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MARCH 26, 2015
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Vol. 35, No. 12
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Let’s work together Entrepreneur launching co-working space at Five Corners
By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter The Five Corners house that formerly held Kaleidoscope Yarn has been purchased and will be transformed this spring into a co-working space under the name Excelerate Essex. Emir Heco, a Bosnia native who moved to town in 1996 and graduated from Essex High School in 2004, bought the building in February and is modeling the space on co-working successes in Burlington,
Montpelier and around the country. “It’s a proven thing in big cities because of big populations and a need for resources,” he said. “We want some of that excitement in Essex. There are a lot of people who could benefit from it.” The Essex Economic Development Commission has encouraged Heco and campaigned for a local co-working space as a way to incubate new businesses, with the assumption that new businesses would feed existing businesses like law firms, accountants, graphic designers and engineering firms. Heco also owns
a product development company called Heco Engineering that will have a consistent presence in the house. “I think it offers Essex a chance to enter into an incredible movement that we haven’t yet been a part of,” said Economic Development Commission chairman Greg Morgan. Nicknamed E-Squared, Excelerate Essex will be designed for three types of members: those who need a Emir Heco bought the home that formerly housed dedicated office space, those looking
Kaleidoscope Yarn with plans to turn it into a coworking space called Excelerate Essex.
– See ENTREPRENEUR on page 3a
PHOTO | JASON STARR
Unification questions coming at Annual Village Meeting By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter
Spellers from across the state wait for their turn to spell in the second round.
Pronouncer David Moats gives a speller a word. ADL student Isabelle Petrucci spells a word at the Vermont Regional Scripps National Spelling Competition on Thursday afternoon.
Oliver Parini Photography
Petrucci competes in statewide spelling bee
The Vermont Agency of Education (AOE), Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA), Vermont Humanities Council, and the Times Argus / Rutland Herald hosted a statewide individual spelling bee for Vermont students on March 19 at the McCarthy Arts Center at St. Michael’s College in Colchester. Thirty-seven elementary and middle school students – under the age of 16 – participated in this competition. Students had already competed in their regional bees during the winter. Isabelle Petrucci, of Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, spelled her way through 13 rounds before misspelling a word in the 14th round. “That was a great competition,” Associate Executive Director at VPA Bob Johnson said. “The last five spellers in the competition – which included Isabelle – had obviously worked hard to be there.” Third place was awarded to Benjamin Weinstein, of Camels Hump Middle School, when he was eliminated during the 21st round. For another 21 rounds Lucinda Storz, of Thaddeaus Stevens School, and Alice Early, of St. Mary School, were locked in a fierce spelling battle. In the 41st round Early misspelled the word “roodebok”. Storz continued to the final round and properly spelled the
word “ipecac” to end the longest Vermont bee ever – 42 rounds. “To think that a student could go through and spell 42 words correctly is quite an accomplishment,” said Johnson who has been a part of the contest since it started in 2005. “This was the longest bee we’ve ever had. It started at 3:30 p.m. and ended at 6 p.m.” Last year’s bee lasted for 25 rounds and only a handful of previous competitions have reached 30 rounds. Storz will travel to Washington, D.C., in late May to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, competing against top spellers from every other state in the nation. In addition to advancing to the national spelling bee, Storz received a trophy and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. The top three spellers received reference books and gift certificates. Early received a plaque and all students will receive a medallion for advancing to the state level. All of the students who compete in the national spelling bee this May will receive cash prizes ranging from $50 to the $12,000 championship prize. For more information on the national bee visit: www. spellingbee.com. Joe Cardello contributed to this article.
There’s a lot going on with next Wednesday’s Annual Village Meeting, and it’s not just the free childcare and community dinner. The budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year is like nothing Essex ANNUAL Junction voters have seen. VILLAGE MEETING The Village Wednesday, April 1 Trustees are proposing a budget Essex High School that shifts the tax 6 p.m. burden associated Community dinner with the village highway department 7 p.m. and stormwater Budget discussion and voting management to the Town of Essex Free childcare and senior bus in a municipal collaboration rides available that town voters approved earlier this month at Town Meeting Day. It’s part of a multi-year effort by leaders of the two overlapping municipalities to find efficiencies and come to greater tax equity between those members of the community living within the village boundary and those living outside of it. The $3.8 million budget the trustees will present for voter approval at 7 p.m., April 1, in the Essex High School auditorium shows an increase over the current year of $262,000 (7.4 percent). However, because the Town of Essex general fund will be supporting the village highway department for the first time, the amount that village taxpayers are liable for is being reduced by roughly $450,000 compared to last year. As a result, the annual village tax bill on the averagepriced village home ($280,000) will decrease by $124. Is this an April Fool’s joke? Sort of. Village taxpayers are also town taxpayers, and the tax increase associated with the new town budget is $187 on the average-priced home. So the net result is an increase of $63, village officials estimate. The majority of the village’s 7.4 percent budget increase can be attributed to the first year of principal repayment on a $3.3 million bond voters approved last year to address the village’s most pressing infrastructure needs. The debt service line item in the budget proposal shows a jump of roughly $155,000. Other increases in the village budget follow typical trends of salary increase in the negotiated contracts of unionized municipal workers ($40,000), a rise in the cost of employee health care benefits ($14,000),
– See VILLAGE on page 3a
Welch digs in against ethanol
Congressman visits Essex to garner support for changing federal mandate By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter
Congressman Peter Welch, left, joined Lester Pelkey of Frank’s Motorcycle Sales and Service in Essex on Monday to highlight what ethanol-blended gas is doing to engine parts. PHOTO | JASON STARR
Congressman Peter Welch has chipped away at the federal program that mandates ethanol be mixed with gasoline at up to 15 percent, and he is ready to deliver the program a final blow. On Monday, Welch set up at Frank’s Motorcycle Sales and Service on Route 15 in Essex with owner Lester Pelkey to highlight one of the program’s primary unintended consequences — the corrosion ethanol causes in engines. Pelkey illustrated the problem in the engine parts he services and said repairs typically cost several hundred dollars. “The consumer is being asked to pick up the bill of (the United States) doing ethanol,” Pelkey said. “It’s affecting thousands of vehicles.” Welch calls the program “a well-intentioned flop.”
Two years ago, he appeared at The Small Engine Company in Colchester — a dealer of snowblowers, lawnmowers and chainsaws — to deliver a similar message. Since then, he has helped legislate two of the three key pillars of the federal ethanol program out of existence. They include the federal subsidy to corn famers that once totaled approximately $6 billion annually as well as the tariff barrier that fended off competition. All that remains to end the program is the mandated 10-15 percent ethanol mix in retail gasoline. Already, Congress has instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to hold off on a planned move from the current 10 percent standard to the 15 percent standard. “We’ve really been making progress on it,” Welch said. While ethanol-blended gasoline was intended as a cleaner fuel, the consequences of the federal mandate has made the program an overall negative on multiple fronts, according to Welch. It has raised prices on corn, squashed incentive to diversify cropland and is less fuel-efficient, he said. In addition, its corrosive
– See ETHANOL on page 2a