Newport elects Bartlett, North, approves zoning, historic district

Newport residents approved three measures that will shape what can be built, altered and financed in town, from zoning rules for future development to preservation oversight along Main Street and a sewer study tied to the Guild Sewer Lagoons. The ballot also delivered a new leadership lineup, putting Benjamin S. Bartlett and Jeff North on the selectboard.

The official tally showed 678 ballots cast at the LaValley Family Community Center at 17 Meadow Road, where polls were open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Bartlett and North won the two available selectboard seats for three-year terms. Other uncontested offices were filled by Liselle Dufort as town clerk, Paul Brown as town treasurer, Ken Dufort as town moderator, Kathryn Boutin as supervisor of the checklist, and William T. Wilmot Jr. and Kenneth J. Dennis as trustees of trust funds.

Article 8 passed 425-238 and will clarify Newport’s permissive zoning ordinance, a change that matters to property owners and builders because it is meant to sharpen how future projects are reviewed under the town’s land-use rules. Article 9 passed 511-157 and creates the Downtown Historic District along Main Street, opening the door to preservation review for future renovations and exterior changes within the designated area.

Article 10 passed 447-228 and authorizes $100,000 for an engineering study connected to closure of the Guild Sewer Lagoons. The town’s voter guide said the spending was structured as a non-lapsing borrowing measure and that no tax impact was expected because the debt was anticipated to be forgiven by the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund. That makes the study a planning step with real consequences for costs, timelines and the next phase of infrastructure work.

The vote followed Newport’s April 7 deliberative session, where warrant language could still be amended before the final ballot. Planning board hearings in March had already put zoning revisions in front of residents, and local discussion around the historic district had pointed to a boundary map on file at the Town Clerk’s Office. With the ballot now settled, Newport’s next task is implementation.

That responsibility falls to a town government built around Town Meeting, an elected five-member selectboard and an appointed town manager. Newport, home to about 6,500 residents and the Sullivan County seat, also presented voters with a proposed FY27 operating budget of $9.3 million. The new selectboard will now be in position to carry out the zoning clarification, the historic district and the sewer planning work voters approved.