessment.”

“While we value the opinions of all Burlington residents, we as a union, representing our members and with what we believe to be our community’s best intentions in mind, will continue to express our opposition to this charter change, next at the state level,” the union said.

Vermont lawmakers still need to approve the charter change. But if approved by the state Legislature, the city's Police Commission can convene an independent panel to review officer misconduct and decide on disciplinary action – taking sole authority away from the police chief.

“This is critical because right now only the police chief can decide this,” Mulvaney-Stanak said Tuesday afternoon outside the Robert Miller Community and Recreation Center in the city’s North End. “I think it's really important that no one person is the ultimate arbiter on a matter as important as police discipline. And this will rarely be used, but I think it is an important control mechanism that will further increase trust and transparency within the police force.”

The measure was the latest in a years-long effort by Burlington officials to enshrine more civilian oversight in the city's charter.

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

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

Shelburne Wastewater Treatment Plant

Shelburne residents voted Tuesday to approve a $38 million bond issue to finance a new consolidated wastewater treatment plant, considered the largest infrastructure project in the city's history.

According to unofficial results from the Shelburne Town Clerk, 3,694 residents voted for the bond and 1,416 voted against it.

After years of planning, the project is expected to cost more than $45 million (the cost includes 10 percent inflation for construction and more than 30 percent funding from grants, according to a report in the Shelburne News). ).

Shelburne currently operates two wastewater treatment plants – one on Turtle Lane and one on Crown Road. The city spent several years studying whether both facilities should be renovated or combined into one facility.

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

Panton solar system

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

Voters in the western Vermont town cast 110 yes votes and 307 no votes. The ballot measure was advisory, but the Board of Elections said it wanted to follow voters' lead when deciding whether to recommend the state's Public Utilities Commission approve the proposal.

The proposal would have given Freepoint Commodities permission to build a 50-megawatt solar plant on about 300 acres of land in the city.

But the project encountered local resistance. Around 300 people signed paper petitions opposing the project earlier this year, and the chairman of the city's development review board said the scope of the project was too large for the area.

“I think it would be a big mistake, especially because it doesn't benefit Vermont,” said Sharon Ashcraft, 70, a retired photographer and Panton resident. Freepoint likely wouldn't sell the energy to a Vermont utility, she said.

“It just doesn’t seem like the right thing to do,” she added. “Many of us feel like it’s just not right for our region. It’s just too big.”

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

Vermont lawmakers have struggled to meet the state's climate goals and reduce the state's contribution to climate change, and the 2024 session passed H.289, a law that would require Vermont's utilities to invest more in large , to invest in local projects like the Freepoint and SunEast suggest.

Gun ban in Springfield

In Springfield, residents voted 1,125 to 1,024 on Tuesday to repeal a new municipal ordinance that bans gun shooting – including most hunting – in the city's historic, wooded Hartness Park.

The local board approved the firearms ban in August to encourage hiking and biking along the recreation area's three miles of trails. But that prompted a group of residents to submit a petition on Tuesday's ballot question, hoping people could continue to hunt in the densely wooded 90-year-old park.

Colchester School Bond

Colchester residents narrowly approved a $115 million bond proposal to renovate the city school district's five school buildings.

The bond, which school officials say is critical to the school district's future, passed with fewer than 100 votes – with 4,503 voting in favor of the bond and 4,408 voting against the bond.

“We are deeply grateful and with this support we can now invest in safer, more efficient school buildings that will truly serve our students and community well 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 marked the first time the district asked voters to support facility upgrades of this magnitude. Most of the district's buildings are in poor condition and desperately need upgrades to their HVAC and electrical systems.

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

Residents will not feel the impact on their tax bill until 2027. That payment will increase over four years and peak in 2031 — when residents with a home with a taxable value of $350,000 will pay $733 more in school taxes for the year, or $61 more per month — before losing weight.

Minor previously said construction would begin sometime in 2026 and renovations were expected to be completed in 2030.

Renovations will begin at Porters Point School and Union Memorial School — both built in the 1950s — and, once complete, at Colchester Middle School, which still needs significant renovations since the building was constructed in the 1960s .

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

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