Chronology 2015

Chronology 2015

Innkeeping Ongoing Innkeeping

Since Since

1786 1786 Make a little History of your Own, 20 Park Street • 247-5766 stop in and visit us 20 Park Street • 247-5766

stay@brandoninn.com • BrandonInn.com

Since

1787 castleton.edu

Since

1800

A Global Liberal Arts College

Fine food food & & lodging lodging Fine Since Since Since Since Since

1810 1810 1810 Dinner Nightly Sunday Brunch 11-2 Route 125, East Middlebury

Dinner DinnerNightly Nightly••Nightly Sun.Brunch Brunch11-2 Dinner Sun. Sunday Brunch 11-2 11-2 Route125, 125,East East Middlebury Route Middlebury

Route Middlebury Route 125, 125, EastEast Middlebury • 388-4015 www.Wayburyinn.com www.Wayburyinn.com www.Wayburyinn.com www.WayburyInn.com www.Wayburyinn.com

Middlebury inn & Morgan’s Tavern Since

1827 Open to the public for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

14 Court Square, Middebury 388-4961 • www.middleburyinn.com

Miller & Ketcham Funeral Home Gary C. Stanley, Director

Since Since

1827 1827 Franklin Brandon, VT 2626 Franklin St. St., Brandon, VT 05733 802-247-5704 802-247-5704

he F FirsT irsT NaTioNal TThe aTioNal aNk oF oF orwell BBaNk rwell Traditional Banking Traditional Banking

Since Since Since

1863 1863 1863 Main Street • Orwell • 948-2811

Rt. 22A • Shoreham Main Street • Orwell••897-2265 948-2811 Rt. 22A • Shoreham • 897-2265

Ripton Country Store Since

1879

— A Year In Review —

(January continued from Page 1A) away over the coming year. January brought the first of many Page 1 headlines in 2015 about the proposed replacement of Middlebury’s two downtown railroad bridges. The news: Construction of a tunnel to supplant the deteriorating Merchants Row and Main Street rail bridges would not begin until 2016, rather than the spring of 2015, as had first been forecasted. Officials cited surging cost estimates (up to $55 million) and a longer than anticipated work schedule (three construction seasons). A Mount Abraham Union High School alum did his alma mater proud. Daniel Eling, a member of the MAUHS class of 1996, appeared as a contestant on the popular TV quiz show “Jeopardy!” Though he led for part of the game, he finished third (and out of the money) with a very respectable $23,598 in his bank. Also in Bristol, optimism grew in the search for a site for a new fire department headquarters. Bristol firefighters have spent years casting about for a new place on which to replace their aging fire station on North Street. In January, resident Kevin Harper announced he and a business partner had purchased two adjacent parcels on the south side of West Street that could be used for a new facility. Keep your eyes on this story. Meanwhile, lawmakers got down to business for the start of the 2015 legislative session. The first major item on their agenda: Deciding the governor’s race, as neither incumbent Gov. Peter Shumlin nor Republican challenger Scott Milne had garnered more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the November 2014 election. The majority of Addison County’s delegation voted for Shumlin, the eventual winner, who had received the most votes cast by Vermonters back in November. And speaking of the Legislature, two county lawmakers in January were elevated to leadership roles. Rep. David Sharpe, D-Bristol, was selected by House leadership to head up the Education Committee, which was tasked with reforming public education financing and governance. State Sen. Chris Bray, a New Haven Democrat, was named chairman of the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee, charged with — among other things — devising plans for cleaning up Lake Champlain. Shumlin had stressed lake cleanup and renewable energy during his state-of-the-state speech. The county’s other state senator, Addison Democrat Claire Ayer, again found herself in the thick of the action in Montpelier. Ayer was named chairwoman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, with a workload that included overseeing more health care reforms. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell and Addison County State’s Attorney David Fenster determined that Vermont State Police Sgt. Michael Dion was justified in his use of deadly force when he shot and injured Tina LaBoissiere, 42, of Crown Point, N.Y., during an April 4, 2014, incident off Pine Street in Bristol. Vermont Gas Systems began the new year with a new CEO and president. Don Rendall took over that job from Don Gilbert. Rendall promised, among other things, more transparency and public outreach in Vermont Gas’s efforts to build a controversial natural gas pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury

Since

1888

Celebrating aasense Celebrating aasense Celebrating sense Celebrating sense ofofcommunity of community community of community

Since Since Since Since Since Since

1897 1897 1897 1897 1897 1897 1897 Since

Restored Restored1993-2007 1993-2007

Restored 1993-2007

1993-2007 Restored 1993-2007 ForaaRestored full calendar of For full calendar of events eventsvisit: visit: Restored 1993-2007 For fullcalendar calendar of events www.vergennesoperahouse.org www.vergennesoperahouse.org For full calendar of visit: For aaafull of events eventsvisit: visit: or call 877-6737 1993-2007 www.vergennesoperahouse.org call 877-6737 www.vergennesoperahouse.org www.vergennesoperahouse.org For a Restored full or calendar of events visit:

or call 877-6737

or call call 877-6737 877-6737 www.vergennesoperahouse.org For a full or calendar of events visit: or call 877-6737 www.vergennesoperahouse.org or call 877-6737

DOUGLAS ORCHARDS Growing Great Apples for 4 Generations

Since

1898

Rt. 74 • West Shoreham, VT • 897-5043

Since

1907

Bristol office founded in 1994 35 West Street • Bristol • 453.6600 www. paigeandcampbell.com

Jan. 5

THE NIGHT SKY explodes with fireworks over the Middlebury recreation park during the town’s annual New Year’s Eve display.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

and Vergennes. Company officials announced a projected $32 million budget increase for the project, bringing the latest total to $154 million. January also offered a glimpse back in time, thanks to a local family. Peter Oxford of Cornwall announced his late grandmother Nancy Hopkins Tier was to be posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for her exploits as a Civil Air Patrol aviator during World War II. Tier was a pioneer of early aviation during a time when most women were relegated to subordinate roles. Her story appeared in the Independent.

February February brought news that Vermont Gas had decided to scuttle plans for a “Phase II” pipeline that would have delivered natural gas from Middlebury to the International Paper Co. mill in Ticonderoga, N.Y.

The news came as a pleasant surprise to scores of residents in Middlebury, Cornwall and Shoreham who had opposed the project based on property rights, safety and environmental concerns. Vermont Gas officials cited new cost estimates indicating a $105 million price tag for the pipeline, up from the original forecast of $74 million. International Paper was to be the major funder of the project. Meanwhile, the Vermont Supreme Court gave the Public Service Board permission to launch a wide ranging investigation into budgeting practices for the already approved Phase I pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury and Vergennes. Four companies emerged as potential developers of the socalled “economic development initiative” property off Bakery Lane, behind Middlebury’s Ilsley Library. Middlebury officials solicited interest in the 1.42-acre, townowned parcel, which they reasoned could host a mixed-use development that could infuse some new energy in the downtown area. Declaring

Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History Preserving local history Since

1882

One Park St., Middlebury • 388-2117 www.HenrySheldonMuseum.org

Since

Design, Installation & Service. We are with you from beginning to end. Vergennes, VT • 877-3118

Serving the Champlain Valley for 127 years.

802.877.3098 • www.hjleboeuf.com

Dick and Sue Collitt 388-7328

Feb. 9

H.J. LeBoeuf & Son, Inc.

CONTRACTERS & BUILDERS

“The Best Store in Town”

1887

HJL

inc.

PAGE 12A — Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015

ARTIST BEN EINE works to prepare for painting the wall above and around the entrance to Middlebury College’s Museum of Art. Eine completed two original on-site pieces for the museum’s show “Outside In: Art of the Street.” Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

interest were DEW Properties LLC of Williston, Redstone of Burlington, The Retrovest Company of Burlington, and NexBridge Partners LLC, made up of four Addison County businesspeople. In Montpelier, the House Education Committee drafted a bill proposing to eliminate the state’s 60 supervisory unions and replace them with larger schools districts. Supervisory unions participating in the measure would be offered financial incentives to consolidate their governance into one board overseeing one budget for the entire district. Middlebury’s ID-4 school board in February agreed to entertain a shift in the date for the district’s annual meeting, and to consider having future Mary Hogan Elementary School budgets decided by Australian ballots, instead of from the floor. A group of Middlebury residents petitioned for the changes, which they argued would allow more people to vote on the annual Mary Hogan spending plan. Opponents of the switch argued that the current voting format allowed for people to question, and amend, the budget proposal before a final vote. In the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union, some citizens began circulating a petition seeking the removal of embattled Superintendent David Adams. United Way of Addison County officials were concerned in February about the organization’s lagging annual fund drive. UWAC had set a 2014 goal of raising $720,000 for Addison County nonprofits. But almost two months into calendar year 2015, the campaign had yielded but $550,000. United Way officials cited competing charitable interests as among the reasons for the lag in donations. Maple Landmark Woodcraft was outgrowing its Exchange Street building. The successful manufacturer of wooden toys sought permission from the town of Middlebury to build a 11,340-squarefoot addition on its headquarters. February brought news of the plight of 25-year-old Bristol (See February, Page 13A)

Since

1912 258 Main Street • Vergennes 877-2211 www.bixbylibrary.org

Since

1913 Serving local farmers for more than 100 years.

CO-OPERATIVE INSURANCE COMPANIES

Since Since Since

1915 1915 1915 388-7917

388-7917 388-7917 P.O. Box 5890, Middlebury, VT P.O. Middlebury, VT P.O.Box Box5890, 5890, Middlebury, VT www.co-opinsurance.com www.co-opinsurance.com www.co-opinsurance.com

Building relationships that last generations.

Since

1916 320 Exchange Street Middlebury • 388.2692 www.YankeeACA.com

Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015 — PAGE 13A

Chronology 2015

1923 75 Main Street • Middlebury 388.4095 www.ilsleypubliclibrary.org

FOSTER MOTORS Since Since

1924 1924

Full Full Service Service Dealership Dealership Chrysler Chrysler •• Dodge Dodge •• Jeep Jeep •• Ram Ram Check Check us us out out at at www.fostermotors.com www.fostermotors.com Rt. Rt. 77 So., So., Middlebury Middlebury •• 388-9961 388-9961

Service Above Self Serving Addison County Since

1927

JACKMAN’S INC. of Bristol

Celebrating 86 years!

Since

1930

32 Pine Street • Bristol • 453.2381 www.jackmansinc.com

Since

1930

Providing, processing and distributing milk and dairy products to Addison County and beyond. Started by Richard and Marjory James. In the same family, under the same name for 4 generations.

Since

1934 802-388-2101 63 Main St., Middlebury

Foote’s Insurance Agency Since

1938 6 Green Street, Vergennes 877-3351

— A Year In Review —

(February continued from Page 12A) resident Kaitlin Heffernan, a cystic fibrosis patient in dire need of a new set of lungs. Folks from throughout the county and beyond rallied on her behalf with financial donations to provide her with some of the resources she would need to afford post-operative medicine and appointments. All that she and her family could do was wait for a call from Massachusetts General Hospital indicating a potential organ match. Addison County was back on the TV quiz show “Jeopardy!� again this month. Monkton Central School teacher Kate La Riviere-Gagner did her students proud with a nice showing in the “Jeopardy!� teachers’ tournament. She placed second in an initial round, which was good enough to take her to a second round, where she unfortunately came up short. The on-again, off-again effort to re-establish a hydro-works at Middlebury’s Otter Creek Falls took a step forward when the town selectboard and Middlebury Electric principal Anders Holm agreed on a term sheet spelling out a potential roadmap to a project. Cornwall and Bridport each named new elementary school principals in February. Jennefer Eaton was picked to lead Bridport Central, while Jennifer Kravitz was selected to lead Cornwall’s Bingham Memorial School. The Addison County Chamber of Commerce appointed a familiar face to head up the organization. Sue Hoxie took over for Andy Mayer. Hoxie had since 2008 served the chamber as its marketing and communications director. UD-3 school district voters OK’d $400,000 in upgrades to restrooms and science classrooms at Middlebury Union High School, security-related window improvements to windows at Middlebury Union Middle School, and erosion to the Otter Creek riverbank near the Fucile Field.

1945 1945 “As Always, Always, Quality, Quality, “As

Sales and Service.� “AsSales Always, Quality, and Service.� 205 Mainand Street,Service.� Vergennes Sales 201 Main Street, Vergennes

877-2661 • Jackmanfuels.com 877-2661 201 Main Street, Vergennes 877-2661

1945 1945

Originally established asasBakery Bakery Originally establishedas BakeryLane Lane originally established Lane

Middlebury Bagel Bagel 1979 Middlebury Deli since Middlebury Bagel&&&Deli Delisince since 1979 withJim JimRubright Rubright and with andFamily Family with Jim Rubright Family 11 St., 11 Washington Middlebury 11Washington WashingtonSt., St.,Middlebury•388-0859 Middlebury• •388-0859 388-0859

Since Since Since Since Since

1946 1946 1946

Feb. 16

Happy Holidays! HappyHolidays! Holidays! Happy Happy Holidays!

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE’S OLD Chapel nearly disappears in a brief snow squall on campus.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

March March means Town Meeting Day, and Addison County residents made some important financial decisions about their communities and schools. As usual, most of the municipal and school budgets in the county’s 23 towns and Brandon passed muster with voters. But there were also some casualties, as residents rejected two high school budgets and three elementary school spending plans. Going down in flames were proposed 2015-2016 budgets offered by Mount Abraham Union High School; Vergennes Union High School; and the Bristol, Monkton and Ferrisburgh elementary schools. In some cases, it was about the money. In other cases, if was something else. For example, some officials in Addison Northeast theorized the Mount Abe and Bristol Elementary defeats were associated with ongoing resentment of a major MAUHS building proposal that had been soundly defeated late last year. Voters might have also used their “no� votes to protest the ongoing employment of ANeSU Superintendent David Adams, some officials speculated. A citizens’ petition was filed seeking Adams’ ouster. While the spending plan for Robinson Elementary School was approved by those who attended

Since Since

Feb. 2

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE STUDENTS float across the college’s natatorium last Thursday night in a traditional Japanese boat, one of two that were constructed during a J-Term class led by boatbuilder Douglas Brooks of Vergennes. After the maiden voyage in the pool, both boats were put on display in the student J-Term art exhibit in Johnson Memorial Building.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

Starksboro’s town meeting on the Saturday before Town Meeting Day, a citizens’ petition was brought forward seeking a revote on the spending plan because the amount warned before the meeting was changed by the voters at the meeting. Area school boards made adjustments to their failed 2015-2016 budget proposals in hopes of earning a favorable response from residents on revote. Ferrisburgh Central School directors cut $39,113 from the $3.62 million proposal defeated on Town Meeting Day. Meanwhile,

VUHS directors prepared a “twotiered revote.� One article reflected a $156,000 cut to the $10.47 million spending plan that was rejected. A second article asked residents if they wanted to restore the $156,000. Some contested municipal elections were also decided. In Vergennes, Joe Klopfenstein, Lowell Bertrand and Jeffrey Fritz earned spots on the city council, with William Northrop finishing out of the running. In Middlebury, Leslie Bodette defeated Elaine Orozco for a term on the ID-4 school board. In

Est.

1940 20 Main • Vergennes, VT 802.877.3371

March 9

FERRISBURGH CENTRAL SCHOOL fifth-grader Anna Carr pieces together a bamboo and rattan lantern during a residency at the school with Vermont artist Gowri Savoor. Savoor was at the school working with students and community members through the end of March, when the lanterns were illuminated from within and paraded around the school. Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

New Haven, it was Steve Dupoise Sr. over Susan Smiley and Jim Walsh over Charles Roy for two contested spots on the selectboard. It was kind of surreal when in late March media from throughout the country flocked to Middlebury to learn more about a possible link between New York City real estate scion Robert Durst and former Middlebury College student Lynne Schulze, who mysteriously disappeared from the campus back in 1971. Middlebury police presented information indicating that Schulze was last seen purchasing some prunes from “All Good Things,� a store that Durst owned and operated in Middlebury back in the early ’70s. Durst has been charged with murder in the 2000 death in California of Susan Berman, a friend of Durst’s. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held to mark the start of construction on two new town buildings: Municipal offices at 77 Main St., and a rreation facility off Creek Road. The new structures were approved by voters a year earlier after an at-times fractious battle between supporters and opponents of the $6.5 million project, which included financing from Middlebury College. Vermont’s highest court in March dealt another setback to a proposed 26-acre gravel pit near Rounds Road and South Street in Bristol. The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that a lower court had erred in approving the pit proposed by Jim Lathrop. In Addison Northeast, parties negotiating a new teachers’ contract took a novel approach — they conducted their talks in public, rather than behind closed doors. This move was in part triggered by a lawsuit filed by a Starksboro man. The move had many observers wondering if this would set a precedent for other Vermont school districts. At the Statehouse, lawmakers were confronting a $118 million revenue shortfall for the fiscal year 2016 state budget. They began exploring a series of cuts and revenue boosts to mop up the red ink. Local lawmakers solicited suggestions from their constituencies at regular legislative breakfast meetings. Many Addison County residents in March mourned the sudden passing of longtime physician Dr. Alan Ayer, who was 71. An estimated 6,000 people were brought into the world by Ayer during his 36 years as an obstetrician-gynecologist in the Middlebury area. Many condolences were sent to his wife, Sen. Claire Ayer. In March we ran a story on how dog lovers from throughout the country had made donations to help Pico, a seriously injured husky found limping around a wooded area of Cornwall. A person who spotted Pico took him in to Homeward Bound, the Addison County Humane Society shelter. It was quickly determined that Pico would have to have his right hind leg amputated. The Humane Society conducted an online campaign to raise $3,250 for Pico’s operation. The effort raised that sum within only 24 hours, and a veterinarian ultimately offered to perform the operation for free, thereby allowing the funds to be used to help other animals. It was the end of an era for Middlebury College men’s hockey. Longtime head Coach Bill Beaney announced he would step away after 28 years at the helm of the Panthers, (See March Page 14A)

58Maple Maple Street MapleStreet Street 58 5858 Maple Street TheMarble MarbleWorks, Works, Middlebury Middlebury The TheMarble Marble Works, Works, Middlebury Middlebury The 388-4944••www.addisonindependent.com www.addisonindependent.com 388-4944

388-4944••www.addisonindependent.com www.addisonindependent.com 388-4944

GROUND LEVEL CONTAINERS

Since

1949

1485 Rte. 7 North • Middlebury 388.0264 • paquetteselfstorage.com

WEYBRIDGE GARAGE

ES T

Since

Jackman Fuels, Inc.

Since Since Since

1949 1949 1949

Foreign & General Repairs Foreign General Car Car Foreign &&General CarRepairs Repairs 225 FarmRoad Road 225Morgan Morgan Horse Farm 225 Morgan Horse Farm Road Weybridge, VT • 388-7652 Weybridge,VT •388-7652 Weybridge, 388-7652

Middlebury Lions Club Serving The Community

Since

1952 P.O. Box 5, Middlebury, VT 05753

The Eddy Farm School Since

1955

Tradition•Horsemanship•Partnership 1815 South St. Ext., Middlebury 388-6196 • eddyfarmschool.com

Laberge Insurance Since Since

1955 1955 For all your insurance needs

For all your insurance needs 1 Washington Street, Middlebury 1 Washington Street, Middlebury 388-2772 388-2772

Addison County Commission Sales T.G. Wisnowski & Sons

Founded

1956

Sales every Monday & Thursday Route 125, East Middlebury 388-2661

PAGE 14A — Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015

Chronology 2015

Langrock Sperry & Wool, llp Attorneys

At

L Aw

SINCE

1960

We’re all here when you need us. WWW.LANGROCK.COM

Gaines Insurance Agency Since Since

1962 1962 154 MonktonRoad, Road,Ferrisburgh Vergennes 154 Monkton (802)877-2878 877-2878 (802)

Middlebury Beef, Inc. Since Since

1962 1962

Gas ••Diesel Diesel • Propane •• Deli Gas • Propane Deli 3201 Rte. 77South 3201 Route South Middlebury, 05753 Middlebury, Vt. Vt. 05753 388-7114 388-7114

Since

1964 Braces for Children & Adults

388-2222

170 Middle Road North • Middlebury

Since Since Since

1964 1964 1964

Complete line line of Complete ofInsurance Insurance 48 Merchants Row, Middlebury 48 Merchants Row, Middlebury 388-4837 388-4837 www.bourdoninsurance.com

www.bourdoninsurance.com

DESABRAIS LAUNDRY & DRY CLEANING Family owned & operated

Since

1966 Started by Thea & Lucien Desabrais

1232 Exchange Street, Middlebury 388-9079

Gary Baker Insurance Since

1966 Business Succession Planning Medicare Supplements Long Term Care Life Insurance • Annuities

4 Maple St., Middlebury • 388-2636

Since

1968

— A Year In Review —

(March continued from Page 13A) during which his teams notched 602 wins and eight NCAA Division III NCAA titles. Ric Lavallee signed on as the new executive director of Middlebury Regional EMS. Lavallee filled a position that had been vacated the previous spring by Bill Edson. Also in March we reported on Northlands Job Corps’ latest director: George Sabol, a Pennsylvania native and 18-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. He brought with him to Vergennes 11 years of helping other job corps centers in the country.

Change happens because of You. GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER www.unitedwayaddisoncounty.org

Incorporated in

1969 Visit us at 93 Court Street • Middlebury www.AddisonCounty.com

April April 1 marked the end of an era: Months of rumors about Greg’s Meat Market concluded with an admission on March 31 by owner Bart Litvin that the Middlebury fixture would shut down, and the business closed its doors on April 1. One deal to reopen it fell through. Others in the local business community looked into buying the once thriving independent grocery store, but at the end of the year the building at the corner of Elm and Exchange streets remained empty and forlorn. At about the beginning of the month the proposal for the Green Mountain Power Link surfaced, so to speak — it called for a 1,000-megawatt, high-voltage direct current electric line running for 98 miles under Lake Champlain, including hugging the Addison County coastline before landing in Benson and running through Rutland County on the way to Ludlow. The issue arose whether lakefront towns could tax an underwater line intended to deliver power from Canada to Southern New England. Just before a series of school votes, two Mount Abraham teachers, Gabe Hamilton and Andrew Jones, were named Rowland Fellows, earning themselves and their school a $100,000 grant to further their research into innovative methods of assessing students’ learning. They joined teachers from Otter Valley and Vergennes union high schools who had previously won Rowland Fellowships, which are awarded annually. In possibly the best-attended annual Mary Hogan Elementary School meeting in history, an overwhelming majority of the roughly 150 Middlebury residents there voted that future Mary Hogan budgets would be decided by town-wide Australian balloting — and not by the handful of residents who typically attend such meetings. They also voted to move the annual meeting date from April to Town Meeting Day and showed strong support for the board’s $6.8 million budget proposal. In Bristol in front of a packed municipal building conference room, new plans were unveiled for a twostory, 11,456-square-foot firehouse. They were well received, and officials began to move toward a longawaited vote. Then it was time for more school balloting, and for officials it didn’t go well: ANeSU voters rejected for a second time a Mount Abe budget, this time a $14.02 million spending plan that cut $36,000 from a beaten Town Meeting Day proposal. Vot-

March 5

STATE SEN. CHRIS Bray made it just in time to speak before Panton residents on Town Meeting Day.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

March 2

PICO, A HUSKY who had to have a hind leg amputated recently, sits with Homeward Bound Animal Care Coordinator Chris Ouellette. Pico was found in the woods in Cornwall with a broken leg, bad ear infections and some bad teeth. Pico’s condition sparked a campaign that raised nearly $10,000 for his care. Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

ers hammered the proposed budget, 755-485. A second Bristol Elementary spending plan, for $4.93 million, also lost, 224-166. Monkton voters did pass a Monkton Central School budget on a second try, however, by a tally of 158-132. It called for $2.82 million of spending during the 20152016 school year. Tragedy struck in Middlebury. Kelly Boe, 55, a Middlebury College employee and a well-liked and active member of the Middlebury community, was killed while bicycling with

his wife in Weybridge by an allegedly drunk driver, Nathan Dearing, 27, whose license had been suspended. Dearing’s case was still pending in December. In April, New Haven opened a new front in its battle against the spread of solar arrays in the town. The town asserted in a filing with the Public Service Board that the town does have the authority to regulate array siting because the companies proposing them are not technically utilities under PSB purview, as defined by state law.

(802) 388-7259 www.achhh.org Rt. 7 North, Middlebury , Vt.

Since

1968 1293 Rt. 7 So. • Middlebury, Vt. www.breadloaf.com

Quality Service

Since

Landscape Construction • Plantings Perennial Gardens • Patios • Walkways Walls • Stairs • Pool Decks & Veneer Foundation & Stone Restoration

David Palmer • Midd., Vt. • 388-0045

ANeSU returned to the news late in April, when the Bristol-area school district’s executive committee announced it had hired a mediator to help improve what it called a “deteriorated environment” in the six district schools. The committee said that over a period of months it hoped to improve the working relationships between faculty and administrators, reform how school boards operate, and better define how administrators are evaluated. After more than a year of debate and a citywide vote against the project in March (a vote that Vergennes officials said was on a misleading article), the city councils’ hopes for a quarter-acre preschool playground on East Street ended in April. The state entity that awarded the grant said it could not give Vergennes another extension, and that news followed the announcement by the project architect that he did believe the playground could still be built for its proposed $42,000 budget. Aldermen returned a $21,000 grant to the state. The selectboard in Brandon was looking for a way to raise money to fix a raft of infrastructure projects. In April the board floated the idea of a 1 percent local option tax that would collect money specifically for roads, bridges, sidewalks and the like. In 2014 Darren Ouellette of Shoreham had caught a 44-pound, 41.25inch carp while bowfishing on Lake Champlain in his hometown, In April of 2015 the state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the fish was a new state record. Middlebury College in the spring was proposing to add four new student residences that would contain a combined total of 158 beds, a project aimed, college officials said, at reducing currently cramped housing conditions and encouraging on-campus living. The new housing would be built in conjunction with the removal of temporary modular housing for 35 students that was installed below the campus’s Western Ridgeline in 1997. New Haven teenager Elija Pedriani returned to school at Mount Abe this months after spending the winter training and competing internationally with the USA Luge team. Porter Medical Center tapped Lynn Boggs, a hospital executive in North Carolina, to succeed Jim Daily as president and CEO of the Middlebury institution. Boggs, who has more than two decades of experience in health care administration plus almost 10 years as a registered nurse, was due to start in June, when Daily was going to retire after 31 years in his role at Porter.

May

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

1968

1968

United Way of Addison County was founded in

April 13

FERRISBURGH CENTRAL SCHOOL fifth-graders feel the steam rising off a portable sugarhouse evaporator that visited the school. Most of the sap used for the boil was collected by the students from trees on the Ferrisburgh town green.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

As May opened, yet another school budget revote was held, and yet another school budget went down to defeat, this time a Vergennes Union High School spending plan. Addison Northwest Supervisory Union voters rejected both ends of a two-tiered plan. A $10.31 million budget, $156,000 lower than the one that lost in March, was defeated, 722-676. A second plan that would have restored that $156,000 lost by a wider margin, 843-556. At the same time, Ferrisburgh voters backed a $3.59 million Ferrisburgh Central School budget proposal, 346-234, plus a $5,200 (See May Page 15A)

“Growing to meet your needs”

Since

1970

453 Exchange St. • Middlebury champlainvalleyequipment.com • 388-4967

Huestis Farm Supply Since

1970 802-758-2289 huestisfarmsupply.com 3877 Crown Point Rd., Bridport, VT

We will assist you through the permitting process.

Since since

1970 1970

25West West Street, Street, Bristol 25 Bristol••453-3818 453-3818 www.larosesurveys.com www.larosesurveys.com

Since

1971

48 Main Street • Middlebury 388-2580

Since Since Since

1971 1971 Route Route 77 South, South, Middlebury Middlebury 388-6297 388-6297

Your Bike Shop since Since Your Bike Shop since Your Bike Shop Shop Your Bike Since

1972 1972 1972

74 Main St., Main St.,Middlebury Middlebury 74 74 Main Street, Middlebury••388-6666 • 388-6666 388-6666 www.bikecentermid.com www.bikecentermid.com www.bikecentermid.com

Established

1972

453-2500 • BristolElectronicsVT.com

Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015 — PAGE 15A

Chronology 2015

Addison County Automotive Since Since

1973 1973

— A Year In Review —

Automotive Accessories Automotive Accessories Professionally Installed Professionally Installed 388-7878

Since

1978 Formerly Bristol Dental Group

1330 Exchange St., Suite 107, Midd. 388-3553 • middleburydentalvt.com

388-7878 1 Washington St., Middlebury 1 Washington St., Middlebury

BROWN’S TREE, CRANE & RENTAL SERVICE Since

1974

Since

1978

“Go to new heights with Brown’s Rental Service.”

“Happy New Year from our family to yours!”

275 South 116 Rd., Bristol, VT 453-3351

Main St., Middlebury • 388-6831

Fire & Ice RESTAURANT & PUB

Broughton tTom om B roughton Auctioneer Auctions Since • Home • Estates

Since

1974

1979 Commercial • Consignments •

Dinner every evening Lunches Fri., Sat., Sun.

Jct. 22A and 125, Bridport 758-2494 Bridport, VT • 758-2494 www.tombroughtonauctions.com tombroughtonauctions.com

One block off Rte. 7 in Historic Middlebury • 388-7166

Cousino Financial Services

April 16

Since Since

PATRICK O’BRIEN, LEFT, and Matt Wells of Big Branch Builders take measurements of the suspension footbridge over Otter Creek near Middlebury Union High School athletic fields. They worked to lessen the sag in the bridge.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

Celebrating 40 Years

Since

1975 Serving Vermonters Since

1976 Bill Beck Real Estate

Since

1976 The Premier Real Estate Company in Addison County

Seymour St., Middlebury • 388-7983 www.BillBeck.com

Incorporated

1976 Middleburycoop.com Washington St., Midd • 388-7276

Carr’s Florist & Gifts Since

1978

“In the heart of Brandon, a tradition of quality and service” Bernie & Beth Carr • 247-5727 21 Center St., Brandon, VT

(May continued from Page 14A) article restoring the school’s Spanish enrichment program. Combined, the results created a 2 percent budget hike, less than if voters had backed an initial proposal in March. And Starksboro voters gathered at Mount Abraham Union High School for a special meeting to reconsider the budget approved in February for their elementary school. The reconsideration was mandated by a petition sparked because voters amended the school board proposal at the Feb. 28 meeting. By a 14265 tally in May, residents backed a $2.9 million plan that cut $80,000 from what voters approved at town meeting, but added $115,000 to the town school board’s original proposal. In April, a new plan for a Bristol firehouse had debuted to positive reviews. In May, the estimated price tag arrived: $3.19 million including the land needed. Officials began to work toward a vote to replace the outdated and inadequate existing firehouse. In Middlebury, neighbors of the airport opposed a plan to relocate and expand its runways. Opponents said they feared more and larger aircraft, more noise and lights, and even groundwater pollution. By the end of May, the Vergennes and Mount Abraham union high school and Bristol elementary union boards all regrouped, made cuts, scheduled votes for June, and launched campaigns to educate voters and encourage residents to vote. Many fingers were also crossed as the deadline neared to operate schools in the fall without approved budgets. Organizers of the first-ever Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, which would screen scores of new films in the shire town later this summer, scored a major sponsor this month — the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. The Shelburne firm would supply the custom-made VTeddy Award statuettes given to the winning filmmakers. The pain is inconceivable. While other moms throughout the nation were being celebrated by their children on Mother’s Day, Katie Gorton of Bristol was pressing her ear to her 15-year-old son Jacob’s chest to hear his heart beat for the last time. Young Jacob had been at St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., where he had been receiving treatment following his second bone marrow transplant to fight the T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with which he had been diagnosed back in 2012. Dr. Mike Kiernan faces many challenges as a physician with Porter Hospital’s Emergency Department. But this spring he treated a different clientele when he traveled to the Himalayan nation of Nepal to help the people there recover from the devastating earthquake that struck on April 25. Another local physician, Jean Andersson-Swayze, headed overseas in the opposite direction to help people in a far-off land recover from a different tragedy. Andersson-Swayze

spent time in the West African nation of Sierra Leone treating people who had been struck by the dreaded Ebola disease. Weybridge Elementary sixthgrader David Liebowitz was Vermont’s representative at the 27th annual National Geographic Bee held in Washington, D.C., May 1113. And while he didn’t take the title, the 11-year-old answered a majority of the brain-crushing queries tossed his way by the folks at National Geographic. People from Addison County were among the 5,000 boisterous supporters who crowded into Burlington’s Waterfront Park late in May to cheer on Vermont’s junior senator as he kicked off his presidential campaign. We could almost hear the chant “BERRR-NIE! BERRR-NIE! BERRR-NIE!” 35 miles to the south, and we definitely saw a lot of Bernie Sanders bumper stickers appear on local vehicles. A long race of a different sort kicked off in Goshen that same week. Ten members of the newly formed Endurance Society started running laps around a 26.4-mile course up and down through the Green Mountain National Forest, and they looked to do it for 10 days. They faced frost and snow on the trail, sleet and rain and temperatures soaring into the high 80s. During the race they encountered bear, moose, porcupines, snakes and, of course, mosquitoes. Who would be the last one standing? The final weekend in May saw the

Opera Company of Middlebury open its 12th season with a production of Puccini’s final opera, “Turandot.” Top-notch international talent came to sing some of the lead roles alongside some talented Vermont vocalists.

June June brought school news, including another round of budget votes and the retirements of a number of well-liked and respected local teachers. And that of one college president — the end of the academic year and of June marked the conclusion of Middlebury College President Ron Liebowitz’s 11-year tenure. Liebowitz told the Independent he hoped he would be remembered locally as setting a new tone of cooperation between the institution and its host community. As June began, 2015-2016 spending at local schools remained up in the air: Spending plans for Mount Abraham and Vergennes union high and Bristol Elementary schools had all lost twice. Then on June 9, Mount Abe and VUHS budgets finally won backing after a second round of cuts. The Mount Abe tally ran strongly in favor of a $13.95 million spending plan, 852-597. The VUHS vote was a little closer, 814-645, but still showed solid support for a $10.26 million budget. Still to come a week later was the Bristol Elementary

May 4

A CREW POURS concrete for a portion of the foundation for Middlebury’s new town offices, under construction next to the Ilsley Library.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

vote, which board members said they wanted to hold on a different date so that town residents would see them as “two separate issues.” Maybe it was a good idea to ask Bristol voters to make a second trip to the polls: A $4.9 million Bristol Elementary budget breezed to victory on June 16, 285-134. That balloting ended school financing drama until this winter, when spending caps and penalties that a bill that legislators passed last spring, Act 46, started affecting the boards’ budgeting processes. Act 46 also encourages school districts and supervisory unions to consolidate their governance structure, and creates potential penalties for those that do not. In June, Addison Central Supervisory Union launched its effort to unify its nine-board organization into a one-board, one-budget system. Soon afterward, Rutland Northeast also formed a committee to study the issue. We brought you some school news of a different sort in early June with a story on Monkton Central School’s “Maker Fair.” Students had been working all year — hands-on — with projects that emphasized critical thinking and problem solving in a kind of “organized chaos.” The results were educational AND fun. Mount Abe Principal Gaynell Lyman announced that she would be leaving her job in Bristol to take a position with a consultancy that helps schools adopt technology and innovation plans. In Middlebury, the second incarnation of Skihaus in downtown Middlebury announced that it would close its doors. The shop was founded six decades ago and had done business as The Alpine Shop for a number of years during its 60-year run. News broke in the form of an inventory liquidation ad. New tenants soon signed up for the key downtown retail space on the corner of Main Street and Merchants Row. At the same time another Middlebury business said it would expand. The owners of the Appalachian Gap Distillery said they wanted to triple their 2,000­square­foot headquarters in Middlebury’s industrial park. The addition would give the growing business additional warehouse space to house its whiskey barrels, more room for grain storage and a larger tasting room, and would allow for installation of a bottling line. Nearby, Otter Creek Brewing said it would build a 7,000-square-foot addition to its Exchange Street factory that would allow it to double its annual production of 65,000 barrels of beer. And just down the street Vermont Coffee Co., which makes a different kind of brew, opened a new café on site with its coffee roasting operation. Brandon artist Warren Kimble gathered some of the work he has created over the past 70 years and assembled a show at the Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury. The exhibition was unveiled in June. Local chicken and turkey producers were worried about the outbreak (See June Page 16A)

1979 1979 Bristol and Life, Disability Retirement Planning 453-2497 Bristol • 453-2497

Locally crafted gifts for all ages.

Since

1979 1297 Exchange St., Middlebury 388-0627

Independent K-6 Education

Since

1980 802-388-3498 1469 Exchange St., Middlebury bridgeschoolvermont.org

Since

1980

Telecommunications Sales & Service Data Cabling & Fiber Optics 802-388-8999 John and Jim Fitzgerald

Since

1980

Complete Glass Headquarters Auto • House • Commercial Custom Shower Enclosures Boardman Street, Middlebury • 388-9049 Roger, Joanne, Roger Jr., Todd, Joe, Paul & Matthew

th years! Celebrating Celebrating our 3428 Anniversary!

Since Since

1981 1981

Annand and Bruce Bruce Perreault Ann Perreault WilsonRd., Rd.,Middlebury Middlebury 388-3143 9999 Wilson 388-3143

PAGE 16A — Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015

Chronology 2015

Marcel Brunet & Sons, Inc.

Windows and Siding Since Since

1981 1981 SidingContractors Contractors Siding

Vergennes,Vt. Vt. •• 802-877-2640 Vergennes, 802-877-2640

Since Since Since

1982 1982 1982 “Wecare” care” for “We foryour your land animals. land and animals. Seymour St., Midd. 388-7000 SeymourSt., St.,Midd. Midd. •• 388-7000 Seymour 388-7000

County Tire Center, Inc. Since Since Since

1982 1982 1982 under the “Your under the “Your“Your under the car specialists”

car specialists” car specialists” 33 Seymour St., Middlebury 33 Seymour St., Middlebury 388-7620 33 Seymour St., Middlebury 388-7620 388-7620

Since

1982

A Middlebury Family Restaurant Pizza • Pasta • Subs • Soups Salads • Calzones 11 Washington St., Midd • 388-3164

Forth ‘N Goal sports & the Middlebury shop

Since Since

1983 1983

Everything for the rink, court, Everything for the rink, court, pool, field and diamond.

pool, field and diamond. 68 Main St., Middlebury

68 Main St., Middlebury • 388-3444 388-3444

Since Since Since

1983 1983 1983

163163 Revell Vermont RevellRoad, Road, Lincoln, Lincoln, Vermont 163 Revell Road, Lincoln, Vermont 1-800-477-4384• 453-4384 1-800-477-4384 • (802) (802) 453-4384 1-800-477-4384 • (802) 453-4384 www.lagvt.com www.lagvt.com

www.lagvt.com

Since

1983 Frames • Sunglasses • Repair Fast Turn-Around

1330 Exchange St., Midd. • 388-4456 www.opticsltd.com

— A Year In Review —

(June continued from Page 15A) of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the Midwest. Although HPAI was not directly affecting Vermont, poultry farmers were taking precautions. Consumers, too, knew that the loss of millions of birds out West could mean high prices nationwide for meat and eggs later in the year. The Ferrisburgh selectboard joined the growing chorus asking for towns to have more say in the siting of solar arrays. With five arrays in Ferrisburgh suddenly in the pipeline, the selectboard said it would not support three of them. And the board decided to sign a petition generated in Rutland asking the Legislature to grant the towns more power in a process overseen by the Public Service Board. The Middlebury selectboard green-lighted their local police department’s proposal to acquire Tasers, a device that officials believe would better enable officers to control aggressive and assaultive suspects without having to resort to deadly force. As most people know, Tasers use an electrical charge to disrupt muscle control in a suspect to which they are applied. Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley stressed that Tasers — currently in use by the Vergennes Police Department and Vermont State Police — are used by authorities not as a punitive measure, but to immobilize and then gain control of combative suspects and therefore avoid the alternative of using a firearm. A group of Middlebury College alums returned for their 50th reunion this month and finished a prank they had begun — and kept secret — for five decades. A small group from the class of 1965 had, back in the day, taken the statue of a bull on top of Middlebury Beef Supply and brought it to campus under cover of darkness with the intention of leaving it in Forest Hall. Their plans were thwarted that night so long ago, but this past June they hired a contractor to retrieve “Ferdinand,” as the bull is known, from the roof of the East Middlebury store, and they finally got the bovine into the former women’s dorm.

&

RUNCIE

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

James H. Ouimette James W. Runcie

Born in

1985

257 Main St., Vergennes (802) 877-3372 • office@orlaw-vt.com

Since since

1985 1985 Creatingnew new memories memories every Creating everyday day 25 Stewart Lane, Middlebury 25 Stewart Lane, Middlebury 388-9925 388-9925

Training & Inspiring the people of Addison County to acheive their fitness goals

Since

1985

June 4

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE PRESIDENT Ron Liebowitz is in his final month at the helm in Old Chapel. Liebowitz has had a strong relationship with the town of Middlebury during his 11 years as president.

Middlebury & Vergennes 388-6888 • vermontsun.com • 877-2030

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

July After nine months of evaluating sites, discussing plans and holding informational meetings, residents of Bristol approved a $3.19 million bond to pay for a new firehouse. Architects designed an 11,000-squarefoot facility to be built by local businessman Kevin Harper on a site off West Street opposite the skate park. Upon completion, the town intends to use funds from the bond to purchase the building and a 9.03-acre parcel of land. Bristol also won a $25,000 federal grant that will allow the community to determine the development potential of a roughly 20-acre parcel of town-owned land on the western edge of the village. The “Stoney Hill property,” as it is known, was conveyed to the town for $1 more than two decades ago and had remained

OUIMETTE

May 11

TOM VANACORE TAKES apart the steps in front of the Middlebury Congregational Church last Friday morning. Vanacore and his crew renovated the staircase using some new stone and reusing the old stone when possible.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

unused for lack of an access point and planning funds to determine the extent to which it could be used to host businesses. A Ferrisburgh farmer’s use of a propane cannon to scare birds away from his cornfield ruffled some feathers among neighbors. From

mid-July through mid-August 2014, Wayne Stearns had fired the cannon every minute or so from dawn until dusk. Many neighbors own summer homes on Lake Champlain and because of the noise the Ferrisburgh Board of Listers granted Stearns’ neighbors tax breaks. As of the be-

ginning of July he hadn’t decided if he would use the noise-maker again this summer. In a confirmation of a previous vote, the Addison County Regional Planning Commission said it still supported Vermont Gas Systems’ Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project pipeline. The vote was prompted by Vermont Gas’ announcement that the projected cost of the pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury and Vergennes had jumped 78 percent, from $86 million to $154 million. Opponents of the pipeline said the cost increase raised questions about the public good that such a project would serve. In mid-July, Middlebury’s downtown merchants urged state and federal transportation authorities to reduce the scope and timeline to replace the Main Street and Merchants Row rail overpasses, saying that disruption caused by the $50 million project could hurt numerous businesses. A group of business owners and concerned citizens sought the support of the Middlebury selectboard. Cornwall residents mourned the passing of a fireman, selectman and announcer for Middlebury Union High School and Middlebury College sports. Dave Sears, a tireless volunteer who became known as “the voice” of the schools’ athletic events, died unexpectedly July 11 following a medical episode. He was 56. July also saw the untimely death of Michel Mahé, arguably Addison County’s most prominent chef and successful restaurateur. The native of France was a chef at Starry Night Café in Ferrisburgh before leaving to found and/or operate the Black Sheep Bistro and Park Squeeze in Vergennes, Bobcat Café in Bristol, Bearded Frog in Shelburne and The Lobby in Middlebury. He was 50. The union representing 38 of Mid(See July Page 17A)

Since Since since

1986 1986 1986 Landscape Architecture

Landscape Architecture Landscape Architecture Planning• Graphic Design Planning ••Graphic Design Planning Graphic Design 228 Maple St., Ste.32, Middlebury 228 Maple St., Ste. 32, Middlebury 388-3011•www.landworksvt.com 228 Maple St., Ste. 32, Middlebury 388-3011 • www.landworksvt.com 388-3011 • www.landworksvt.com

Since

1986

Featuring real antiques 100 years old or older & orginal artwork. www.middantiques.com Corner Rt. 7 & 116 E. Middlebury • 388-6229

Helping Vermonters give back to their communities

Since

1986 3 Court Street, Middlebury 388-3355 • vermontcf.org

For 28 years – your hometown gift shop!

Nancie Dunn, Proprietor Featuring Nancie Dunn Cards 28 Yrs! and Bruce Baker’s Jewelry

Since

1987 42 Main Street Middlebury • 388-3353

Vermont Folklife Center Since

1987

Since

1984 88 Main Street • Middlebury 802.388.4964

175 Wilson Rd. - Suite 101, Middlebury (802) 388-3533

Knowledgeable staff and personalized service

Since Since Since

1988 1988 1988 1988 1988 Since Since

Since

1985

Decorate the Countryside way! Decorate the Countryside Decorate the Countryside Decorate the Countrysideway! way! Paints • •Flooring ••Window Paints Flooring Treatments Paints • •Flooring •Window Treatments Paints Flooring •Window WindowTreatments Treatments 16 Creek Rd., Midd. • Creek Rd., Midd • 388-4050 16 Creek Rd., Midd. •388-4050 388-4050 1616 Creek Road, Middlebury • 388-6054 16 Creek Rd., Midd • 388-4050

The Marble Works, Middlebury • 388-9801

www.countrysidecarpetandpaint.com

Andre’s Floor Refinishing Since

1985 Orwell, VT 802-948-2004

June 15

MIDDLEBURY UNION HIGH School seniors Luke Benz, left, and Michelle Peterson get a good start in the school’s annual senior raft race held on Lake Dunmore.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015 — PAGE 17A

Chronology 2015

Serving our community Since

1988

The Marble Works, Middlebury • 388-3784 187 Main Street, Vergennes • 877-1190 61 Pine Street, Bristol • 453-2999

Working to preserve the history of the Morgan Horse

Since

1988

34 Main St. • Middlebury • 388-1639 morganhorse.com

Since since

1988 1988 Serving farmingneeds. needs. Servingall all your your farming

JerseyStreet Street South, South, Addison Jersey Addison 759-2562 759-2562

Since

1988

(802) 352-6650 www.thevermonthomecom Rt. 7, 6 Miles South of Middlebury, Vt.

Addison County solid WAste MAnAgeMent distriCt Since

1989

Information on waste reuse, reduction, recycling, solid & hazardous waste disposal.

802-388-2333 Route 7 South, Middlebury, VT 05753 www.AddisonCountyRecycles.org

Since

1989 SERVICE • INSTALLATION • REPAIRS John D. Fuller, Master Plumber Case St., Middlebury • 388-2019

Since Since Since

1990 1990 1990 125,East East Middlebury Middlebury Rt.Rt. 125, BehindGoodro Goodro Lumber Behind Lumber 388-2903 388-2903

— A Year In Review —

(July continued from Page 16A) dlebury’s municipal workers inked a new pact with the town, assuring members wage increases of 2.5 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent, respectively, during the next three years. The three-year pact also requires workers to pick up a slightly greater share of their health care premiums. A 12-year-long conflict over a proposed gravel pit near downtown Bristol came to an end in late July with an order from Vermont Environmental Court that nullified all previous permits and zoning decisions concerning the 26-acre area. The order from Judge Thomas Durkin further stipulated that any new project proposal would be subject to current zoning. Conservationists, state officials and interested citizens celebrated the expansion of the Lemon Fair Wildlife Management Area in Cornwall. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s purchase of 330 acres from local landowners nearly doubled the area, expanding it to 744 acres in total. Many in the community were up in arms when the local state’s attorney decided to charge a Ferrisburgh woman only with driving under the influence of alcohol in a June 17 incident in which the car she was driving struck and killed a bicyclist. Holly Gonyeau, 36, pleaded innocent in late July to DUI. Dr. Kenneth Najarian, 60, of Charlotte was on a bike ride on Greenbush Road that June evening when he was struck by Gonyeau’s car. According to court documents, Gonyeau’s blood-alcohol content at the site tested at 0.123, and two hours later her evidentiary test read 0.087. Addison County Deputy State’s Attorney Christopher Perkett said evidence gathered by Vermont State Police and an autopsy performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner supported the theory that Najarian had turned into the middle of Greenbush Road in front of Gonyeau’s car, an action that probably caused the accident. An attorney for Najarian’s family said his experts had reviewed the evidence and come to a different interpretation: that Najarian was riding in a straight line when he was struck. A private company is exploring the possibility of taking over planning and possible construction of a hydroelectric facility at Middlebury’s Otter Creek falls that would employ a new technology borrowed from an ancient Greek physicist to potentially reduce the footprint and impact of the project. New England Hydroelectric Company officials from as far afield as Great Britain converged upon the Otter Creek falls in downtown Middlebury in July to size up the location’s potential for hosting a hydro project using a principal known as “Archimedes’ screw.”

August As Addison County Fair and Field Days opened in early August fairgoers noticed that organizers of Vermont’s largest agricultural fair had updated

Since

1991 North St, New Haven • 453-2222 www.oliviascroutons.com

Since

1992 802-388-1431 www.newtonerac.com

Serving County, Serving Addison Serving Addison County, ServingAddison AddisonCounty, County, Manchester, Mt. Manchester, Mt. Snow Manchester, Mt. Snow, Manchester, Mt. Snow, Snow Ludlow, Bellows Falls Rutland Ludlow, Bellows Falls & Rutland Ludlow, Bellows Falls Rutland Ludlow, Bellows Falls &&& Rutland

Since Since Since Since Since

1992 1992 1992

July 9

A DOG AVAILABLE to adopt from the Addison County Humane Society marches through downtown Bristol during the annual Fourth of July parade. Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

July 27

THE MONUMENT FARMS Dairy in Weybridge celebrated its 85th anniversary on July 18 by throwing a big party complete with a tractor parade, games, free food, music, petting zoo, tours and, of course, plenty of free milk. More than 2,000 attended and more than 3,000 hot dogs were handed out. Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

tickets for the event. After a rash of fraudulent tickets in 2014 had cost Field Days about $12,000 in revenue, organizers introduced tickets customdesigned by Ticketmaster and including a tiny hologram on each one. Visitors flocked to Field Days for

five days of agriculture exhibitions, contests and amusements. This year, the fair unveiled a new, roomier building to serve as a headquarters for first responders. With the help of great weather, improved amenities and a wider array of offerings, organizers of

the fair hailed 2015’s as the best ever. Also in early August, WhistlePig began installing distilling equipment and lining up oak barrels in its Shoreham distillery in anticipation of beginning on-site production of its rye whiskey. The state’s utility regulators fined Vermont Gas Systems $100,000 for failing to report its first cost increase on the natural gas pipeline it is building from Colchester to Middlebury in a timely manner. The cost of the project increased from the approximately $86.6 million originally approved by the Public Service Board in December 2013 to $121.6 million in July 2014, an increase of $35 million, or 41 percent. Vermont Gas waited nearly six months before notifying the Public Service Board. The project’s cost increased a second time to $153.6 million earlier this summer, prompting a series of hearings in June. On Aug. 1, Bristol residents took their garbage and recyclables to the Bristol town dump for the last time. The town was forced to close the dump after the state found it to be in violation of dumping rules and thus hurting the environment. Middlebury’s new town office building and recreation facility began to take shape in the late summer. Officials said the two buildings were onbudget and on-schedule to be ready for occupancy by February 2016. Three Cornwall residents said they would like to fill the remaining term on the town selectboard of David Sears, who died in July. Ultimately, Brian Kemp was selected for the job. In August the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released new standards, known as Total Maximum Daily Loads, to limit the flow of phosphorus into Lake Champlain. The naturally occurring nutrient is at excessive levels in much of the lake and encourages the growth of toxic bluegreen algae. To restore the quality of (See August Page 18A)

www.littlephonebook.com 388-8458 • •www.littlelphonebook.com www.littlephonebook.com 388-8458 www.littlelphonebook.com

Since

1992 Since

1992 Your local choice for premium window treatments.

Since

1993 vtshadeandblind.com • 247-3883

since Since

1993 1993 Boat • Snowmobile • ATV Boat • Snowmobile • ATV Sales & Service Sales and Service

Route 30, 462-2468 Route 30,Cornwall Cornwall ••462-2468

The Reporter

Otter Otter Creek Creek Custom Custom Framing Framing

covering

Brandon • Pittsford • Proctor • West Rutland

Lake Dunmore, Leicester, Whiting, Sudbury, Goshen

Since Since Since

1990 1990

Since

1994

Established Establishedin in1990 1990as aspart part of ofFrog FrogHollow HollowArt ArtSupply. Supply. Owner OwnerBrian BrianLadeau Ladeausince since2004. 2004.

P.O. Box 51 • Brandon, VT news@brandonreporter.com • 247-8080

33Park ParkSt., St.,Middlebury Middlebury• •388-2370 388-2370

Since

1991

Since Since

1994 1994

We help your business connect, grow and succeed! addisoncountyedc.org • 388-7953

91 Middlebury 91Main Main Street, Street, Middlebury 388-2811 • www.middleburyeye.com 388-2811

Mr. Mike’s Mike’s Mr. CLEANING SERVICE , INC.

Community Investment Counselors

CLEANING SERVICE

Since

1995

local since localservice service since

1993 1991

Insured & Bonded 656 Exchange St., Suite 6 3 Brookside Drive, Middlebury • 388-6427 email: mrmikescleaningser@comcast.net mrmikecleaningser@comcast.net

Aug. 6

Providing financial planning for every stage of your life.

GEORGE SMITH, RIGHT, shares a laugh with old friend Joe Devall at the Bristol town dump. The dump closed on Saturday and Smith, who worked there for 20 years, was on hand to say goodbye.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

Rollie White, President

Securities offered through Triad Advisors, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC 63 Maple Street • Suite 25 • Middlebury • 388-1357

PAGE 18A — Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015

Chronology 2015

Since

1997

— A Year In Review —

Personalized Service

Since

2001

Owners Bruce & Brenda Grove Welcome You!

1317 Davis Rd, Monkton 453-5232 • vermontgreentree.com

71 So. Pleasant St., Middlebury, VT 388-7512

Since

1997

Since

2001

Get Midd Fit!

MacIntyre Lane • 388-6068 Middlebury

middleburyfitness.com 175 Wilson Rd. • Midd • 388-3744

THORNAPPLE FARM DRAFT HORSE TRASH PICK UP

388-6232

Since

2001

Since

1997

“Game For Life”

middleburytennis.com • 388-3733

Aug. 10

PONIES ARE EASED into position in front of the weight sled during the pony pulling competition at Addison County Fair and Field Days.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

Since Since Since

1998 1998 61 Main Street, Middlebury

61 Main Street, Middlebury 388-6788 388-6788

PROPANE & SERVICE

Since

1998 Bridport, VT • 758-3835 Brandon, VT • 247-9500

In Middlebury for decades In InMiddlebury Middleburyfor for decades decades and locally owned and locally owned Middlebury for decades and In locally owned since In for decades Since InMiddlebury Middlebury for decades Since Since and locally owned and locally owned and locally owned since

2000 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000 Since Since

Looking to seeing Looking forwardforward totoseeing Looking forward seeing you theNew New Year! you in the New Year! you ininthe Year! Looking to seeing Looking forwardforward totoseeing Looking forward seeing MIDDLEBURY you theNew New Year! you in the New Year! you ininthe Year! AGWAY

MIDDLEBURY MIDDLEBURY 338 Exchange Street, MiddleburyAGWAY MIDDLEBURY AGWAY AGWAY 388-4937 • middleburyagway.com 338 Exchange Street, Middlebury 338 Exchange Street, Middlebury 338 Exchange Street, Middlebury MIDDLEBURY AGWAY 388-4937 • middleburyagway.com 338388-4937 Exchange Street, Middlebury • middleburyagway.com

Since

2000

(August continued from Page 17A) Lake Champlain’s waters, Vermont will have to reduce phosphorus levels in the lake by 33.8 percent. State and federal governments have allocated $78 million to clean up the lake over the next five years. The effects of the new standards are expected to affect Addison County’s farmers and towns, which generate a lot of the phosphorus that flows into the lake. But the scope of the plan also puts a lot of responsibility on towns, landowners and others to change their ways. The town of Middlebury continued to work through a dispute with Vermont Rail Systems officials regarding scheduled repairs to two aging overpasses in the heart of downtown. The town had suggested VRS temporarily detour its freight train traffic through Middlebury beginning next fall when work is slated to begin on a proposed $45 million to $55 million project to replace the Merchants Row and Main Street overpasses. VRS officials were adamant about keeping the line open for the two daily trains that run through downtown. Orwell’s only sit-down diner served its last customers in August. The 18-year run of Pam’s Country Kitchen came to an end in the wake of the landlord’s decision not to renew owner Pam LaDuc’s lease. Regulars of the diner have offered to transplant the small restaurant to a new location in the village. A standing-room-only crowd packed the meeting room at the New Haven town offices in late August to hear a proposal for an electric line that would bring 400 megawatts of wind power and hydropower from upstate

Aug. 20

VERMONT STATE POLICE Auxiliary Trooper Kevin Mays, right, and Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department Game Warden Wes Butler launch a search boat into Otter Creek in Cornwall. Mays and Butler were one of three teams that searched a stretch of the creek for missing person Denise Hart. Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

New York into the New England grid at the Vermont Electric Power Co. substation in New Haven. While some welcomed the potentially huge property tax payments the project would bring to New Haven, others worried that it would have an undue adverse impact on the rural landscape — in particular the huge conversion station that would be built near the VELCO substation. The Vermont Green Line, as the project is called, would lay 60 miles of underground high-voltage cable from Beekmantown, N.Y. (north of Plattsburgh), under Lake Champlain, and through Ferrisburgh and Waltham, and into New Haven. Many left this initial meeting with more questions than answers.

Celebrating 15 years of Locally Supported Agriculture www.blueledgefarm.com

Since

2000 Marble Works Studio 2006

Marble Works • Middlebury 388-1961 • www.ottercreekyoga.com

RANDY’S MIDDLEBURY

SERvIcE cENtER LLc Service you can trust!

since Since

2000 2000 44North North Pleasant Pleasant Street 44 Street Middlebury, VT VT • 388-2067 Middlebury, 388-2067

Since

2000 Big, Bold Coffee!

1197 Exchange St., Middlebury VermontCoffeeCompany.com

Sept. 17

LAURIE PATTON BEGAN her tenure as Middlebury College’s 17th president on July 1.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

At the end of August, Middlebury’s first-ever Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival exceeded expectations for attendance and film submissions. The festival, organized by Lloyd Komesar and a team of staff and volunteers including award-winning director Jay Craven, boasted 93 short and featurelength films submitted by new filmmakers from throughout the world.

September Addison Central Supervisory Union in September unveiled a first-ever strategic plan for Middlebury-area schools, a document that outlines expectations for student achievement in the next five years along with measurement standards to see if the plan’s goals have been met. Vergennes said goodbye to alderman and well-known area large-animal veterinarian Joe Klopfenstein, who after living in the area for 30 years announced that he would leave for a teaching job with Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. At Ferrisburgh Day, Sept. 12, the town cut the ribbon on a new $1.05 million, 5,940-square-foot, six-bay town garage on Little Chicago Road. Manure pits became the subject of a dispute in Ferrisburgh, after neighbors of an almost completed pit complained about its potential impact on their quality of life and the approval process for the animal waste lagoons. The Middlebrook Road neighbors complained to the Agency of Agriculture, Ferrisburgh selectboard and their elected state representatives, on Front Porch Forum and on a Facebook page titled “Stop the Poo Pit.” The farmer and state officials say the pit not only follows all regulations, but it is environmentally sound and sited as far from neighbors as is practical. As Vermont dairy farms face increasing pressure to manage disposal of manure in ways that will ensure it doesn’t leach into streams and lakes, such satellite pits could become more common and possibly nearer other homes and business. New Haven residents began to evaluate what they stand to gain from energy-transmission company

Anbaric Transmission’s plan to connect a 400-megawatt power line to the New England electric power grid. The company is proposing to lay 60 miles of cable from upstate New York, under Lake Champlain and into New haven along existing roadways, all underground. In addition to asking about the specific impact on local property taxes, the Vermont Green Line (as the proposed power line is called) has some wondering about current energy transmission infrastructure. The 345 kV transmission lines that pass through four Addison County towns — Leicester, Salisbury, Middlebury and New Haven — were constructed 10 years ago. The question was raised — would the addition of power from the 400 MW Vermont Green Line mean that the 345 kV transmission line that would deliver power to southern New England have to be upgraded? The Vermont Department of Health announced significant changes for the estimated 750 Addison County recipients of Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits. Starting in the spring, the state will end home delivery of WIC food packages, instead issuing electronic benefits cards to clients. A federal mediator recommended that the superintendent of the Bristol-area schools and the teachers in those schools take part in training to warm up the cool relationship between the parties. The teachers union had passed a resolution expressing no confidence in ANeSU Superintendent David Adams and the district had revotes on budgets for three of the six schools it encompasses. Representatives of the teachers and school board welcomed the idea of training; Adams was out on vacation and unavailable for comment. As dorms reopened and classes began on the Middlebury College campus, students were welcomed by the college’s 17th president, Laurie L. Patton, who officially took over on July 1. Patton comes to Middlebury College from Duke University in Durham, N.C., where she was a professor of religion and a dean who oversaw a $435 million fundraising campaign. At Duke she oversaw 36 academic departments and programs, 640 faculty members and 5,200 undergraduates. In an interview with the Independent, Patton said she still devotes at least an hour a day to her scholarship and that teaching was very important to her. While understanding that she alone must make final decisions in many instances, in a recent address to faculty Patton stressed the importance of faculty governance, collaborative decision making and the kind of bracingly honest dialogue that allows for engaged but civil public debate. Ric Lavallee was hired to take the top administrative post at Middlebury Regional EMS early in the year, but Lavallee agreed to move on early this summer after having served in the job for just 10 weeks, according to new board chair David Pistilli. He stressed that MREMS did not experience any leadership lapse thanks to two senior staffers — Tina Betourney and Lisa Northup — who served as acting co-directors of what is the largest ambulance service in Addison County. (See September Page 19A)

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Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015 — PAGE 19A

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— A Year In Review —

(September continued from Page 18A) A landmark agreement between Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Ross and the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) put Addison County farmers on alert that all farms within the Champlain Valley watershed must abide by more stringent requirements that reduce phosphorus runoff into Lake Champlain. Farms of all sizes will see on-site inspections and will have to begin following industry standard best practices for manure handling. Vermont State Police Trooper Kyle Young died on the afternoon of Sept. 17, following a medical event during training at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho. Young, a 28-year-old Monkton resident and father of two, was assigned to the New Haven barracks and provided law enforcement services throughout Addison County. Later, the death was linked to heat stroke. As schools around Addison County resumed, school directors faced challenges as they crafted fiscal year 2017 budgets that met per-pupil spending guidelines prescribed by Act 46, the state’s new education reform law. The act, passed during the 2015 legislative session, offers financial incentives to supervisory unions that agree to establish single, consolidated K-12 school districts. The law also calls for schools to follow per-pupil spending guidelines during a two-year transition toward a full implementation of Act 46 or face tax penalties if they spend beyond the guidelines. After June saw a deluge of monumental proportions and early September was marked by unseasonable heat, there was reason to wonder about the health of the apple crop in Addison County. But as the pickers came down out of the trees, local orchardists said it had been a superb year for apples — the largest crop ever for some growers.

October Early in October, as many bird species began flying south for the winter, state wildlife biologists reported good news for the 2015 peregrine falcon breeding season. Fortyfour cliff-nesting pairs of peregrine falcons produced a record 67 chicks, several in Addison County. After the species declined for many years, in 1970 only one wild falcon was sighted in Vermont. The breed was reintroduced in the 1980s and came off the federal Endangered Species list in 1999 and the Vermont Endangered Species list in 2005. Also for the birds, a new draft of the Vermont Wildlife Action plan released in early October cited habitat loss to “utility-scale wind and solar energy generation” as “perhaps the single most significant emerging issue affecting birds in Vermont during the last 10 years.” In Addison County, this seeming Catch-22 between preserving habitat and addressing climate change was seen in the proposed 2-megawatt Next Generation solar development in New Haven on Field Days Road, which would render 20 acres of bobolink habitat unsuitable for that species. Seven years of planning and over $12,000 in fundraising came to fruition at Mount Abe, where students celebrated the completion of the school’s state-of-the-art composting

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facility. The concrete and steel construction — 28 feet long by 14 feet wide by 6 feet high — got its first buckets of compost on Oct. 2. The Granville Fire Department agreed to step in to provide firstresponse services to Granville, Hancock and Rochester in the wake of White River Valley Ambulance closing its Route 100 branch. The Granville first responders will be on the spot to stabilize patients until the nearest ambulance can arrive — a wait that officials said could take 30 minutes to an hour. Vermont Gas agreed to a memorandum of understanding with the Vermont Department of Public Service placing a limit of $134 million on the amount it will seek from its ratepayers for expenses related to the Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project pipeline. In mid-October the Independent checked in with the Middlebury office of the Department of Children and Families to see how the county’s social workers are doing, following the Aug. 7 shooting of a DCF social worker in Barre. Jody Herring, 40, was charged with the murder of Lara Sobel and three relatives. It is believed that Herring was enraged over the handling of child custody issues. Local DCF staffers said the tragedy continues to weigh heavily on their minds and they are taking greater safety precautions. But they also said they are redoubling their dedication to what can be a high-stress, thankless, but vitally important job of protecting children. Also in mid-October, as Addison County gardeners neared the end of this year’s harvest season, the Independent announced the winners of this year’s Garden Game for large vegetables. Winners included seventh-grader Anna Berg of Middlebury with a 25-inch cucumber, Richard Lilly of Bridport with a 29.5-inch rutabaga, and Pam Thomas of Whiting with an enormous 27-inch sunflower — way bigger than a person’s head. Builders broke ground on the longawaited Bristol fire station on West Street on Oct. 21; it will replace the century-old firehouse on North Street.

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Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

Nurses at Porter Medical Center filed 11 charges with the National Labor Relations Board, saying that hospital administration had engaged in unfair labor practices. At its Oct. 20 meeting, the ANeSU Executive Committee unanimously approved a separation agreement with embattled Superintendent David Adams. He had already signed the agreement and had agreed to submit a letter of resignation by Oct. 27. At its Sept. 28 meeting, the Executive Committee had voted to reassign Adams’ duties to Assistant Superintendent Catrina DiNapoli to cover for Adams while he took what the Executive Committee reported as FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) leave. That action brought Adams’ rocky tenure to a close. He had drawn fire in the previous seven month as voters rejected budget proposals for three of the six district schools, the teachers’ union voted no confidence in his leadership and a petition signed by 500 people asked for his resignation. Late in October, the Addison Northwest Act 46 Study Committee hosted an Act 46 Forum for residents of its five member towns and the ANeSU Act 46 Study Committee held its first ever meeting. Earlier in the month, the ACSU Act 46 charter

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committee hosted a public forum in Middlebury and reported that it hoped to have a draft district unification plan in place toward the end of the month. A Bristol woman dealing with a potentially deadly disease got the call she was waiting for on Oct. 28. Kaitlin Heffernan, 25, was diagnosed at birth with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that limits the functionality of many vital organs — chiefly the lungs. Late this month Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston called telling her to leave immediately and prepare for a double lung transplant. She came through the operation in good shape. As October wound to a close, Addison County’s youngest residents celebrated Halloween with trick-ortreating, a Spooktacular gathering on the Middlebury green, several Trunk or Treat parties, spooky stories and pumpkin carving.

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November As November began, the 18 school districts within Addison County’s three supervisory unions continued their investigations of how to best approach the Act 46 mandate for governance unification. A Nov. 23 Addison Central Supervisory Union community forum featured a panel that included Vermont Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe. The ANeSU Act 46 Study Committee met twice in November and on Nov. 30 voted not to pursue the fast track option, given the number of issues the district had on its plate. In the Vergennes area, the ANwSU Act 46 Study Committee held its first meeting early in the month and at the end of the month announced community forums to be held in December. The Anbaric Transmission/National Grid partnership that is proposing the Vermont Green Line power line continued to woo Addison County towns. Developers from the Green Line Infrastructure Alliance (GLIA) attended two selectboard meetings in New Haven, answering questions at one and outlining a benefits package at the other. GLIA developers offered New Haven $700,000 a year for 20 years in addition to regular municipal and state education taxes. In Ferrisburgh they offered that town a similar deal to the tune of an additional $350,000. (See November, Page 20A)

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PAGE 20A — Addison Independent, Thursday, December 31, 2015

Chronology 2015 — A Year In Review —

Nov. 19

DAVID BOYER TESTS the viscosity of the apple syrup his family is making in their circa 1910 maple sap evaporator at their Monkton orchard.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

Nov. 9

VERMONT GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE Matt Dunne addresses a large crowd during a candidates’ forum at EastView in Middlebury. Three of the five candidates for governor were on hand for the debate. Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

(November continued from Page 19A) For Ferrisburgh, the Vermont Green Line means nine miles of underground HVDC cable. For New Haven it means a converter station five stories high and the width and breadth of a football field, on a fiveacre site, turning power from DC to AC current 24/7. Middlebury police and some local social service organizations teamed up to create a drug amnesty program that allows addicts to voluntarily turn in their drugs without facing criminal charges. The program is modeled on the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative established earlier this year in Gloucester, Mass. “We look at (drug) addiction the same way people are addicted to tobacco, to alcohol or whatever it happens to be. We need to deal with it as a health issue and not so much as a criminal issue,” Police Chief Tom Hanley said. More than 60 Addison County residents turned out for an ACSU board meeting Nov. 3 to support the Diversified Occupations program. The program, based at the Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center, serves Addison County high school students with special needs. The board is evaluating the program, based on recommendations from the state Agency of Education for more mainstreaming. Parents at the meeting offered impassioned testimonials of how the program — which teaches students at their own level outside of traditional classrooms — had benefited their children by teaching real world skills. The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Vergennes prepared to begin a renovation of its leased School Street clubhouse. The club had already raised over $40,000 of the close to $90,000 it needs for renovation. Members of the Porter Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals petitioned Porter Medical Center administrators to reinstate health benefits for part-time workers. Administrators had raised the bar for health benefits from 20 hours per week to 30 as a cost-cutting measure aimed at saving $200,000 a year. Porter officials reported a $1.7 million loss for fiscal 2015 and a $210,000 loss for the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. With Vermont’s gubernatorial race well under way, three of Vermont’s five candidates participated in a forum at the EastView retirement community in Middlebury: Matt Dunne,

a Hartland Democrat, former Vermont lawmaker and current Google executive; Bruce Lisman, a Shelburne Republican and former Wall Street executive; and Waterbury Democrat Sue Minter, a former state lawmaker who most recently served as secretary of the Agency of Transportation. Candidates Phil Scott and Shap Smith could not attend. In November we wrote about two new 500-kilowatt solar arrays being proposed in Panton, both on land owned by the Vorsteveld Farm. VTrans rejected Middlebury’s proposal to maintain the current height of the downtown rail underpasses, as part of the multimillion-dollar upgrade of the Burlington to Rutland rail line. VTrans plans to replace the two deteriorating underpasses at Main Street and Merchants Row with a concrete tunnel that provides a minimum of 21 feet of clearance for trains. Current clearance is 17 feet, 9 inches. Downtown merchants, town officials, property owners and residents remain concerned that the estimated three years of construction will disrupt downtown Middlebury and hurt local businesses. The Vergennes City Council selected resident Mark Koenig to replace Alderman Joe Klopfenstein, who is moving to Oregon. Koenig will serve out Klopfenstein’s term and must then decide whether to stand for election on Town Meeting Day.

Addison County was stunned by news of the terrorist attacks in Paris that left more than 125 dead and 350 wounded. Behind the scenes at Middlebury College, administrators worked around the clock to make sure that all the college’s students in Paris were safe and accounted for. As sure as the leaves drop in November, area high schools perform their fall musicals. Middlebury Union High School performed Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” Mount Abe performed Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens’s “Seussical,” and Vergennes Union High School performed “The Addams Family.” Down in Brandon, audiences enjoyed Otter Valley’s production of “Snow White.” Ferrisburgh resident Holly Gonyeau, 36, was sentenced in Addison County Superior Court to a year’s probation and 80 days of community service for striking and killing a bicyclist while driving under the influence of alcohol this past June. Gonyeau in November pleaded no contest to a charge of DUI stemming from the June 17 incident that claimed the life of Charlotte physician Kenneth Najarian. His family asked why the charge wasn’t more serious, but the prosecutor said the evidence would not support a more serious charge. ANeSU hired former Vermont Secretary of Education Armando Vilas-

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LEICESTER CENTRAL SCHOOL students Hayden Bernhardt, top, Olivia Miner and Josie LaRock climb down from one of the six treehouses that the school’s fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders built in the woods behind the school.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

eca to take the reins as interim superintendent, after David Adams left the job in October. Vilaseca began his first day at ANeSU on Nov. 30. More than 100 farmers gathered at the American Legion Hall in Middlebury for a hearing on the draft Required Agricultural Practices, new rules designed to help clean up Lake Champlain by, in part, holding farmers to higher standards. The Agency of Agriculture held a series of hearings around the state, with turnout at the Middlebury hearing among the largest. Comments from those hearings will be used to revise the RAPs, which will be finalized in the spring and go into effect July 1. Vermont Gas officials reported that they had reached land easement agreements with 160 of the 164 property owners along the Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project corridor. Eminent domain proceedings were still pending against the four landowners who have declined to sign deals. Members of the Congregational Church of Middlebury moved ahead on fundraising efforts after the town’s Development Review Board gave them the green light to build an 8,023-square-foot addition to the historic 1809 church across from the town green.

December As the end of the year rolled around and days shortened and darkened into December, Addison County residents anticipating the thrill of the first snowfall were disappointed and disheartened to get unseasonably high temperatures and rain. The 2015 Paris Climate Conference brought together more than 50,000 participants to address global warming. Among the throngs of world leaders, delegates and activists were Middlebury College students Nicole Cheng and Emma RonaiDurning and noted author, Middlebury College professor and climate activist Bill McKibben. Harking back to this side of the Atlantic, the three encouraged Addison County residents to protect the countryside they loved. “None of the things that make Vermont Vermont can withstand the kind of temperature increases predicted unless we take dramatic action,” McKibben said. Addison County schools boards continued their work on Act 46 district unification. The ANeSU Study Committee continued to meet. ANwSU hosted three community forums, with plans to present a unification plan to the state by mid-January. And the state Agency of Education approved the ACSU and Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union unification plans on Dec. 15. Having gained the state stamp of approval, voters in the Brandon area will vote on the RNeSU unification proposal, and ACSU is now poised to present its plan to Middlebury-area voters on Town Meeting Day and to win its taxpayers and schools the financial incentives for fast track unification built into the law. School boards around the county also began drafting budgets for the 2016-2017 school year. An additional hurdle in this year’s budgeting will be

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KIM ANDERSON SINGS with Maiden Vermont, Addison County’s women’s barbershop chorus, during the group’s holiday concert at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

a 7.9 percent hike in school employee health insurance costs together with the limits to increases in per pupil spending embedded in Act 46. ANeSU teacher contract negotiations — ongoing since February — are no closer to agreement. The contract expired last June. After a five-hour Dec. 2 negotiation session facilitated by a professional mediator came to naught, the ANeSU Bargaining Council asked that negotiations go to a fact-finding hearing. The hearing will take place sometime in January. More than 100 New Haven residents turned out for yet another Vermont Green Line informational meeting — this one conducted town meeting style, with town meeting rules. Representatives from Anbaric Transmission and National Grid said they would lay an HVDC cable capable of only 400 MW — half of what they had planned — as a concession to the town. Additionally, the VGL developers adjusted their November offer of $700,000 per year for 20 years, to an offer of municipal taxes plus whatever amount would bring the total to $1 million. This could effectively increase or decrease their offer of cash to the town, depending on the final value of the proposed converter station in New Haven. The Waltham selectboard came away from a Dec. 7 meeting with VGL developers saying it would recommend the project to the town. For Waltham, the Vermont Green Line means 1 mile of underground HVDC cable. For New Haven the VGL means a converter station five stories high covering the size of a football field. The fall deer hunting season ended Dec. 13. During archery, rifle and muzzleloader seasons and Youth Hunting Weekend — which together spanned October, November and December — Addison County weigh stations handled 772 deer, the thirdlowest total in the past eight years. Numbers were down especially in muzzleloader season — no muzzleloader doe permits were issued this year in Addison County. Also, the lack of snow in December made tracking difficult. Woodchuck Cider will now be distributed by Pabst. On Dec. 11, Woodchuck maker Vermont Hard Cider Co. of Middlebury signed a 15-year

agreement with Pabst, one of the largest American-owned breweries. Under the agreement, Pabst has an option to buy VHC’s assets, including brands and brewing facilities from its current owner, C&C Group. VHC CEO Dan Rowell said that a purchase would likely mean “business as usual” for VHC’s 100 Vermont employees. The 87,005-squarefoot bottling plant in Middlebury is the largest manufacturing facility for brewing cider in the United States. Rowell said that the facility would help keep production locally based. In October the company laid off eight marketing and administrative workers as part of “restructuring.” A shuttered town icon took another blow on Dec. 15 when the Middlebury selectboard learned that the former owner of Greg’s Meat Market had filed for bankruptcy. The property will go up for auction sometime in early 2016. “I had 30 good years there,” said Greg Wry, who ran the business from 1981 to 2009. “It’s so sad when I go by (the business).” New VTrans estimates in December darkened the already gray skies in Middlebury with predictions that replacing the Main Street and Merchants Row rail bridges with a concrete tunnel could take as long as four years — a year longer than previous estimates. News of the revised construction timetable elicited strong reaction from downtown residents, business owners and church leaders, who are bracing for a project that is sure to bring detours, noise, dust, parking problems and an abundance of artificial light. Bruce Hiland, principal owner of Middlebury’s Battell Block, presented a letter with more than 60 local signatures to Gov. Shumlin on Dec. 17, saying that the project would “rend the very fabric” of the community. Susan Pratt Catering Presents

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