Buildings reopening – Online service continues
The Town of Essex and Village of Essex Junction buildings are now open to the public with in-person services, with the exception of the Village Office at 2 Lincoln Street, where services remain by appointment. The municipalities are requiring residents to adhere to certain guidelines when visiting municipal facilities.
Masks are required and visitors and employees must observe social distancing while in municipal buildings, to the extent possible. Please stay home if you are sick.
All municipal buildings will be held to a capacity limit of one person per 50 sq. ft. up to a maximum of 300 total people. All conference rooms continue to be closed to the public unless otherwise approved by the Unified Manager for special circumstances. Most boards and committees continue to offer remote access to meetings.
Appointments are preferred and the use of online services is strongly encouraged, when possible.
Departmental updates include the following:
Clerk – located at 81 Main Street Office for Village and Town services
Open Monday through Friday, from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm
Contact: phone 879-0413 or email clerk@essex.org
Drop box locations outside of buildings: 81 Main St. and 2 Lincoln St.
The Clerk’s Office is allowing one person at a time in the office for title searches. Online access to land records is now available. Please contact the Clerk’s Office for more information.
Remote services are strongly encouraged and are available by phone, email, website, or drop box:
By phone or email:
- Copies of tax bills
- Printouts of taxes paid
- Requests for early/absentee ballots
- Voter registration can be completed online through Sec of State
- Cemetery
- Liquor licenses
Payments that can be made in drop box, by mail, or online:
- Dog licenses – renewals and new –
- Property taxes
- Utility bills (water/sewer)
- Zoning Fees
- Other accounts receivables
Finance – 81 Main St.
Open Monday through Friday, from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm
For general questions: (802) 878-1359 or finance@essex.org
For Village water/sewer questions: (802) 857-0073 or utilitybilling@essex.org
For Town water/sewer questions: (802) 878-1359 or utilitybilling@essex.org
For accounts payable questions: (802) 878-1359 or AP@essexjunction.org or Toe.Finance@essex.org
Drop box locations outside of buildings: 81 Main St. and 2 Lincoln St. (Please do not leave cash)
Remote services are strongly encouraged and are available by phone, email, website, or drop box.
Unified Manager’s Office – 81 Main St.
The Unified Manager's department will be working both remotely and on site. Office hours are 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. Appointments and remote business are encouraged by calling 802-878-1341 or emailing manager@essex.org.
Most Town of Essex and Village of Essex Junction boards, commissions, and committees continue to offer remote access to meetings. Further information on future meetings are posted on the Town and Village websites. The Town and the Village are working in collaboration with Town Meeting TV to produce a hybrid model for meetings that will offer remote participation for future in-person meetings.
Brownell Library
Open for limited appointments for residents. Appointments can be booked by calling or emailing the library or visiting their website. Curbside service offered Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Wednesdays 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
Contact: phone 878-6955 or email frontdesk@brownelllibrary.org
Website: www.brownelllibrary.org
Essex Free Library
Open for limited appointments for residents. Appointments can be booked by calling or emailing the library or visiting their website. Curbside service is offered Monday through Friday between 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Saturdays 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Contact: phone 879-0313 or email essexfreelibrary@essex.org
Website: www.essexfreelibrary.org
Parks & Recreation – 75 Maple St.
Contact: phone 878-1376 or email recreation@ejrp.org or recmail@essex.org
Website: www.essexrec.org
Office: The Essex Junction Recreation and Parks (EJRP) and Essex Parks and Recreation (EPR) offices at 75 Maple Street are open Monday-Friday, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Starting the week of June 14, they will be open 8:00 am - 4:00 pm. There is only room for one household at a time at the window in the vestibule. Others must wait outside. The use of phone/online/mail services is encouraged.
Programs: Essex Rec programs are following the Governor’s orders and the universal guidance.
Parks: All parks are following Governor’s orders which currently allow fully vaccinated people to resume activities without wearing a face covering over nose and mouth or physically distancing. Unvaccinated people are not required to wear face coverings over nose and mouth when they are in outdoor public spaces, provided sustained or prolonged close contact with other unvaccinated people from outside their household can be avoided. People of all ages, including children, are considered unvaccinated when they have not completed a vaccination series. For clarity, “sustained or prolonged contact” is defined as more than several minutes. “Close contact” is defined as being less than six feet from an individual from outside your household. When you are outdoors, masks are only required when you are in a crowd or with multiple other households where you cannot avoid close contact.
Assessor – 81 Main St.
Town of Essex and Village of Essex Junction Assessor is working both remotely and on site and the office at 81 Main St. is now open to the public. Assistance is available during regular business hours by calling 802-878-1345 or emailing ASSESSOR@ESSEX.ORG. Appointments and remote business are strongly encouraged. Online services with the Assessor’s office can be conducted remotely via phone, email, through our online property card system (for commercial property record cards please call or email for a copy), or through our online tax maps.
Public Works and Water-Sewer
Town Public Works contact: 878-1344 or email public-works@essex.org
Village Public Works contact: 878-6944 or email pw@essexjunction.org
The Town Public Works offices are now open Monday through Friday, 7:30 am until 4:30 pm. Online service and inquiries are encouraged. Requests for service can be submitted via the See-Click-Fix app or by contacting the office. All COVID safety precautions remain in effect.
The Town Highway Department and water sewer crews are currently working full shifts with normal working hours from 7:00 am to 3:30 pm. Water and sewer operations continue as normal but with conditions for in-house requests for service. The Village Public Works Department is maintaining normal full work shifts.
Wastewater Treatment Facility
Contact: phone 878-6943 or email wwadmin@essexjunction.org. All operations continue as normal and the facility building is open.
Senior Services
The Senior Center is currently closed. If you have any questions regarding resources or needs, please call 876-5087. The Senior Vans run Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Appointments for van rides are made on Mondays between 9:00 am to 2:00 pm by calling 878-6940.
To register as a new rider, please call 878-6940 to request a ridership application.
Community Justice Center
The CJC is open, staff are in the office, but programs are still being held virtually. Appointments are required to come to the CJC. For questions or assistance call (802) 872-7690.
Police and Fire Departments
Emergency services (police, fire & rescue) continue to deliver all emergency services to our community.
For general non-emergency questions, you can call 802-878-8331 or 9-1-1 for emergencies.
The Town and Village are committed to doing our part to keep the public and our staff healthy while preventing the spread of COVID-19, while also providing the best public service possible. The best sources to stay informed are the Vermont Department of Health (www.healthvermont.gov) and the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov) websites. These resources are updated daily and contain helpful tips for hygiene and preventing the spread of the virus.
Additional information will be shared with any changes to Town and Village services. Please check www.essexvt.org and www.essexjunction.org for updates or visit www.essexvt.org/covid for community events updates and helpful resources.
For more information, contact Greg Duggan, Deputy Manager/Public Information Officer (802-878-1341, gduggan@essex.org) or Tammy Getchell, Assistant to the Manager/Deputy Public Information Officer (802-878-6951, tgetchell@essex.org).