MONDAY Â Â EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 26 No. 41
Middlebury, Vermont
X
Monday, December 22, 2014
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36 Pages
75¢
Vt.  Gas  raises  pipeline  cost  estimate  again New chief in Middlebury
Phase  I  pricetag  now  78%  more  than  original  budget By  ZACH  DESPART SOUTH  BURLINGTON  —  Vermont  Gas  Systems  on  Friday  announced  that  Phase  I  of  the  Addison  Rutland  Nat- ural  Gas  Project  pipeline  will  cost  $33  million  more  than  the  company  estimated  in  July,  for  a  total  cost  of  $154  million. The  company  also  said  Phase  I  will  be  completed  later  than  projected  and  asked  the  Public  Service  Board  to  delay  its  consideration  of  the  second  phase  of  the  project,  which  the  board  has  been  reviewing  for  more  than  a  year. Incoming  President  and  CEO  Don  Rendall  said  the  com- pany  was  “hitting  the  reset�  on  the  Phase  I  project,  the  cost  (See  Vt.  Gas,  Page  35)
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Divided  city  council  opts  for  smaller  playground;  mayor  casts  deciding  vote
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Looking  for  attention A  BRIGHT  RED  barn  stands  out  in  the  village  of  Orwell  last  week.
Independent  photo/Trent  Campbell
By  ANDY  KIRKALDY VERGENNES  —  A  divided  Vergennes  City  Council  last  week  approved  a  scaled-Âdown  preschool  playground  on  East  Street.  Council  mem- bers  voted,  4-Â3,  against  the  full  $42,000  park  that  was  recom- mended  by  the  city’s  recreation  committee  but  opposed  by  many  East  Street  residents  and  some  others  in  Vergennes. On  Tuesday,  Dec.  16,  alder- men  were  facing  a  deadline  after  a  year  of  debate.  The  Depart- ment  of  Buildings  and  General  Services,  which  backed  the  play- ground  with  a  $21,000  grant,  WROG FLW\ RIÂżFLDOV WKH\ PXVW BILL   BENTON break  ground  by  the  end  of  June  2015  or  lose  the  fund- LQJ 7KDW PHDQW RIÂżFLDOV VDLG WKH\ KDG WR DSSO\ IRU D (See  Playground,  Page  34)
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Local man writes TV movies for Hallmark By  JOHN  FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY  —  The  next  time  you  watch  one  of  those  made-Âfor- TV  Christmas  movies  on  the  Hall- mark  Channel,  realize  that  the  idea  and  dialogue  were  more  than  likely  the  creations  of  Middlebury  resident  Kevin  Commins. Commins,  60,  is  a  professional  screenwriter  specializing  in  docu- PHQWDULHV DQG IHDWXUH ÂżOP VFULSWV And  his  talents  are  drawing  par- ticular  demand  from  the  Hallmark  Channel,  for  which  Commins  has Â
penned  scripts  for  around  10  holiday  ¿OPV ZLWK VXFK WLWOHV DV The  Santa  Suit  and  The  Best  Christmas  Party  Ever,  according  to  the  Internet  Mov- ie  Database  (IMDb). “I  have  become  the  ‘King  of  Christmas,’  somehow,â€?  Commins  said  with  a  chuckle. Commins’  long  journey  to  his  sta- WXV DV 6DQWDÂśV XQRIÂżFLDO PRXWKSLHFH began  more  than  25  years  ago  in  Los  Angeles  —  where  it  ironically  never  snows. “I  went  to  L.A.  to  become  an  actor, Â
and  it  just  didn’t  happen,�  recalled  Commins,  who  graduated  from  Mid- dlebury  Union  High  School  (class  of  1972)  and  earned  a  theater  degree  at  Middlebury  College.  “There  are  thousands  upon  thousands  of  people  who  looked  just  like  me  that  you  just  can’t  wade  through.� That  forced  the  struggling  actor  to  reassess  his  career  path. “I  thought,  ‘Well,  I’m  a  reader  and  I  know  I  can  write,’�  he  said,  “so  I  got  a  job  at  a  television  production  company,  Chesler/Perlmutter,  just  doing  grunt  work,  and  then  started  doing  script  development.�
Of  course  “script  developmentâ€?  largely  meant  correcting  other  peo- ple’s  mistakes.  But  Commins  moved  up  the  ladder  to  “script  doctorâ€?  be- fore  taking  a  shot  at  writing  scripts  on  his  own.  He  has  since  found  more  work  with  television  networks  as  op- SRVHG WR ÂżOP VWXGLRV 7KH SURFHVV usually  starts  with  a  story  idea,  for  which  Commins  writes  a  two-  or  three-Âpage  summary  —  or  “treat- mentâ€?  —  of  how  the  story  will  play  RXW 7KDW OHDGV WR WKH ÂżUVW GUDIW RI D full-Âblown  script  that  goes  through  various  phases  of  editing. (See  Commins,  Page  22)