St. Johnsbury Municipal Info
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Mike Welch, Town manager |
Jerry Rowe, Member |
Joe Fox, Director |
Town Government
St. Johnsbury Town Government
St. Johnsbury is governed by an elected Select Board, which works closely with the Town Manager, the town's day-to-day administrator. The town has a full-time police and fire department and a very active road crew, who make sure the town streets are always clear, even after a heavy snowfall. The town is serviced by a municipal water and sewer system.
St. Johnsbury has a very active Recreation Department that organizes activities for all age groups. Headquartered at the St. Johnsbury Community Center on Main Street, the Recreation Department organizes youth sports leagues and summer camps, administers the public swimming pool and tennis courts, and sponsors trips, hikes, and family fun days. More information is available at www.myrecdept.com/vt/saintjohnsbury.
To help new and existing businesses, St. Johnsbury has a full-time economic development director and also a full-time zoning administrator, as well as an organization of downtown merchants and a "Main Street" revitalization program.
Town demographics and detailed information on municipal services can be found at the office town site: www.town.st-johnsbury.vt.us
Participate in the Town Planning Process!
Every five years, Vermont towns are expected to produce a Town Plan to guide the activities of the town for the upcoming five years. It’s that time again!
Susan Cherry, a member of St. Johnsbury’s Planning Commission, has been appointed Chair of the Town Plan for 2011. She has established nine committees with chairpersons of each who will guide the process. The first informational session for the public will be held Thursday, February 18, 2010 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm at the St. Johnsbury School on Western Avenue. Residents of St. Johnsbury are encouraged to attend this meeting and sign up to participate in the committees in which they are interested.
“We are calling the process ‘Energizing our Potential,’” says 
Cherry. “We will look at the last Town Plan from 2006 and evaluate what has and has not been completed. We’ll look at ideas that are workable and see how we have changed direction since that time. It’s all part of the planning process that is revisited every five years.”
Cherry is eager to solicit input from as many town residents as possible. “The Town Plan is a grass roots effort, and our goal is to get as many people’s opinions as possible during the process,” she says. “We hope that the final product will reflect what is most important to the people who live here in St. Johnsbury.”
Cherry notes that many innovative ideas have been generated through the Town Planning process over the years, and that many of them have come to fruition. “Rural Community Transportation was developed through the Town Plan years ago,” she points out. “The improvements to our town’s communications systems, as well as the current ongoing water and sewer improvements, were all started in the Town Plan efforts of the recent past.”
The goal of the 2011 plan will be not only to provide a picture of what residents hope the town will look like in the future, but also a plan of action toward achieving those goals. Says Cherry, “I hope that each committee will deliver priorities and budget figures that the town Planning Commission can use as a guide for implementation of the overall Town Plan.” She adds that the committee chairs are very knowledgeable people who bring great expertise to the areas of the Plan that they cover.
The Town Plan includes these nine committees: Cultural and Historic Preservation (chaired by Peggy Pearl and Peggy Henry), Economic Development (chaired by Bernier Mayo and John Goodrich), Education/Adult Education (chaired by Nancy Goodrich and Howard Crawford), Energy (chaired by Jim Wuertele and Chris Brimmer), Health and Human Services (chaired by Paul Bengtson and Dinah Yessne), Housing and Neighborhoods (chaired by Tim Angell and Kevin Oddy), Land Use and Environmental Conservation (chaired by Chad Whitehead and Shane Clark), Public Service/Utilities and Transportation (chaired by Bryon Quatrini and Will Rivers), and Recreation (chaired by Alan Ruggles and Joe Fox).
Following the initial meeting February 18, committees will continue to meet weekly each Thursday evening at 7:00 pm through May. The final plan from each committee will be ready to be published by October.
A survey will be taken at Town Meeting in early March to solicit more information from local residents. “This is an exciting process that is most meaningful to the town when many residents get involved,” says Cherry.
For more information, please call St. Johnsbury Zoning Administrator Priscilla Messier at 748-2397.