Voters in Warren and Waitsfield will be asked to approve a Town Meeting article to fund a part-time implementation coordinator for the Mad River Path.
The request from Mad River Path director Misha Golfman seeks $45,450 toward a temporary, 20-hour-per-week implementation coordinator position, split equally ($15,150) between Waitsfield, Warren, and the Mad River Path.
This week both select boards approved adding the funding request to their Town Meeting warnings. Waitsfield’s article makes town approval contingent on Warren voters also approving the funding.
The Waitsfield Select Board voted to place Article 12 before voters after discussing about timing, costs, and long-term obligations.
Golfman told both boards that the position is needed to manage the growing scope and complexity of the Mad River Path’s work, particularly the development of an active transportation corridor intended to connect villages, neighborhoods and recreational assets throughout the Mad River Valley.
“What we’re asking for right now is bandwidth,” Golfman said in written materials submitted to the towns, outlining the need for staff capacity to coordinate grants, permitting, engineering and landowner outreach across multiple municipalities.
MANAGES TRAIL NETWORKS
The Mad River Path currently manages trail networks in Warren and Waitsfield, in addition to pursuing long-term infrastructure projects.
In Warren, Mad River Path manages about 5 miles of multi-use trails, including the 1-mile Warren Path, the Vista Trail, the Interpretive Loop, the Kingsbury Greenway and Snowmaking Pond Loop, and the Cloud Water Farm Path. In 2025, the organization rehabilitated the Warren Path and Interpretive Loop to improve flood resiliency, replaced the Cloud Water Farm bridge using a Northern Forest grant and path funds, repaired flood damage on the Pond Loop, contracted weekly trail mowing, and coordinated the work of four path stewards.
The organization has also undertaken substantial work related to the active transportation corridor in Warren. That includes completing an active transportation corridor scoping study, forming a five-town implementation committee, and submitting multiple grant applications for bike and pedestrian improvements, some of which were unsuccessful in a challenging funding environment.
Among the more advanced projects, Golfman negotiated a trail easement modification with Warren Lodge to improve accessibility on the Kingsbury Greenway, developed plans for rehabilitation of the Clay Brook Bridge, received a stream alteration permit, and secured a Ben & Jerry’s grant while working with Friends of the Mad River on an ecological restoration plan.
The Mad River Path has also facilitated the Sugarbush Access Road Path project, which has completed its federal environmental review and is moving through right-of-way and final design phases.
SERVICES LARGER IN WAITSFIELD
In Waitsfield, the scope of services is even larger. The association manages approximately 11.4 miles of trail, including the Yestermorrow Path, Austin Walk, Fiddlers Walk, Heart of the Valley Trail, Millbrook Path, Waits Way, Spaulding Greenway, and West Greenway. Ongoing work includes mowing 5 miles of trail annually, maintaining the Recreation Hub bathroom, removing snow on the Heart of the Valley Trail, stewarding dog waste stations, and coordinating eight volunteer path stewards.
The organization provides educational programming in Waitsfield, including school programs, summer and winter activities, and canoe and e-cargo bike lending for residents.
On the active transportation front, the Mad River Path has completed a scoping study, advanced wastewater-path co-location engineering estimates, applied for Transportation Alte
rnatives funding for the Millbrook Bridge–Dugway Road segment, and worked with regional planners on compliance and landowner coordination.
AMBITIOUS WORK PLAN
Looking ahead to 2026, Golfman has outlined an ambitious work plan that includes reapplying for state and private grants, conducting demonstration projects such as a VT Route 100 crossing in Warren Village, coordinating with the Vermont Agency of Transportation, improving key trail segments to adaptive standards, advancing the Sugarbush Access Road Path toward construction, and completing a socioeconomic study to quantify the benefits of the corridor.
The proposed implementation coordinator would support this work by assisting with every aspect of corridor implementation, identifying, and administering grants, supporting seven working groups of the Path Implementation Committee, and handling administrative duties related to the corridor.
According to the proposal, the position would pay $35 per hour for 20 hours per week, with total compensation, including payroll taxes and a health care contribution, budgeted at $45,450.
BOARD MEMBERS VOICE CONCERN
Some Waitsfield Select Board members initially voiced concern about committing town funds before major grants are secured. Board member Chach Curtis said he supports the concept of an active transportation corridor but worries about the timing. “It just feels like this is kind of premature,” Curtis said, adding that he fears the town could end up repeatedly funding the position without seeing implementation.
Board member David Babbott-Klein said the request reflects the reality that grant funding cannot be pursued effectively without staff capacity. “We need bandwidth now, and we don’t have the bandwidth to go get more bandwidth through grants,” he said.
Fred Messer raised questions about long-term costs and obligations. “How much is the short-term and long-term expense to the town?” Messer asked. “Once it’s built, who owns it and maintains it?”
Babbott-Klein said the coordinator could help provide clearer answers. “I think part of that is increasing the communicativity and data-backed expectations that we have about what this really means,” he said.
Shupe suggested emphasizing the temporary nature of the position. “What if we were to say support of a temporary, one-year, project manager implementation position?” he said.
Curtis ultimately said he could support the article with that clarification, citing the town’s relatively modest overall budget increase. “This is not a given that we’re going to keep doing this,” he said.
Both Warren’s 2019 Town Plan and Waitsfield’s 2023 Town Plan identify the Mad River Path as a key component of recreational and transportation infrastructure and articulate a long-term goal of a continuous, interconnected trail network linking villages throughout The Valley.
Shupe acknowledged that Article 12 is likely to generate debate at Town Meeting. “There’s going to be opposition to this on the floor,” he said. “It’ll be democracy.”
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