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The next regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held at the Old First Church Barn on Tuesday, May 5, at 7 p.m. The agenda, and a link for those wishing to participate on Zoom, will be posted a few days before the meeting. Minutes from the April 7 meeting are available under the "Board of Trustees" tab in the "Minutes" section.
The Village's annual meeting is coming up on May 12 -- the "floor meeting" where residents will elect their Trustees and other officers (Treasurer, Auditor, Moderator and Clerk) for the next year. This spring, a group of Village residents formed a Nominating Committee to raise public awareness of the election and stir people's interest in running for office. Two candidates are now running for two open seats on the Board of Trustees. Their bios can be read in the 2026 Annual Report, which is under the "Board of Trustees" tab of this website -- scroll all the way down to the last heading, "Annual Meeting Information." Please note that additional nominations can be made from the floor at the annual meeting.
The Nominating Committee will continue its work in the future. If you're interested in a possible role in Village governance, the contact person is Suzanne Buchsbaum, reachable at suzanne.buchsbaum@gmail.com. In addition, the Village Planning Commission expects to be filling one or more openings on a separate schedule from the Board of Trustees. If you're interested, please contact Commission Chair Brian Scheetz, at brianrscheetz@gmail.com.
The annual meeting is also where the budget for the coming year will be presented for a vote. The proposed budget, and other financial information, can be found in the "Treasurer's Report" section of the Annual Report, which starts on Page 9. Residents looking for recent fiscal activity are referred to the monthly Treasurer's Reports, also under the "Board of Trustees" tab. The Village and the Town held a joint tax sale on April 24 for the property at 18 Walloomsac Road. Information about the sale and next steps will be presented in the monthly Treasurer's Report at the May 5 Trustees' meeting.
The Warning for the annual meeting has been posted, with a link for those wishing to attend via Zoom. Please note that Vermont does not permit voting on Zoom. If you plan to vote, you must attend in person.
For Information concerning Vermont's Open Meeting Law, see the Open Meeting Law Notice under the Other Documents tab. The law requires any person aggrieved by an alleged violation of the Open Meeting Law to provide the Village a written notice of such allegation before bringing any civil action in court. See the Other Documents tab for a sample Open Meeting Law Complaint Form.
About Us
Location
Old Bennington is situated on a height of land approximately one-half mile west of the center of the Town of Bennington, which lies in the Walloomsac River valley below. Looming over the Village to the southwest is Mount Anthony. A ridge called Monument Hill elevates the northern third of the Village, but along the eastern edge of the Village the land falls sharply away in a steep slope toward the river below. The remainder of the Village is fairly level. Many large, well-spaced houses are surrounded by lawns and gardens. We still enjoy the luxury of some open land with beautiful vistas.
History
The Village of Old Bennington represents the original center of Bennington. Samuel Robinson and a band of religious separatists from Connecticut and Massachusetts founded it in 1761. Over the past 254 years the focus of industrial, commercial and residential development has shifted to the valley below, and Old Bennington has become a small, incorporated Village within the Town of Bennington. Its character has become a historical, single-family residential community.