Reconstruction
Fourth of July
Slow start
A Salisbury couple has a nifty business restoring great works of art. See Arts + Leisure.
All four of the biggest towns in the area will have fireworks. Find out where to see them on Page 2A.
The AC nine lost at home on Sunday to Montpelier and remained winless. See Page 1B.
ADDISON COUNTY
Vol. 71 No. 26
INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont
Thursday, June 29, 2017 38 Pages
$1.00
Time for tax rates
City council cites ‘thin cushion,’ adds 2 cents In Middlebury, town levy rises by half-penny By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — The Vergennes City Council on Tuesday added two cents to the tax rate needed to support city services and adopted a $2,290,291 municipal budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1; the budget will increase city spending by about $58,000. Most of the increased spending comes in the police budget, which
rose about $32,000 to $898,600. Police spending accounts for about 39 percent of the Vergennes general fund budget that the council adopted on Tuesday. The general fund budget does not include the sewer budget, which is funded separately by user fees. The tax rate for fiscal year 20172018 is 81 cents, up from 79 cents. That 2-cent increase translates to $20
more in taxes for every $100,000 of assessed value of city property. City officials said they expect state officials to release final school tax rates this Friday, June 30. Addison Northwest School District estimates released in February projected a 1.3-cent increase in the Vergennes residential school tax rate. City Manager Mel Hawley told (See Vergennes, Page 12A)
By JOHH FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury selectboard on Tuesday unanimously OK’d a new municipal property tax rate of 98.2 cents per $100 in property value, reflecting a bump of approximately a half a penny compared to this year’s rate of 97.8 cents. Middlebury’s overall tax rate — municipal rate plus education rate
— is expected to come into focus by the end of this week, when state officials are scheduled to release education property tax rates for all Vermont communities. Education expenses make up the majority of the overall property tax rate, which for the current year is $2.786 in Middlebury. The new municipal rate, which takes effect July 1, corresponds to
the town budget and other special money items that Middlebury voters approved at their annual town meeting in March. On March 6, voters OK’d a general fund operating budget of $10,321,456 for fiscal year 2018, with $7,106,034 of that sum to be raised by taxes. Additionally, voters authorized several special articles that: (See Middlebury, Page 12A)
Five-town arts guild asks local donors to take a seat Six ‘Chair-ity’ chairs to be auctioned July 4 By GAEN MURPHREE BRISTOL — Attendees at next week’s Fourth of July celebration in Bristol will get yet another chance to be sitting pretty — by bidding on one-ofa-kind, work-of-art chairs painted by local artists. The 5 Town Friends of the Arts’ “Chair-ity” event is part of the group’s annual silent auction fundraiser. “Funky chairs can be really fun in your house,” said Chair-ity organizer Vera Ryersbach. Six local artists are contributing this year’s chairs they have painted in a variety of creative and funky ways: • Thacher Hurd, children’s book author and illustrator and son of
Street food
THE THIRD-ANNUAL Foodaroo Festival presented by Middlebury UndergrounD in Middlebury’s Marble Works complex drew big crowds Sunday for a variety of food vendors in addition to music and street performances. Organizers were thrilled with the event’s success. See Page 10A for more photos.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Proposed law seeks path to legal status for farmworkers By GAEN MURPHREE VERMONT — A key to finally getting federal law changed so immigrants can more easily work on Vermont’s dairy farms is getting farmers and farm advocates here to reach out to their counterparts in Republican-leaning states. That is the analysis of people familiar with the legislative process in
Washington, D.C. They were commenting on the future of the Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2017, bill S.1034 in the U.S. Senate and bill H.R.2690 in the U.S. House. The bills would provide a legal pathway for current agricultural workers — those who are in the country for at least 100 work days
over the previous two years — to obtain “blue card” status. Blue cards could also be obtained by a farmworker’s spouse and children. Blue card farmworkers would be eligible to earn lawful permanent residency (“green card” status) over the next three to five years, under provisions of the bills. “Like so many dairy issues, the
germ of an idea is often born in Vermont and grows outward from there,” said David Carle, a longtime spokesperson for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. “Vermont farmers and Vermont dairy organizations have been very aggressive, very adept at reaching out to their counterparts in other states. In Wisconsin, (See New law, Page 7A)
“Good Night Moon” illustrator Clement Hurd. Hurd grew up partly in Vermont, has lived most of his life in California and returns to Starksboro each summer. One of his best-known books, “Art Dog,” tells the story of how a masked dog avenger helps reclaim Leonardo Dog Vinci’s stolen masterpiece, “Mona Woofa.” • S t a r k s b o r o landscape painter (See ‘Chair-ity’, Page 14A) THE 5 TOWN Friends of the Arts are sponsoring a “Chairity” event at next week’s Fourth of July celebration in Bristol. One-of-a-kind, workof-art chairs painted by local artists will be auctioned at the event. This chair was painted by Starksboro artist Nancy Carroll. Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Bridge work suspended for festival, market and auction By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The temporary parking barriers erected in downtown Middlebury for a Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) project to install temporary bridges will recede early next month to ensure convenient access to three popular annual July events set for the village green: The Festival on-the-Green, St. Stephen’s Church Peasant Market and Lion’s Club auction and barbeque.
“The fact that (the town and VTrans) are accommodating us is amazing,” said Pat Boera, secretary of Festival on-the-Green, which will stage live music and other entertainment July 9-15. The festival follows the annual Peasant Market on July 8 and precedes the Lion’s Club Auction and BBQ, set for 4:30 p.m. on July 19. A lot of the parking along Main Street and Merchants Row has been (See Festival, Page 12A)
Middlebury innovating in new form of film criticism Scholars learn the art of the video essay By WILL DIGRAVIO and Jason Mittell, both Middlebury MIDDLEBURY — Is criticism professors of Film and Media ever art? Can academic analysis Culture, teaches the art of the video move a person with the kind of essay. In other words, how scholars appeal to emotion that art does? can use the objects of their study — Videographic criticism, a motion pictures, television and other relatively new kind of electronic audiovisual scholarship that relies as forms — to produce much on the aesthetic as “I couldn’t help scholarship. it does on the analytical, but wonder An innovator in the is being produced at what would field, Keathley first Middlebury College. A it be like to began experimenting National Endowment not always with the video essay for the Humanities grant 1989. However, it have to resort in funded a workshop was not until recent this month where film to language years, when digital and media scholars to describe, technologies — DVDs, are learning how to but to use the Blu-Ray, the internet, produce cutting edge audiovisual etc. — made electronic videographic criticism. media more accessible medium to “Part of why I applied to scholars, that he began is to think about my show.” to seriously produce — Christian and teach videographic materials in a new Keathley criticism. way,” said workshop participant Nike Nivar He likened the video Ortiz, a grad student at the University essay to literary criticism, where of Southern California. scholars, given the nature of the The workshop, created and written word, are able to directly facilitated by Christian Keathley (See Videographic, Page 13A)
By the way Representatives of the Bristolarea school boards and of the public school teachers in the 5-town area last week came to a tentative agreement for teacher contracts that will cover the next two years. The ANESU Bargaining Council and ANEDA Bargaining (See By the way, Page 13A)
Index Obituaries................................. 6A Classifieds.......................... 5B-8B Service Directory............... 6B-7B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-3B MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE PROFESSORS of Film and Media Culture Chris Keathley, left, and Jason Mittell have received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to run a two-week workshop on videographic criticism. Independent photo/Trent Campbell