Good evening,

Please join Windham County Senator Wendy Harrison and I for public office hours TOMORROW Saturday, March 2nd at the Dover Free Library from 11 am – noon. I’ll bring a more extensive Town Meeting Report to Town Meetings.

Tuesday: Presidential Primary voting and Town Meeting 2024

In addition to Vermont’s Presidential Primary vote, Town Meeting is this Tuesday, March 5th. Please check in with your Town Clerk if you have questions about voting or participating. I will be traveling to as many Town Meetings as I can get to – hopefully all – with my intern Miriam from UVM. I’m hoping to start in Wardsboro at 9 am, travel to Jamaica, then Stratton and hopefully arrive in Dover before lunch. Typically I put out a brief electronic and printed update about bills on the move in the legislature and I’ll be happy to answer questions as long as your moderator allows and with an eye towards making all four Town Meetings.

• Wardsboro Town Meeting at the Wardsboro Town Hall at 9 am Warning
• Dover Town Meeting at the Dover Town Hall at 10 am – Warning
• Jamaica Town Meeting at the Town Hall at 10 am – Warning
• Stratton Town Meeting at the Stratton Town Hall 10 am – Warning

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Excerpts From the Town Meeting Report:

H289 – An act relating to the Renewable Energy Standard:

H.289 proposes to speed up the transition of Vermont’s utilities to 100% renewable energy by amending the current Renewable Energy Standard to increase the amount of instate renewable energy. The proposal provides the different types of utilities with individual pathways to meet . Net metering, the utility billing structure in which energy supplied to the grid by the consumers own energy generation (i.e. solar panels) would be counted as an energy credit on their utility bill with the goal of offsetting their own energy consumption would count towards a company’s distributed renewable generation. Group net metering isn’t changed except that it would only be possible for those with certificates of public good to qualify if the generation plant is all within one parcel or is on the neighboring parcel to where it’s being utilized. Representative Sibilia is a co-sponsor and reporter of this bill.

H.687 – An act relating to community resilience and biodiversity protection through land use

H.687 proposes to update the structure and implementation of Act 250 to meet Vermont’s conservation and development goals. Act 250 jurisdiction would be updated to align with a 3 tier system in which greater development and less oversight occurs in Tier 1A and 1B, where greater development already exists. Tier 2 would cover much of the rural and working lands of Vermont and Act 250 would be triggered in cases with development above certain levels, with greater amounts of road construction (2,000 feet total or 800 feet for a single driveway) to prevent forest fragmentation and sprawl. The bill creates definitions and development guidelines for forest blocks, connecting habitats, forest fragmentation, and more, under the tier 3 designation. It would also reform the appeals process and appeals board to expedite and clarify the process.

Representative Sibilia is vice-chair of the committee in which the bill is being discussed and has raised many questions around how to balance preserving Vermont’s land and resources with the needs of residents. The Legislative Rural Caucus has also weighed in on the bill with suggestions.

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Monitor the bills I am sponsoring and recorded roll call votes.

As always, if you have suggestions, concerns or critiques please be in touch so we can schedule time to discuss. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need assistance navigating government services at (802) 384-0233 or lsibilia@leg.state.vt.us. Follow my regular posts online at http://www.laurasibiliavt.com

Rep. Laura Sibilia – Dover, Jamaica, Somerset, Stratton, Wardsboro