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ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENTON PUBLICATIONS/ NEW MARKET PRESS PO Box 338 Elizabethtown NY 12932 Postal Patron

November 21, 2015

Middlebury: Request to buy Creek Road farm From News Reports

MIDDLEBURY Ñ At the Nov. 10 meeting of the Middlebury Select Board, Creek Road resident Alpine Bingham spoke to the Board about long standing problems he has experienced with riverside erosion adjacent to his familyÕ s property, which he believes has been caused by obstructions in the river and undersized culverts. He suggested that the town consider buying out his farm. Other items were discussed: Supervisory Union Merger Discussions At the request of the ASCU Charter Committee chair, this agenda item was postponed until the SelectboardÕ s next regular meeting on December 8th. EDI Project. Consistent with the BoardÕ s decision at its October 27th meeting to proceed with NexBridge Partners as the developer for the EDI project, the Board appointed a five-member committee to draft a Development Agreement - modeled after a process successfully used in Burlington - with NexBridge Partners as the next step for advancing the EDI project beyond the conceptual design stage. Members of the newly appointed committee include: Nick Artim, Selectboard Member, Brian Carpenter, Selectboard Member, Donna Donahue, Select Board Member, Jamie Gaucher, Business Development & Innovation Director, Jennifer Murray, Planning & Zoning Director. The Committee will report to the Select Board. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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Goodwill leases space in Rutland for new store, donation area

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By Lou Varricchio lou@addison-eagle.com RUTLAND Ð Goodwill of the Berkshires and Southern Vermont has leased 10,000 square feet of retail space on Route 7 in Rutland, where it plans to open a new thrift store. The site, at 230 North Main St., Suite 6, had been the location of LaFlammeÕ s Furniture, which has relocated to their expanded location at Diamond Run Mall. Goodwill plans to open the Rutland retail outlet in March. The site will also have a donation center where people will be encouraged to drop off items for resale. Goodwill anticipates that it will be ready to take donations of gently used and new clothing, housewares, furniture, small electronics, and computer equipment at the site by mid-November. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

It may have gotten off to a slow and chilly start, but by last Saturday afternoon, members of the Hinesburg Fire, First Response and Police organizations collected 888 pounds of food and more than $1,000 in donations for the Hinesburg Food Shelf’s community wide autumn food drive. Photo provided

Vermont nearly flunks integrity test By Bruce Parker

Vermont Watchdog Report

CASTLETON Ñ A national watchdog group that rates states on public accountability says Vermont is doing a bad job when it comes to good government. The Center for Public Integrity released its 2015 State Integrity Investigation report Monday, handing Vermont a D- overall rating on its integrity report card and ranking the state 39th out of 50. The nonpartisan research group, which exists to identify best and worst practices in government accountability, found that Vermont and most other state governments are riddled with conflicts of interests, cozy ties to special interest groups and a general lack of ethics and transparency. Instead of tracking specific acts of corruption, the group investigates institutional safeguards against corruption, looking for mecha-

nisms that promote accountability, openness and transparency at the state level. The result of the groupÕ s efforts is a detailed interactive report useful to lawmakers, ethics reform groups and the general public. For its methodology, the Center for Public Integrity developed a list of about 300 questions related to government operations, developed with input from nearly 100 state-level experts on good government. The questions are then grouped into 13 key categories ranging from political finance and executive accountability to lobbying disclosure and state budget oversight. The categories drill down further, specifying mechanisms of public-sector integrity that are either Ò in lawÓ or Ò in practice.Ó Each question is assigned an objective numerical value that allows for comparisons with other states. According the interactive report card for Vermont, the Green Mountain State gets an A for state budget processes. Researchers praised CONTINUED ON PAGE 8


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