Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017 — PAGE 15
ADDISONINDEPENDENT
A YEAR’S REVIEW OF ADDISON COUNTY’S MOST NOTEWORTHY EVENTS
PAGE 16 — Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017
County school districts go big for mergers
Addison Republican Peter Briggs will vie for one of the county’s two state Senate seats. See Page 3A.
Middlebury, Vergennes and Bristol-area voters endorse education governance unification Voters across Addison County — and in many other parts of Vermont — approved big changes in the way we oversee and budget for our schools in 2016. The establishment of bigger school districts that unify governance of multi-town supervisory unions under a single board that will do a universal budget for all of the schools under their purview will lead to such a big change that we have made it our No. 1 story for 2016. The changes were prompted by Act 46, a law that pushes school districts to coalesce into larger groupings to create efficiencies in shared services and spending. It was also hoped that students in smaller schools would get access to a broader range of educational and extracurricular offerings in a unified district. While some of the pressure on legislators came from a desire to lower education taxes, lawmakers in the end said that was not a primary goal of Act 46. Nevertheless, the law offers financial incentives for towns to merge in multischool districts by cutting school taxes by 10 cents in the first year, 8 cents in the second and so on for five years. Voters in eight Brandonarea towns were the first to jump on the bandwagon. In January they voted overwhelmingly to merge their six school districts into two — only the second such merger at the time in the entire state. The new Otter Valley Unified Union School District was created to consolidate the Brandon, Goshen, Leicester, Whiting, Salisbury and Pittsford school districts. Mendon and Chittenden, the other two RNeSU towns, will operate a pre-K through sixth-grade Barstow Unified Union School District. Then, on Town Meeting Day, Addison Central and Addison Northwest voters comfortably approved school governance consolidation mergers under Act 46. Both supervisory unions thus became consolidated school districts, each governed by a single board presiding over a single K-12 budget. Residents in the ACSU-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and
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All of the school districts that voted for unification are now in transition, with the unified union taking full legal authority July 1 of this year or next.
Middlebury skiers won twice on their home turf, and Tiger boys’ hockey played. See Page 1B.
INDEPENDENT y, March 3, 2016 34 Pages Middlebury, Vermont Thursda
cation All seven ACSU towns back unifi
“I am completely thrilled,” said dlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, ShoreBy JOHN FLOWERS Ruth Hardy, co-chairwoman of the ham and Weybridge also elected the MIDDLEBURY — Addison CenAddison Central Supervisory Union 13-member ACSD board that will laid the tral Supervisory Union voters on of the Charter Committee that oversight full assume officially a Tuesday overwhelmingly endorsed groundwork for Tuesday’s vote. “I district on July 1, 2017. The existing proposal to form a unified Addison couldn’t be happier about it.” nine school boards within Addison Hardy noted ACSU has spent the Central School District (ACSD) that to function, continue will Central the in will govern all public schools past 53 years looking at ways of while ceding various responsibilities seven towns and place them under a streamlining its governance structo the ACSD board during the transi(See ACSU, Page 10A) single education budget. e. governanc unified to tion MidVoters in Bridport, Cornwall,
r District (ANwUD) and a 12-membe By ANDY KIRKALDY board will operate it, with four memVERGENNES — Residents in bers each from Vergennes and Fereach of the five communities that risburgh, two from Addison, and one make up Addison Northwest Supereach from Panton and Waltham. visory Union on Tuesday approved That board will operate the four by wide margins the plan to unify the district schools under one budget. district under the governance of one Those board members were choboard, effective July 1, 2017. sen in uncontested races on TuesAs of that date, ANwSU will beday. Existing boards will operate come the Addison Northwest Unified
Town-by-town meeting reports
County endorses Sanders, Kasich
Trump. Trump visited Burlington earlier this winter, while Kasich came to the Green Mountain State just before Tuesday’s elections. Trump finished on top in 13 of Addison County’s 23 communities, but Kasich took the overall win due mainly to his 209 to 88 edge in Middlebury. Marco Rubio finished third among Republicans in Addison County, with 751 votes, followed (See County, Page 20A)
Town meeting 2016 with members of the OR Tim Howlett, above, stands
resident Paul Stone, BRIDPORT TOWN MODERAT over town meeting Tuesday. Orwell town’s selectboard and presides at Orwell’s meeting Tuesday morning, and Ross Conbelow right, makes himself heard ne to ask a question at Monday night’s annual meetrad, below left, stands at a micropho your town, Pages 12A-18A. from Independent photos/Trent Campbell ing in Middlebury. Read results
Bristol residents weigh in on fate of historic firehouse
By GAEN MURPHREE BRISTOL — A highlight of Monday night’s Bristol town meeting was the extended discussion about how or if the selectboard should proceed with selling the old Bristol Fire Department building on North Street. Should the town save the beautiful old structure, and could residents afford the cost of restoring the centuryold building? Bristol had been discussing what to do with the circa 1900 relic on North Street for more than a decade when last July voters approved a $3.19 million bond to build the new (See Firehouse, Page 3A)
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury residents on Town Meeting Day made resident Heather Seeley the top vote-getter in a five-way race for three seats on their selectboard. They also overwhelmingly agreed to participate in a new, unified Addison Central School District (ACSD) that will include all of the schools in the current Addison Central Supervisory
Union. Seeley garnered 1,234 tallies to win her three-year term. Also making the cut were former selectman (See Race, Page 22A)
The clock is ticking on the old town offices in Middlebury. The old municipal gym, which hosted its last town meeting this past (See By the way, Page 3A)
Index Obituaries ................................ 6A Classifieds ......................... 5B-9B Service Directory .............. 6B-7B Entertainment ........................ 21A Community Calendar ........ 8A-9A Sports ................................ 1B-4B
VUHS plan gets nod in big turnout in ANwSU By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — Addison Northwest Supervisory Union voters on Tuesday gave a $10,026,000 Vergennes Union High School budget proposal a narrow victory, 1,4951,370. The budget calls for a 2.23 percent cut from current spending. In percentage terms, the margin translates to a 52-48 percent decision in strong turnout in the five ANwSU communities. The presidential primary and the ANwSU unification vote (the measure passed; see story, above) helped bring voters to polling places, which exceeded 50 percent turnout in several towns. In a separate article, ANwSU residents voted 1,781-1,031, or 63-37 percent, to place $100,000 in a capital fund to help take care of longterm VUHS building improvement (See VUHS, Page 20A)
Seeley, Nuovo and Artim win seats on Middlebury board
By the way
for a year during a transition phase until the new Unified District Board takes over in July 2017 after a year of planning. The new ANwUD will at that point assume ownership of the four district schools and their contents and operate them under one contract with its teachers. Each school within the uni(See Vergennes, Page 10A)
Margin is 125 votes among 2,845 cast
By JOHN FLOWERS ADDISON COUNTY — Addison County residents resoundingly picked Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary for president, and narrowly selected Ohio Gov. John Kasich over New York businessman Donald Trump in the Republican Primary. Results collected from Addison County polling places showed Kasich came out on top with 1,144 votes, compared to 1,103 for
Despite mild winter, ski area hosts succesful carnival
forcing organizers of some Nordic By EVAN JOHNSON races to reschedule or relocate their RIPTON — With two inches events to snowier locations. of rain forecast late last week and The carnival — with Nordic racrapid swings in temperatures, Mike es at Rikert and alpine races up the Hussey faced a challenge getting the mountain at the Middlebury College cross-country ski racing course at the Snow Bowl in Hancock Rikert Nordic Center in to do — attracted racers from Ripton ready to go for “It’s hard 15 member schools the Middlebury College anything with from the Eastern InterWinter Carnival. Unfor- the snow while collegiate Ski Associatunately, such challeng- it’s raining.” tion, and there was snow ing conditions for ski Rikert Center — plenty at the Bowl, — areas have been almost Director just enough at Rikert. the norm this winter. Mike Hussey Despite the weather, “It’s hard to do anyHussey and his crew had thing with the snow Rikert’s 5K race course ready when while it’s raining,” said Hussey, the on Friday (Nordic racarrived teams Middleon director of Rikert, said ing was pushed back to Saturday and bury College’s Bread Loaf campus Sunday). Conditions were decidin Ripton. Hussey described the artificial. edly this snow of The notable lack conditions as “99-percent manmade winter has tested the patience of skisnow with two inches of help from ers and snowboard riders, delaying Season, Page 19A) (See and resorts ski alpine openings at
SunNordic Center building during N Sam Wood glides by the Rikert as well as a little recent snowfall, to , MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE FRESHMA counted on snow-making machinery day’s Winter Carnival. The center Independent photo/Trent Campbell ensure the 5K trail was well covered.
in Lincoln, 391-357, and by only 22 votes in Starksboro, 430-408. Residents in those towns still voted school budgets on the floor of town meeting and opposition to the unification plan was particularly heartfelt. All of the school districts that voted for unification are now in transition, with the unified union taking full legal authority July 1, 2017, in the first three unions, and July 1, 2018, in Addison Northeast.
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ADDISON COUNTY
Weybridge agreed to create an Addison Central School District. They also elected a 13-member ACSD board. Residents in Addison, Ferrisburgh, Panton, Vergennes and Waltham endorsed a new Addison Northwest School district, and picked a 12-person board to lead it. Governance unification passed in Addison Central by a combined total of 3,404-792 in all seven towns. In Addison Northwest, the plan passed, 2,223-691. That left Orwell and the five towns in Addison Northeast as the only county towns west of the Green Mountains not operating in unified school districts. Orwell residents took a crack at unification with the five other towns in the Addison Rutland Supervisory Union, but the town voted 211 to 121 against joining in the proposed Slate Valley Unified Union School District. A revote in June was closer — 204-166 — but the union was still off. It was the only town among the six to vote against the plan. There will be a third vote on Town Meeting Day, and the other towns could form a unified union without Orwell. Meanwhile, in the Bristol area, a report released in August by a committee looking at school governance unification showed that such a unification in Addison Northeast could save taxpayers close to $2.5 million over five years. But, three members of Act 46 Study Committee — Nancy Cornell, Herb Olson and Mike Fisher — authored a Minority Report dissenting unification within the official plan that was sent to the Agency of Education for review. The report named a flawed committee process and desired to keep local control as their main reasons for disapproval. Still, when it came to a vote on Election Day in November, residents in Bristol, Starksboro, New Haven, Monkton and Lincoln approved a unification plan. The margins very close in two of the towns. The plan passed by 34 votes
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Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017 — PAGE 17
After layoffs and change of CEO, Porter seeks a partner MIDDLEBURY — Many would agree that 2016 was a year of peaks and valleys for Porter Medical Center (PMC), Addison County’s hub for health care services. February was the first of several rough months for PMC, which includes the hospital, Helen Porter Healthcare & Rehabilitation, and a dozen affiliated provider offices. In the early days of that month, thenCEO Lynn Boggs announced a series of cost-cutting measures — including layoffs — in an effort to stabilize PMC’s budget. Hospital officials initially announced nine jobs cuts, primarily affecting nursing staff within PMC’s 12 physician practices. Later that month, Boggs placed the total number of layoffs at 17.5 positions. Those layoffs triggered some discontent among PMC staff, resulting in a period of high employee turnover within the organization. Around 10 Porter-affiliated providers (members of the medical staff) also took flight, with several citing PMC’s awkward roll-out of a new compensation plan for
physicians. After rising dissention throughout the community and in board meetings, Boggs was pressured to resign after less than a year leading the hospital. The PMC board began its organizational turnaround with the hiring of veteran Porter Emergency Department physician Fred Kniffin as interim CEO. Kniffin immediately apologized for the manner in which the Porter administration had conducted the layoffs and the physicians’ contract roll-out, and began a successful recruitment process to fill provider vacancies and other staff positions. By August, Kniffin and his administration had filled most of the vacant provider, nursing and staff positions, and the community’s confidence in the institution had been largely restored. Meanwhile, the PMC board was also doing some recruiting of its own — for a new, permanent CEO. But board members gladly ended that search when Kniffin agreed to remove the word “interim” from his title and remain PMC’s chief executive at least through September of 2017. He arranged his schedule so that he could continue to treat patients on a part-time basis.
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Under Kniffin, Porter also made strides in getting its financial house in order. And that set the stage for a community dialogue on the biggest decision PMC had ever faced up to that point: Should the organization partner with another medical institution as a way of strengthening its financial profile and expanding its facilities and services? Community members and the PMC community replied “yes,” and the board entertained affiliation offers from Tennessee-based Quorum Health, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Rutland Regional Medical Center and the University of Vermont Health Network. The Porter board ultimately agreed to pursue affiliation with UVM Health Network, an association they said would net the hospital long-term financial stability, shared resources and some substantial capital improvements — such as a new medical office building and a major electronic medical records upgrade. Porter and UVM Health Network are currently working out details of how their partnership will be construed, and will be making a final decision on the likely affiliation in 2017.
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PAGE 18 — Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017
Trump stuns; Scott wins governorship With Donald Trump’s raucous Primary and General Election campaign, Bernie Sanders’ better-than-expected race against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary, and Republican Phil Scott’s blow-out win as Vermont’s governor over Democrat Sue Minter, it’s hard not to consider the elections of 2016 one of the biggest local stories of the year. Our particular focus, however, is on local news and local impact, and even from that perspective, on the streets of Middlebury, Bristol, Vergennes, Ripton, Lincoln or on the farmland of western Addison County, talk of the election was on everyone’s mind — in fact, you couldn’t get away from it. In the run-up to the Democratic Primary, Sanders won 1,879 delegates in 23 states or contests, while Clinton won 2,811 delegates in 34 states or contests. Clinton’s total, however, included 591 superdelegates, or those beholden to the party as opposed to being won by popular vote, and many of those superdelegates had pledged to Clinton early, before Sanders’ campaign picked up momentum and despite obvious weaknesses in Clinton’s armor. The party’s internal preference for its favored candidate became a flash point in the primary, with some angry Sanders supporters saying the primary system was rigged for Clinton — a line that Trump also used to stir dissension in the Democratic ranks. Trump, meanwhile, dismantled 16 other Republican candidates in the GOP’s drawnout battle to pick a nominee and won the nomination overwhelmingly in what was one of the nastiest, insult-riven primaries in
recent memory. At the end it came down to Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Trump won with almost three times more delegates than his closest rival. In the General Election, polls consistently had Clinton leading Trump — as high as 8 percent after a tape of him bragging about forcing himself on women made news and his poor performances in the three televised debates. But neither Trump’s lack of knowledge on the issues, nor his lack of moral values, shook his supporters’ faith. What polls showed, in fact, was that both candidates had the highest negative ratings and lowest public trust in any recent presidential campaign. Part of the mistrust of Clinton was the result of a year-long campaign of disinformation spread by social media, fake news perpetrated through Facebook, and a focused campaign by Russian President Vladimir Putin to hack into the Democratic Party’s email system and leak embarrassing personal exchanges to undermine Clinton — serious issues that are now at the heart of a congressional investigation alleging that a foreign power actively sought to tamper with a U.S. election. WikiLeaks, cyber-attacks and fake news all became part of the nation’s vernacular in the final months of the campaign. Still more controversy reigned as Trump lost the nationwide popular vote by more than 2 million votes, but won the Electoral College vote with 306 to Clinton’s 232. Four swing states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania) were decided by 1.5 percentage points or less, easily
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determining the fate of the election. Not only were Democrats stunned by Clinton’s surprise loss, but Republicans also won the House easily, while maintaining control of the U.S. Senate, 52-48, delivering a devastating blow to what Democrats had once considered a chance to regain control of the Senate and retain the presidency. It was, without a doubt, one of the most chaotic elections from start to finish in modern U.S. history. Trump’s support of hate speech, racial bias and anti-immigration policies sparked a hate-crime wave throughout the nation in the election’s aftermath — reaching even into Middlebury, where two incidents of hate speech were documented for the first time in decades. In Vermont’s gubernatorial election, Lt. Gov. Scott easily bested Democrat Sue Minter in an election that typically swings from one party to the next — moving from Democrat Peter Shumlin’s six-year stint back to the GOP. Polls had the race closer than the end result, but it was not the huge surprise seen on the national stage, and Democrats retained an overwhelming advantage in Vermont’s Legislature.
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Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017 — PAGE 19
Solar arrays proliferate, with New Haven in the crosshairs Few except oil company executives or their wholly owned politicians disagree that the nation — and the world — needs more clean, renewable energy. But, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details, especially when those details include where solar and wind power facilities should be sited — a big detail in Vermont, where views are not only prized by residents, but also by the tourists who help fuel the state’s economy. One Vermont resident or developer’s noble contribution to the fight against global warming can be another’s outrageous crime against nature, particularly if it’s a wind turbine on a ridgeline, a solar array near a boundary line, or an array that maybe could be screened better by the addition of more landscaping or thoughtful placement on its host lot. Or one proposed in a town that already hosts many such arrays — say New Haven, for example. Many Vermont towns like New Haven clamored for more say over alternative energy project siting, which until this year was entirely controlled by the Vermont Public Service Board. The PSB did take testimony from towns and residents, but held all the cards in making the final decision. Finally, a bill championed by Addison County Sen. Chris Bray (S-230) was passed in 2016. It requires the PSB to consider a town’s local siting priorities, if the community has energy standards included in its town plan that are approved by the Vermont Department of Public Service. By the end of the year a number of county towns had adopted such energy plans, many based on a template created by the Addison County Regional Planning Commission. Others including New Haven, were scrambling to put one in place. Meanwhile, in New Haven two solar proposals in particular generated controversy. In one case, the town in June took the
PSB to the Supreme Court, contending that the PSB had acted “in violation of its own rules” in a recent decision granting a Certificate of Public Good to a 500-kilowatt array on the Russell Farm off Route 7. The court had yet to rule by year’s end. In the other, the three members of the PSB visited the Field Days Road site of another proposal to see for themselves what the issues were — even though their own hearing officer had signed off an approval more than a year before. They received an earful from New Haven residents and officials. The PSB had yet to issue a decision by late December. In Ferrisburgh, neighbors of an array erected by the Basin Harbor Club are involved in a lengthy battle with the PSB and the club. One Vermont Supreme Court decision went in neighbors’ favor, but the larger questions remain unresolved. The alternative energy issues are clouded further by a debate surrounding the economic incentives favoring wind and solar. Projects earn Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs, that are often sold out of state, leading some critics to question whether the arrays really help Vermont reach its renewable-energy goals even if the clean power is being generated within its borders. Despite the disputes, many solar projects went forward around the county, none bigger than the 4.99-megawatt array Green Mountain Power was completing in a field in northern Panton as the year wrapped up. Other arrays were built, expanded or proposed in Brandon, Ferrisburgh and New Haven, and St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Vergennes had a substantial array installed on its rooftop, a plan to which no one objected. Rooftop arrays in general proved to be increasingly popular. In Weybridge at year’s end a Minneapolis developer proposed another 4.99-megawatt array, a plan that drew a crowd of 40 to an informational meeting. Most of those who spoke at that gathering objected. In the waning days of December the newspaper got word that a different developer wanted to erect a similarsize solar array in Bristol off Route 116 south of the village. While the Vermont discussion went back and forth, the climate paid little attention: In mid-November, the World Meteorological Organization announced that 2016 would probably go down as the hottest in recorded history.
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MIDDLEBURY — A $40-plus million overhaul of Middlebury’s two downtown rail bridges spurred a lot of debate, planning and community organizing in 2016, but it all added up to another delay in construction. The project — originally slated to get under way in 2013 — calls for replacing the two deteriorating, 1920s-era Main Street and Merchants Row bridges over the railroad with a 360-foot-long concrete tunnel. It will be made up of 100 pieces of pre-caste concrete, each weighing around 25 tons. Work will encompass a total of 3,500 feet of the rail line. The plan also calls for a drainage system for the rail bed that will result in the undergrounding of various utilities near Printer’s Alley. The most disruptive construction was pegged for a 10-week period from June to August of 2019, when both Merchants Row and Main Street were to be shut down for quick and intensive project to replace the two spans. Town officials spent the beginning of the year sparring with state and federal officials about vertical clearance standards for the two bridges. They both currently allow 18 feet, 8 inches of clearance. Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and Federal Highway Administration officials wanted the new bridges to afford 23 feet of vertical clearance, which they argued was keeping with a national standard that would allow for the rail line to eventually accommodate double-stack freight cars. But town officials and some downtown property owners urged that vertical clearance be placed at 19 feet, arguing such a standard could make for a shorter, less expensive project requiring less excavation of the rail bed. The state Legislature and Vermont Transportation Board ultimately agreed to a compromise of 21 feet — which will still require the $40 million, four-year fix.
VTrans officials unveiled their proposed project schedule at a Nov. 17 meeting at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater, a presentation that included graphics projecting how the work site would look at various phases of construction. While some downtown merchants, property owners and shoppers voiced support for the plan, a few vowed to fight it — with legal action, if necessary. Edgewater Gallery owner George Dorsey became the face of that opposition, and hired Bristol attorney James Dumont to help make his case. Dumont submitted a lengthy list of questions about the project to VTrans Secretary Chris Cole this past October. Dumont argued, among other things, that there is no law holding Middlebury to a minimum 21-foot vertical clearance threshold for the bridges, and that the $40 million project should have been subjected to state, local and federal permitting — including an “Environmental Assessment.” The project had previously been granted a “categorical exclusion” from such a comprehensive review. State and federal officials ultimately agreed in mid-December to subject the plan to an Environmental Assessment, in part out of a desire to avert potential legal action. Officials added the assessment would likely delay the project start for a year or more. Middlebury selectboard members were not happy about the new delay, but said the hiatus would allow for an independent audit of the rail bridges plan to make sure it was sound. In the meantime, VTrans has vowed to regularly inspect the two rail bridges to make sure they can continue to serve what is at times a busy downtown traffic scene, with heavy vehicles. Officials said they could install temporary bridges within seven days if the two downtown spans are ever deemed unsafe.
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Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017 — PAGE 21
Dairy farmers struggle with low milk price, new water rules Farmers saw milk prices plummet in 2016 at the same time as they were being required to adopt new practices, mandated by Vermont’s Clean Water Act. Milk prices plunged in 2016 and stayed around the TY ADDISON COUN $15 per hundredweight range — in sharp contrast to a high of $23 or more in 2014. Yet the federal Margin Protection Program, designed to provide esses, insurance for farmers when the cost of milk falls her touts list of succ Gauc ach at crossroads prospects in recruiting effort below the cost of production, proved ineffectual in Middlebury business outre the Green Mountain State. Local farmers described the MPP, part of the 2014 Farm Bill, as “strictly an expense ... The program just hasn’t worked out the way we thought it would.” Middlebury The MPP is geared towards Midwest commodity to buy new Lincoln ladder truck prices and farmers in Vermont have faces trash State to reveal updated rail bridges plan, Oct. 11 deadline found that it doesn’t actually address Casella seeking to renegotiate deal the cost of producing milk in the Northeast. As they were trying to make ends meet given the price of milk, farmers around the state began to feel the effects of the new “Required Agricultural Practices,” or RAPs, which were designed to reduce manure-laden, phosphorousAg tour highlights farm rich run off from dairy operations. Over the efforts to improve lake course of 2016, the Agency of Agriculture held hearings, took comments from farmers and met with stakeholders, as it revised the draft rules. The RAPs officially took effect in December 2016. They require farms to follow new, more restrictive rules for: r ticks plague • storing and spreading manure. By the way Winte moose herd state’s • planting cover crops. • managing erosion. • excluding livestock from waterways. ex Ind One bone of contention amongst farmers themselves was which aspects of the rules should apply to which farms. Many of the RAPs’ biggest changes affected small farms, which were being required to meet many design Architectural and interior fall is the focus of our annual C. home supplement. See Section
and Mount Abe hosted MUHS many other teams at a Tuesday1B. Page cross-country meet. See
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INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont
Vol. 70 No. 39
By JOHN FLOWERS four MIDDLEBURY — Almost the trial, years into its five-year DevelopMiddlebury Business struggling ment Fund (MBDF) is subbringing of goal to achieve its and jobs to stantial new businesses of its town, in spite of the efforts energetic executive director. opinion s consensu the That was local offilast week among several lobbied who cials and entrepreneurs back in for creation of the MBDF by the 2012. It’s been a joint effortand the town, Middlebury College
Fall Home
On the run
Arts + Leisure
Thursday, September
Middlebury and I think ity , local business commun all of us, Jamie included es to bring new enterpris are disappointed with the to the community and help results to date,” said Dave The grow. firms existing Donahue, special assistant record shows that while to Middlebury College adthe MBDF and its chief President Laurie Patton. that say will ministrator, Jamie Gauch“I er, have courted a diverse we knew when we took crop of prospects, organizthis approach that it would ers’ original hopes of landbe a challenge, but that the GAUCHER ing some businesses with only way to test a proposires Doit,” try employee to re is 40-or-mo tion such as this one have no regrets mains an elusive goal. en- nahue added. “We “We know Jamie has worked to about doing so.” jobs ergetically to try to bring
29, 2016 60 Pages
cited a Area MBDF boosters the chalstill-thawing economy and entreprelenges of attracting young among the neurs to a rural area as has faced in obstacles that Gaucher One official his recruiting efforts. requested close to the process who to see anonymity said he had hopedcollege the more cooperation from potential in identifying and courting MiddleFormer . alumni prospects John bury selectboard Chairmanprocess Tenny believes the MBDF exposure would benefit from more 11A) (See Middlebury, Page
By JOHN FLOWERS GauMIDDLEBURY — Jamie ry cher, director of the Middlebuent Office of Business Developm inqui& Innovation, said he fields seven to ries from an average of explor10 prospects each month town ing Addison County’s shire down lay as a possible place to roots. He said some of those inquiries entrepreare “very serious,” from
$1.00
a business neurs who already have who are plan in the works and land seeking information about and ry availability in Middlebu how to advice on financing and/or process. navigate the permitting folks from come calls Some of the out basic who are simply putting e feelers, instilling little confidenc that they might call back. these Gaucher invites some of (See Gaucher, Page 12A)
By JOHN FLOWERS MiddleMIDDLEBURY — The unanibury selectboard on Tuesday departfire mously endorsed the of a new ment’s proposed purchase related with ladder truck — along and other tools, radio technology $866,471 of total equipment — for a vendor. from a Wyoming-based the low The company, HME, was s that bidder among three companie the replace vied for the contract to nt’s largDepartme Fire ry Middlebu — its est and most expensive vehicle other rs and ladder truck. Firefighte spent more Middlebury officials have whether ing than two years determin 1993 to replace or repair the existingwhich Pierce Arrow ladder truck, 20-year d has exceeded its anticipate damaged. It lifespan and is currently mount was last May that the swivel prethus on top of the truck froze, during an Addirotating. Professional Rico Balzano venting the ladder from n Agronomy Outreach the ladder stands with UVM Extensio in the county to improve water quality.Independent photo/Trent Campbell The HME bid for just GEORGE Foster, right, tion efforts equipment) MIDDLEBURY FARMER Monday. The tour highlighted conserva truck (minus related tour out of the son County farm bus was $825,100. Finishing Smeal and Pierce the running were and companies, which bid $937,913 $853,797, respectively. nt Asst. Middlebury Fire Departme of a part was Selleck Chief Myron the three committee that evaluated specificabids based on an 83-item l in understandtown would etc. — are being successfu tion work for tions list to ensure the to make conserva By GAEN MURPHREE The vehicle — Legislators, ing how get a quality product. the techniADDISON COUNTY and providing some of a 111-foot, to begin will be equipped with atives from state farmers that will actual physical tools needed policy makers, represent rear-mounted steel ladder others got on the cal and ting these programs. and entities access federal and give firefighters good exterior in the Addison County implemen Swift came bus Monday to see what town Water quality expert Ethan water quality to the larger buildings in d. farmers are doing to improve away similarly impresse case of a blaze. both worlds. It’s a good in Lake Champlain. “It’s kind of the best of “I believe we have created Berry, Senator practices these of win-win the commit“It’s exciting,” said Tom see on agricultural nice to model for future apparatus the farmers’ costs.” Patrick Leahy’s lead advisor “I’ve been at and programs, fulfilling both is the tees,” Selleck said. issues that What’s changed, said Poole, confirmed and natural resource issues. Senator for a concerns and the environmental Fire Chief Dave Shaw the recyclables market. Swift said. be able to this work for a while, and — when see, visibly, a we’re facing,” the new ladder truck will and restoraEight or nine years ago nce at lot longer, and I can actually Swift, a watershed planning in Lincoln more of nt of access repairs and maintena Oscontracts such as the one on the ground. I’m seeing as the tion expert for the Vermont Departme West change excould an HME center in nearby brown now tion, leads develwere arranged — Casella the ground is green than Environmental Conserva thus assuaging some $10 per ton seen to $5 I’ve N.H., phosaround spring sipee, the address make in to to and pect that corn comes off it, opment of strategic plans listens to Orwell farmer selectboard members’ concerns the Otter Creek both (See Casella, Page 14A) for thing. same CHERYL CESARIO, LEFT, conservation practices pollution the 2A) many we — the big phorus (See Ladder truck, Page Josh Lucas discuss the his farm to improve water “So my takeaway is that (See Farm tour, Page 14A) on technical support, he has implemented ‘we’ of the farmers, the Murphree Independent photo/Gaen
By GAEN MURPHREE SysLINCOLN — Casella Waste curits tems said it will end or changeent with rent waste collection arrangemarrangenew Lincoln on Oct. 1 and no ment is yet in place. is still The town’s selectboard workable searching for affordable and and recyways to get Lincoln’s trash cling picked up. said Selectboard Chair Bill Fingers and that the volume of recyclableis not trash that Lincoln produces tive for enough to make it cost-effec and Casella to come up the mountain a dispersed collect it from an area with population. ... can “And then the smaller haulers so only take on so many customers think we to speak,” Finger said. “But at this point, we’re making progress fingers.” actually. We’re crossing our tive Last May, Casella representa Lincoln the Dennis Poole informed was losselectboard that his company arrangeits ing too much money on to make ment with Lincoln and needed had reent changes. The arrangem d since 2008, unchange largely mained was losing said Poole, and Casella on its Linaround $26,835 annually coln account. built off “This program was strictly worked 10 of a plan that would have . “We had years ago,” Poole explained on a flat an older deal that was based amount didn’t that amount monthly to cover our to what we needed to do
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quality.
d voters Middlebury registere voting take note: General Election place take on Tuesday, Nov 8, will recreation at the community’s new Road. Creek 154 at center/gym (See By the way, Page 3A)
the curpean intervention, are behind state’s s besetting the By GAEN MURPHREE will head rent challenge to biologist VERMONT — Archers for the moose herd, according into the woods on Saturday hunters Cedric Alexander, Fish and Wildand start of moose season Project Leader. their shots life’s Moose take to get numbers will record guns of with After decades fewer huntns as moose beginning Oct. 15. But s forest and thriving populatio ers will be roaming Vermont’ of the reclaimed their ancestral turf, for the one “winter tick this fall on the lookout for past half-dozen years a state’s most iconic animals. of Fish epizootic” (think “epidemic,” but for nt herd in decline. the This year the Departme put has animals) 6A-7A percent fewof this Obituaries .......................... and Wildlife issued 40 The damaging explosion years 4B-8B in total) and Classifieds ......................... back hundreds of er moose permits (160 5B-6B all but two parasite goes in forests hunting virgin s restricted Service Directory .............. again males, in to when Vermont’ + Leisure Entertainment ........Arts management areas to adult hard by were cleared for settlement. Two8A-9A hit Community Calendar ........ an effort to bolster a herd fifty years ago the Green hundredgrowa Leisure + also is percent forArts Calendar ........Arts a pesky arachnid that Mountain State was 95 .. 1B-3B ticks. — humans to nuisance Sports .............................. ing not good ested. said AlexMoose, it turns out, are “We changed all that,” evolutionary this state into an groomers. And that -a-half ander. “We made detail, hitched to three-and Euro(See Moose, Page 13A) centuries of landscape-altering
of the same standards previously applied only to so-called Large Farm Operations and Medium Farm Operations. The initial draft of the RAPs defined a small farm operation (SFO) as one with 20 or more dairy cows (or the equivalent). But outcry from small farmers changed the cutoff point to 50 or more dairy cows. “The problem is that there’s a division between agricultural sectors when one has to do it and the other doesn’t have to do it,” said UVM Extension’s Jeff Carter. “It’s the old divide and conquer routine. So now you’re continuing to pit large farms against small farms, organic against nonorganic, grazing against manure spreading.” Nonetheless, the 50-cow threshold for SFOs captures 94 percent of the state’s dairy cows and 76 percent of all live weight. Farmers also wondered to what extent other sectors were being tasked with their fair share of Lake Champlain cleanup. “The new water regs are very good water regs,” said Addison farmer Rob Hunt in October. “I think they are things that responsible farmers have been doing before they were implemented. But the negative is it’s only for farmers. Everybody else can pollute.” Nevertheless, Addison County farmers provided strong leadership toward Lake Champlain cleanup. A September tour of the county, organized by the Middlebury UVM Extension and NRCS offices, Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition and the Otter Creek Natural Resource Conservation District highlighted many of these ongoing changes. “It’s exciting,” said Tom Berry, Sen. Patrick Leahy’s lead advisor on agricultural and natural resource issues. “I’ve been at this work for a while, and the senator for a lot longer, and I can actually see, visibly, a change on the ground. I’m seeing more of the ground is green than brown now as the corn comes off it. So my takeaway is that we ... are being successful in understanding how to make conservation work for farmers and providing some of the tools needed to begin implementing these programs.”
the animal’s coat s of ticks that infest against clusters of hundred T woods can brush Fish & Wildlife Photo courtesy Vermont MOOSE IN VERMON all winter. and can suck its blood
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PAGE 22 — Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017
Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017 — PAGE 23
TRENT CAMPBELL’S
TIME ONCE AGAIN TO REACH BACK INTO THE ARCHIVES and select 10 favorite images from the past year. For many it was a year of heartache, defeat and anxiety and it seems like I gravitated this year to images that showed some hope, determination and joy. I hope you find those qualities in a least some of these photographs. This page leads off with four of my favorite athletic event photos including, clockwise from top left, Tiger Isabel Rosenberg flying through the air and scoring a goal during the Division I high school girls’ lacrosse state title game in June; Mary Hogan Elementary School sixth-grader Howard Simpson celebrating near the finish line during the school’s annual track meet in June; Middlebury Union High School seniors Ian McKay, Tsering Chophel and Nick Holmes going under at the school’s annual senior raft race on Lake Dunmore; and Richard Moran about to make his winning caber toss at Addison County Fair and Field Days in August. Page 23 features, clockwise from top left, a grasshopper over a Shoreham field: Jamie Gaucher hanging out in his old Middlebury municipal building office on a day in March when the building was getting packed up for a move to the new building down the street; Bristol Elementary School third-grader Zoey Vaughan joyfully participating in a Taiko drumming workshop at the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union Fine Arts Festival in May; Beeman Elementary School students singing during a citizen naturalization ceremony at the school in April; Mary Hogan Elementary School first-grader Taylen Maynard showing his determination while exiting the bus during the first days of school in September; and Mary Hogan Elementary School retiring music teacher Chuck Miller marching for the last time with the school band in May’s Memorial Day parade. Independent file photos/Trent Campbell
PAGE 24 — Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017
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Heat, low rainfall affect farmers, towns, hunters
Climate change means deer kill up, crops suffer It’s no secret weather is a favorite topic of conversation in these parts. And 2016 gave us all a lot to talk about, and not just because the World Meteorological Organization announced in mid-November that the year would probably go down as the hottest in recorded climate history — topping 2015, of course. Quick, somebody please tell the President-elect and Congress. Anyway, this past winter in Addison County and Vermont was the mildest in recent memory. Towns banked cash by not paying highway workers their customary overtime to plow roads, and stockpiled unused sand and salt for this winter. This warm winter of 2015-2016 had interesting side effects. The maple syrup season came early, with some sugarmakers tapping in early February, and lasted long. Overall, it was productive. And the relatively toasty winter allowed more deer to survive. In 2015 the Department of Fish & Wildlife estimated the state’s herd at about 120,000, a number that grew to 145,000 a year later. As a result, hunters weighed more deer in Addison County during rifle season (573) and overall including all hunting seasons (1,064) than in any year since 2005, when the department banned shooting spikehorn bucks during November’s rifle season.
After a mild winter summer came. More fans and air conditioners hummed than usual, and not a lot of rain fell. Many farmers had to resort to irrigating pastures during drought-like conditions. Beekeepers found some benefits, as flowers flourished and their hives produced plenty of honey. But the fall apple crop was down, and although the taste and quality of the fruit remained good — the size of the apples was smaller than typical. Another unofficial Vermont fall crop — red and golden leaves — flourished in a balmy September and October. Some say foliage season started early and lasted weeks. Yes, then we did get some cold weather and snow in December, just enough to restore some semblance of order in the world. But through it all in 2016 when people ran into each other on the street or sat down for a cup of coffee at places like Buxton’s Store, Carol’s Hungry Mind Café or New Haven’s Village Green Market, they probably spent even more time than usual talking about the weather.
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Not a lot of rain fell. Many farmers had to resort to irrigating pastures during drought-like conditions.
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PAGE 26 — Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017
Vermont Green Line promises millions to New Haven A large renewable-energy transmission project won support from a key host town in Addison County by offering millions in payments but lost out in the competition for a contract to sell renewable energy to three Southern New England states. Representatives from the Massachusetts-based companies Anbaric Transmission and National Grid approached New Haven, Ferrisburgh and Waltham in 2015 with plans to construct the Vermont Green Line. The estimated $600 million project would bring 400 megawatts of wind and hydro power from upstate New York and onto the New England power grid by way of 59 miles of underground HVDC cable. The powertransmission cable would travel 40 miles under Lake Champlain, come aground at Kingsland Bay State Park, and then travel 13 miles underground through Ferrisburgh, Waltham and New Haven to a converter station near the junction of Routes 7 and 17. Given the scale of the proposed converter station — roughly five stories high and the size of a football field — the project generated the most controversy in New Haven. Over nine months of public discussion, New Haven residents raised concerns about noise, property values, health
and safety, and how the look and feel of the converter station would fit in with the town’s rural character. VGL representatives repeatedly pledge to gain New Haven’s approval before approaching the Public Service Board for a Certificate of Public Good. And on Town Meeting Day, New Haven residents made clear that they wanted a vote. In March, Middlebury began its own negotiations to have the converter station sited at a location in the town’s business park off Exchange Street. But the New Haven site remained VGL’s top choice because of its proximity to the VELCO substation, the northernmost terminus for high-voltage transmission lines on the west side of the Green Mountains. In late May, New Haven voters signaled approval for the project through a townwide survey, with 252 in favor of the project and 128 against. The terms of the agreement between VGL and New Haven include: • Payments of $1.5 million per year for 40 years, with a yearly 1 percent adjustment for inflation. • $4 million to build a new fire station and a new town garage. • A VGL Compensation Fund for designated abutters, with an initial amount of $1 million. VGL had offered Ferrisburgh at least $350,000 a year for 20 years, plus roughly $150,000 in annual local
property taxes in November 2015. The Ferrisburgh selectboard negotiated throughout 2016 to improve that deal. But by the end of 2016, final terms had yet to be worked out. About 5.5 miles of the HVDC cable would travel through Ferrisburgh. The project has had very little impact in Waltham because it runs along state right-of-way along Route 7. VGL’s negotiations with New Haven officially concluded in early October, with both parties signing an official agreement. Within weeks, however, New Haven learned of a possible monkey wrench. On Oct. 25, the New England Clean Energy RFP announced it had awarded renewable energy contracts to six projects, but the Vermont Green Line was not among them. Selectman and New Haven VGL negotiator Steve Dupoise broke the news at a town plan hearing, calling the project “significantly stalled.” In a follow-up conversation with the Independent, Joe Rossignoli, National Grid’s Director of U.S. Business Development, said that VGL developers intend to keep the project on schedule, as they submit new bids to deliver renewable energy elsewhere in New England. “It’s business as usual,” he said. On Oct. 21, VGL developers filed with papers with the Vermont regulator for a Certificate of Public Good. This could mean more news on this front in 2017.
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Several towns wrap up major building projects The first Monday in April ushered in a new era for Middlebury municipal employees, who began working in the new, expansive town office building at 77 Main St. It was a key moment in a series of events in 2016 that helped transform the southern end of the shiretown’s downtown. Voters in 2014 OK’d a $6.5 million plan to build the new, 9,400-square-foot town office building at 77 Main and a new, 11,400-square-foot recreation facility off Creek Road that had opened a few months earlier. Middlebury College agreed to underwrite $4.5 million of the construction costs in return for the land at 94 Main St., the home of the 105-year-old old municipal building and town gym; the college also got another town-owned parcel at 6 Cross St. In June the college tore down the old buildings at 94 Main and began to landscape the site as a park. By the end of the fall the area was ready to welcome visitors to Middlebury’s newest green space. Residents were justifiably proud of the spiffy new town office on the downtown rotary, and they voted for the first time in the new town rec. facility on Election Day. And Middlebury wasn’t they only Addison County town to see a prominent change in its landscape. After more than a decade of looking for a solution to its century-old firehouse, the Bristol Fire Department in early July opened a brand spanking new fire station on West Street right at the entrance to the village. The roughly 11,000-square-foot building is large enough to host all of the department’s various apparatus, and provide meeting space and a few other amenities. It even came in a little under the $3.19 million budget. The department had been working out of three buildings for decades, and for the past
18 months out of four, meeting monthly in the Bristol American Legion Post. No longer will there be running around to find needed equipment or information, or the need to make decisions and then send personnel to go after trucks and equipment in emergency situations. With the fire station well on its way to becoming a reality, Bristol residents in May passed a $1.1 million water bond. The bond was essential to Bristol being able to move ahead with a proposed business park behind the new fire station — look for news on that front in 2017. Municipal employees and town residents also welcomed a new town garage in Starksboro in late May. The 7,800-square-foot garage just north of the town’s Route 116 fire station is built like a high-tech-steel post-andbeam barn. The $1.69 million garage boasts seven bays, enough to hold the town’s trucks with room to grow. It also offers water, a storage mezzanine, foreman’s office, meeting room, kitchen, eyewash station, shower, and sensors for carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide. As a bonus, it is much more energy efficient — though twice the size of the old garage, it will be cheaper to heat. In the Little City, major renovations were wrapping up at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Vergennes’ School Street headquarters in October. As well as a needed facelift, the work included a full kitchen that will allow the youth club to expand its meals program and cooking classes. And up in Lincoln, the town late in the year completed a new town office that more than doubles the old one’s size, increasing the square footage from 950 to 2,000. Placed on the same footprint as the old office, the new building faced south so that it would be flooded with lots of natural light.
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PAGE 28 — Addison Independent, Monday, January 2, 2017
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Controversial pipeline nearly completed On Dec. 9, 2016, the Vermont Supreme Court lifted a stay against Vermont Gas that allows the company to complete the last remaining 2,000-foot section of a 41-mile pipeline from Colchester into Middlebury. Justices of the court lifted the stay because they said they believed Vermont Gas would likely prevail in the case before the court that had prevented it from putting the pipe 30-50 feet below the surface of Geprags Park in Hinesburg via horizontal drilling that will not disrupt the park’s surface. A few months earlier, opponents of the pipeline and some Hinesburg residents had filed suit to prevent the pipeline from going through the community park. Vermont Gas spokesperson Beth Parent reported at the time that with the stay removed, Vermont Gas would have the pipeline finished in 10 weeks, which would mean mid-to-late February 2017. If that happens, it will complete an estimated $153.6 million project that was first approved by Vermont’s Public Service Board on Dec. 23, 2013, for with estimated price tag of $86.6 million. What has happened in those ensuing three years is a modern tale of climate change activists opposing major infrastructure construction that would further the longterm consumption of fossil fuels. Activists such as Rising Tide, Just Power, Hands Across the Valley, Rutland Area Climate Coalition, Toxics Action Center and 350VT have consistently opposed the pipeline. Just this last year saw protesters chain themselves to machines used to lay the pipeline in Middlebury, stand in the way of earthmoving machines working on the pipeline in New Haven and disrupt meetings to the point where officials threatened to lock the public out of public meetings. It has been, in short, a prolonged and nasty fight to complete the 41-mile pipeline that Vermont Gas says will serve between 3,000 and 4,000 new gas customers in the communities of Vergennes and Middlebury, as well as a few customers along the pipeline’s right of way. Pipeline opponents have not only argued that the pipeline should not be built because it distributes a fossil fuel, but that the use of natural gas is no better for the environment than burning fuel oil, nor is it less expensive. Vermont Gas, on the other hand, has countered that natural gas dumps less carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere, that methane leakage is being reduced, and that the cost is roughly 20 percent less expensive than fuel oil on average (depending, of course, on the ups and downs of the energy market). Another major point protestors used against the pipeline was the fact that project costs jumped twice during the course of construction beyond regulators’ expectations, and with Vermont Gas failing to report the projected increases in a timely manner. And, mid-stream, there was a change in command at the head of Vermont Gas — Don Rendall took over as CEO of Vermont Gas from Don Gilbert about two years ago. Adding fuel to the fire was an initial agreement with International Paper in Ticonderoga, N.Y., to build an offshoot pipeline from Middlebury through Cornwall and Shoreham, under Lake Champlain to the New York paper mill — an offshoot that would have initially helped fund the pipeline’s expansion south to Middlebury. The spur line was later cancelled. In the meantime, Vermont had to work hard through 2015 and into 2016 to get easements from property owners along the pipeline route. It got the last four in 2016. Proponents of the pipeline included many larger businesses in Middlebury, including the Agri-Mark, suggesting at one point that the cheese plant would save a couple million dollars per year in fuel savings. The Chamber of Commerce and business groups were also generally in favor of having another fuel option in the town saying that the increased competition among energy sources would keep prices lower for consumers and business.
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