The Weekly Record – Dec. 8, 2025
A word from our Board of Directors
On the front page of The Record’s website this week are stories about the CVU girls cross country team (winners again), the recent power outage in town (a car crashed into a utility pole), a special report on the proposed town budget increases for fire and police, library happenings and much more.
These are the types of locally reported stories essential to thriving communities that inform you about neighbors, town government and everyday life in our town. Community engagement takes knowing what is going on. And this is a news organization whose work has been done by community volunteers who accept small stipends for their hard work.
We are writing to ask you to consider a donation to keep The Record strong and vibrant in 2026. Your gift is tax deductible – we are a 501(c)3 nonprofit – and your gift will help us strengthen the content we present to you in the coming year.
To meet this moment in time we are putting all our efforts into going all-digital through our website – hinesburgrecord.org – and this newsletter, The Weekly Record. We have already gained readership – and visits to the site.
Please take a moment to send in a donation to keep us expanding our work. You can see how to give by clicking the ‘Donate’ link at the top of the front page of the website, or by clicking: hinesburgrecord.org/donate.
Thank you in advance. A news organization is only as good as the level of engagement of its readers.
Sincerely,
The Hinesburg Record Board of Directors
Ginny Roberts, Dotty Schnure, Thomas Giroux and Richard Watts
And now the news …
The CVU girls cross country team fares well
For the second year in a row, the CVU girls ran their hearts out at the National XC 5k race in Portland, Oregon, and again placed in the top 20, this year their best finish ever – 14th. What a season! They are Vermont Champions and New England Champions and placed second in the Northeast Regionals. We know just how hard you trained to get to this point. Full story and more photos.
Budget Crunch Time
The Hinesburg selectboard was in no mood for the proposed increases in the fire and police budgets formally presented at its regular meeting Wednesday night. As we noted in our special report last month, Fire Chief Prescott Nadeau is proposing a 36 percent increase and Interim Police Chief Frank Bryan 20 percent to bring staffing levels to what they believe is needed to preserve public safety in Hinesburg.
Both advocated for separate line items in the March town vote to better determine how the town feels about public safety.
The selectboard members, noting the state had just announced that property taxes will rise 12 percent next year, said people are getting “taxed out,” and are hesitant to add to the tax burden. They gave much the same pushback to Town Clerk/Treasurer Heather Roberts who is proposing an additional staffer to cover the myriad duties of the Town Clerk/Treasurer with half the cost borne by the Water and Sewer Department. Interestingly, it took Roberts nearly two minutes to list all of the duties her office is required to fulfill with just two people. Full story.
On a gorgeous fall tour, Lewis Creek Association shows off
The sudden appearance of fifty-foot-tall dead tree trunks along the LaPlatte River on the east side of Silver Street and over two dozen trees planted north of the recreation field behind Hinesburg Town Hall in the fall of 2024 are part of a decade long effort by the Lewis Creek Association (LCA) to improve the quality of the LaPlatte River as it flows through Hinesburg village. On a crisp sunny November day, the association gave residents a tour of the work they’ve done to protect the watershed. Full Story
Fireworks? You’re still saying no.
Last month, the selectboard learned that the Fourth of July fireworks will cost $20,000, a 60 percent jump. The town staff is trying to find a plan, but so far the board isn’t too keen on that kind of expenditure to entertain the region. According to our own unscientific poll, 94 percent of you say no. Fill out the poll here, halfway down the story/
The final issue
The final issue of The Hinesburg Record newspaper has been sent to the printers. It will hit your mailboxes, hopefully, on Thursday and with it comes an end to an era. The Record will now be all-digital and will concentrate all its energies on this newsletter and our website.
The holidays are here
What would be the holidays without a concert and a parade?
This Sunday the South County Chorus and the Hinesburg Artist Series Orchestra will perform at 2 and 4:30 p.m. at St. Jude Catholic Church in Hinesburg. Don’t miss it. Full Story.
On Saturday there will be a Holiday Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Kelly’s Field 2 Community Room.
On Dec. 20, starting at 10 a.m. the Hinesburg Fire Department will have a parade filled with the holiday spirit. Mark your calendars. Details will be arriving on our website later this week.
Upcoming
Tuesday
CVSD School Board, 6 p.m., CVU, the first of several meetings on the school budget.
Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., Carpenter-Carse Library and Zoom (click link at time of meeting).
Wednesday
Planning Commission, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall and Zoom (click link at time of meeting).
Thursday
Affordable Housing Committee, 7 p.m., Town Hall, and Zoom (click link at time of meeting.)
Town Forest Committee, 7 p.m., Google Meet (click at time of meeting).
Saturday
Holiday Market
Saturday, Dec.13, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In the Kelly’s Field 2 Community Room