During last Thursday evening’s Woodstock Selectboard Meeting, chairperson Susan Ford read a statement addressing the town’s legal expenditures during the 2025 fiscal year.
In her statement, Ford said, “We have been asked to explain the expenditure of municipal funds on a personnel issue. During the period in question, the [2024-2025] fiscal year, the amount of $102,236.26 was spent in legal fees on a single personnel issue that is presently in court. Of that, $75,072.89 was paid from municipal funds rather than solely from village funds.”
She added, “On reflection, given the extraordinary circumstances surrounding this expense, the decision should have been voted upon in an open meeting, since it was not part of the budget approved at Town Meeting. I can assure you, this was not because anyone wanted to hide this from voters. This happened during the time that we were buying the water company, arranging for bonds in the amount of $8.3 million to purchase and improve upon the water system and the land that it owned. We were in the midst of working with engineers to design improvements to the wastewater treatment plant, costing an excess of $30 million.”
After Ford finished her statement, the floor opened for public comment. However, she said, given pending litigation, the board chose not to respond to any citizen questions or remarks.
For more on this story, please see our June 4 edition of the Vermont Standard.
