MONDAY EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 28 No. 25
Middlebury, Vermont
Monday, September 26, 2016
32 Pages
$1.00
A working artist talks • Stephanie Stouffer, who painted this Etruscan horse, will discuss her creative world in a talk. See Arts Beat on Page 10.
Religions and architecture mix • Take a tour of eight houses of worship in Middlebury village. Read the story on Page 14.
Local rivals clash on soccer pitch • The Eagle boys’ and girls’ teams both visited MUHS this weekend. See what happened in Sports, Pages 16-18.
VERMONT PUBLIC SERVICE Board Chair James Volz, left, and board member Sarah Hofmann, center, look out over a 27-acre parcel of New Haven land that Green Peak Solar developers Chris Cadwell, second from right, and Nathaniel Vandal, right, are hoping to turn into a 2.2 megawatt solar array.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Field Days Road site raises key solar issues Decision pending on proposed 2.2 MW array By GAEN MURPHREE NEW HAVEN — About 30 Vermonters paced across a pasture off Field Days Road last Monday, looking at sightlines, scanning for orange flags marking boundaries, and trying from various perspectives to reimagine the 27 acres as the site
VUHS students unite for peace • Vergennes students danced, sang and discussed during the Peace One Day celebration last Wednesday. See Page 3.
of a 2.2MW solar development. In the 16 months since Green Peak Solar LLC filed for permission from the Vermont Public Service Board, the Next Generation Solar Farm project has generated plenty of controversy. It has been at the center of the
Department of Public Service’s decision to change its own processes for generating memorandums of understanding. It has shown how the recommendations of rank-andfile Fish and Wildlife biologists can be at variance with final agreements made by the Agency of Natural Resources. And it shines light on the state’s struggle balancing the critical
County bags major grant to steer youths away from drugs
Unification will build community, Reen says By GAEN MURPHREE BRISTOL — Addison Northeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Patrick Reen supports the potential unification of budgets and school governance in the five town area for a simple reason: It would be good for the kids. “For me, the number one reason why this change is important is because it allows this organization to focus on what it wants to achieve for kids in a way that it hasn’t ever
been able to do before,” Reen said. The Vermont Board of Education last week approved the ANeSU’s Act 46 unification plan, paving the way for the proposal to be put before voters on Election Day, Nov. 8. The Independent sat down with Reen to get his views on the plan Unification “helps kids because it enables the organization to focus on helping kids. That’s really what it boils down to,” said Reen. (See Reen, Page 30)
need for renewable energy to reach its goal of 90 percent renewable energy by 2050 against its desire to preserve agricultural land, open space, important viewsheds and wildlife habitat. The iconic Field Days setting, with its sweeping vistas, brings these statewide issues sharply into focus. (See Solar, Page 7)
PATRICK REEN
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — A new grant will direct more than $600,000 to Addison County over the next five years for programs aimed at preventing local teens and young adults from abusing alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs. After years of fighting the opiate epidemic in Vermont at the point where people need help cleaning up, one local leader charged with spending the new grant money is happy to open a new front in the battle. (See Prevention, Page 23)