DERBY LINE — Derby voters went to the polls Tuesday and stuck with the incumbents in all contested elections.
Brian Smith, chairman of the Derby Town Selectmen, defeated challenger Lynn Batchelor 498-297. Karen Jenne prevailed over David Labelle by a similar margin, 475-315.
Moderator Richard Nelson retained his gavel, beating Frank Davis 443-348, and First Constable Dennis Sheltra outpaced rival Chris Weyant 529-226 in their second matchup.
Derby voters were in a generous mood when it came to schools, approving a school district budget of $4,842,053 by a margin of 488 to 309. The also cast their ballots in favor of the North Country junior and senior high school budgets as well as that of the career center.
About 100 voters turned up for the floor meeting Monday night at the Derby Elementary School in Derby Line. They stayed for an hour and a half and approved without discussion major expenditures such as $268,000 for a new pumper truck for the Derby Line Fire Department and a $2,268,000 town budget.
Discussion was reserved for lesser expenditures, such as a $15,000 appropriation to pay boat monitors at Lake Salem, and for a non-binding resolution asking the federal government to accept the bequest of 400 acres of land on the banks of Lake Memphremagog.
Derby resident Paul Prue stood and asked who makes $15,000 a year inspecting boats. Andy Major, the head of the Lake Salem association, explained that four high school and college students are hired to welcome boaters to the lake, check their craft for Eurasian milfoil, an invasive weed, and provide tourist information.
The monitors are paid around $8 an hour, Mr. Major said. Some of them have worked several years and have seen their pay rise from the state minimum $7.45 to $8, he said.
Mr. Prue asked if retired people would be considered for the positions and was told by Mr. Major he should feel welcome to submit his resumé. In general, though, he said the students who are hired have an interest in biology that will be furthered by the inspection work.
The meeting unanimously approved the expenditure.
A motion to suspend the rules of the meeting was offered by Frank Davis so that voters could consider a non-binding resolution that urged the federal Interior Department to accept the late Michael Dunn’s offer of his land on Lake Memphremagog for public use.
Mr. Dunn died in 2007. In his will he surprised New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) by leaving it $10-million.
He also owned 880 acres on the lake, 480 on the Canadian side of the border, the remainder in Vermont. The Canadian government has accepted its portion of the land, but the U.S. government must act by September 1 or the property will be sold and the money realized donated to MOMA.
Mr. Smith said he and his fellow selectmen voted to ask the federal government to accept the land. He said Vermont’s congressional delegation has been pressing the Interior Department to accept the property.
If they do the land will be administered by the state Agency of Natural Resources. State Representative Bob Lewis said state lawyers are studying the language of the bequest to make sure hunting will be a permitted use on the property before deciding whether or not to take over management of the land.
Mr. Nelson, who steered the meeting with humor and grace, told voters that a pond behind Mr. Dunn’s house was always regarded as a sanctuary for animals during his life. Mr. Nelson said he expected that restriction would be respected if the property is administered by the state.
The question was called and, with a single nay, the meeting voted to ask Washington to accept Mr. Dunn’s bequest.
