This story was originally published by VTDigger on September 3, 2025.
The town and village of Johnson on Tuesday announced they were entering into a partnership with Vermont State University to relocate town services onto the school’s campus in Johnson.
Essential town services like Johnson’s municipal offices, post office, and the town’s health center could move onto the university’s campus — which sits on higher ground, out of reach from the Lamoille and Gihon rivers’ floodplain, according to a joint announcement from officials with the town, village and university.
Johnson was hard hit by the July 2023 floods. The town offices, health center, post office and grocery store were all displaced, along with many homes and businesses in the area. The town in April this year moved its public library a half-mile through town and across the river — not far from the university’s Johnson campus.
The parties plan to apply for funding from a federal community development block grant for disaster recovery in response to the July 2023 floods, according to the announcement, which was posted on social media.
The project, if borne out, would transform the university’s Matinetti Hall into a Community Services and Resilience Center. While final details will still need to be worked out, officials said the arrangement could blend the roles of the university and the town in new ways.
“We have the opportunity to create something here that’s a new model for how college campuses or other facilities in their communities can more purposefully work together,” said David Bergh, the president of Vermont State University.