The Citizen - 5-2-24

Hinesburg Center II

Developer appeals Act 250 denial

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

The developer proposing a major housing development in Hinesburg is appealing an Act 250 commission’s denial of the project.

Hinesburg Center II has been in the works for nearly a decade and received the official green light from the town’s development review board in February last year. Plans call for creating 21 new lots in the town’s village growth area off Route 116 near Patrick Brook and would include 73 new homes — 15 single-family homes, two nine-unit buildings, one six-unit building and one 34-unit building.

The project is the third iteration of continued commercial and residential development in the town’s village area. The first two phases included the Creekside Project and Hinesburg Center I, which brought Kinney Drugs, Parkside Cafe and other housing units several years ago.

“The appeal is really more of an effort to kind of protect our rights,” said Brett Grabowski, a developer with Milot Real Estate in Williston who co-owns the property with the David Lyman Revocable Trust.

The major cause for the denial, according to documents associated with the decision, are concerns about flooding, specifically the fill proposed by the developer to

See HINESBURG CENTER II on page 13

What do school budget cuts mean for next year?

After voters approved the Champlain Valley School District’s revised budget this month, the district will have to grapple with staffing reductions and deferred facility maintenance going into the next school year.

The revised $101.8 million budget, which passed by around 1,400 votes on April 16, represents about $5 million in spending cuts from the initial version voters rejected on Town Meeting Day, while still amounting to an almost 6 percent increase from this year’s budget. Despite that increase, the district will have to tighten its belt dramatically next year

due to rising staffing and facility costs that have led to a chaotic budget year statewide. With the revised budget passed, the district has to scrap 42 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions for next year, including

See BUDGET CUTS on page 12

PHOTO BY LEE KROHN

HABIB SABET STAFF WRITER

REPAIRS

Welch discusses agricultural, economic benefits of maple industry with sugarmakers

U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) spoke with Vermont sugarmakers at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne April 24 about the agricultural, cultural and economic benefits of Vermont’s maple industry. As the largest maple producer in the United States, Vermont’s maple industry provides employment opportunities and economic benefits for rural communities.

“Vermont is the gold standard around the world for maple, and it all starts right here at places like Shelburne Farms. Maple is at the heart of our state’s culture, history, and economy. It’s a tradition that most Vermonters have enjoyed

their entire lives,” Welch said.

“Congress must pass legislation that supports our maple industry to ensure Vermont’s sugarmakers can continue to produce maple for folks to enjoy for generations to come.”

In March, Sen. Peter Welch introduced the Making Agricultural Products Locally Essential (MAPLE) Act, legislation that supports the maple industry by providing a new market for maple syrup producers while increasing seniors’ access to locally sourced maple syrup products.

The MAPLE Act would add maple syrup to the eligible products under the Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which gives low-income seniors access to locally grown fruits, vegetables, honey and herbs at farmers’ markets, roadside stands and community-supported agriculture programs.

Senators Welch and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are leading

the introduction of the bill in the Senate and are joined by the original cosponsors, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). The MAPLE Act is endorsed by the International Maple Syrup Institute, New York State Maple Producers Association, North American Maple Syrup Council, Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association and Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers Association. Last year, senators Welch and Collins introduced the Supporting All Producers Act, legislation to require the U.S. Department Agriculture to consult with maple producers when determining education and research priorities for the Acer Access and Development Program, a competitive grant program supporting research and education related to maple syrup production and sustainability in the maple syrup industry.

COURTESY PHOTO

U.S. Senator Peter Welch visited Shelburne Farms April 24 to discuss Vermont’s maple industry and its many agricultural, cultural and economic benefits. He toured both the farm’s education sugarhouse and its production sugarhouse to hear about programs that

Hinesburg Artist Series offers

Mother’s

The Hinesburg Artist Series celebrates spring and Mother’s Day with a concert on Sunday, May 12, at 4 p.m. in the Champlain Valley Union High School auditorium.

The concert will feature the Hinesburg Community Band and South County Chorus, both directed by Rufus Patrick.

“We have put together a lovely mix of music that families are sure to enjoy,” Patrick, Hinesburg Artist Series music director, said. “This concert will be a wonderful

Day spring concert

way to celebrate spring and mothers.”

The Hinesburg Community Band will present selections by James Swearingen, Randall Standridge, Robert Longfield and a rousing piece entitled “Dragons Fly on The Winds of Time” by Larry Neeck.

The South County Chorus will sing selections by Michael Engelhardt, Howard Helvey and David Waggoner. Other featured selections will be “Turn the World Around” by Harry Bela-

fonte, arranged by Mark Hayes, and “A Million Dreams” from the “Greatest Showman” arranged by Mark Brymer.

“Performing for our local community for more than 25 years has been so inspiring,” Patrick said. “Come hear ‘Dragons Flying’ and listen to the Earth’s spirit as we ‘Turn the World Around’ through music.”

The concert is free; donations are accepted.

Go to hinesburgartistseries. org for more information.

School district meals program needs input

The Champlain Valley School District is helping families bridge the food gap during the summer by providing seven days of meals for free to any child 18 or under. The boxes include everything needed to make seven breakfasts and lunches for one child and are made available due to recent changes in U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations for summer food service programs.

Feeding children is a main priority in the district and helps in several ways. It keeps a few food

service staffers employed during the summer. The revenues from federal reimbursements can also help to offset costs incurred in the food service department when school begins, and the more meal boxes served, the better it will be for families in the district.

Meal boxes must be picked up in Hinesburg at the St. Jude Catholic Church on the scheduled distribution day — Mondays starting June 24 and through Aug. 19. There will be two distribution times on those Mondays, 7:30-9 a.m. and

2:30-4 p.m., or until all the boxes are gone. There is no delivery.

To be as prepared as possible, the district is asking that families complete a survey to express their interest in participating in the program. Please complete the survey by Monday, May 6, at bit. ly/49WF18i.

Families will need to order meals for their children each week on a special meal order form that will be on the district website during the summer. If you have questions, go to cvsdvt.org/page/268.

35th annual COTS walk this Sunday in Burlington

The 35th COTS Walk will take place on Sunday, May 5, at 1 p.m. in Battery Park in Burlington. It’s the nonprofit’s largest annual event and fundraiser to provide shelter, services and housing to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in Vermont.

Registration kicks off at 1 p.m.

and the walk begins at 2 p.m. The walk takes participants on a tour of eight shelters and facilities that the Committee on Temporary Shelter operates in Burlington. Each stop will provide music, snacks, crafts and education about the services provided there.

The majority of COTS’s annual

budget comes from private donations and the walk is one of its largest fundraising events of the year. This year, COTS aims to raise $210,000.

Those interested can register, sign up to volunteer or donate now at cotsonline.org or by calling 802-864-7402.

Pasta Salad

Fresh Roasted Vegetables

Cellentani Pasta with Garlic Olive Oil and

Fresh Julienne Vegetables

Tuscan Chicken

Chef’s Dessert Display and More

COURTESY PHOTO

Musical director Rufus Patrick leads the South County Chorus in a rehearsal on Monday.

CRIME & COURTS

Hinesburg Police Blotter: April 23-28

Total incidents: 27

April 23 at 11:25 a.m., an officer served paperwork for another agency to a person on North Road.

April 23 at 5:03 p.m., police investigated an animal complaint on Kailey’s Way.

April 23 at 8:12 p.m., police took a report of a motor vehicle crash on Route 116.

April 26 at 6:56 a.m., police investigated the report of a

stolen vehicle on North Road.

April 26 at 3 p.m., illegal dumping was reported on Commerce Street.

April 26 at 8:50 p.m., officers responded to a domestic dispute on Green Street.

April 27 at 7:00 a.m., suspicious activity on Richmond Road was investigated.

April 28 at 6:40 p.m., police investigated suspicious circumstances on Gilman Road.

George sentenced to 18 years to life in Hinesburg killing

MIKE DONOGHUE CORRESPONDENT

A former Monkton man has been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his stepfather in Hinesburg in 2019.

Kory Lee George, 36, and his mother Angela M. Auclair, 52, formerly of Williston, have been implicated in orchestrating the nighttime ambush killing of David Auclair, 45, of Williston almost five years ago.

used in the homicide and a stolen 12-gauge shotgun, records show. George pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing the stolen shotgun at his Monkton home where he was living in August 2019. It had been stolen with several other firearms from a camp in St. Lawrence County in upstate New York that April, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported. Evidence indicated George rented a truck before heading to the New York camp for a burglary.

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They were both headed to trial when George entered a last-minute plea agreement in September 2023 that required him to enter a guilty plea and promise to testify against his mother.

David Auclair was shot 11 times, and no shell casings were left behind from the shooting, Vermont State Police said.

He was the son of a well-known South Burlington family that operated a large farm on Vermont 116 near the Shelburne line.

George said at his change of plea hearing that his mother was the person who fired all the shots into her estranged husband. It marked the first time she had been identified in public as the shooter.

Initial reports said Auclair was home when her husband was gunned down.

George and his mother were initially scheduled for a rare joint homicide trial in Vermont starting last October. Up to five weeks had been set aside for the trial.

David Auclair tried to crawl under his 2017 GMC pickup truck to get away from the shooting by his wife, deputy state’s attorney Susan G. Hardin said in court when George pleaded guilty last fall.

The bullet-riddled body of the victim was found July 11, 2019, at the LaPlatte Headwaters Town Forest trailhead parking lot off Gilman Road in Hinesburg. The victim was lured to the scene for his execution through a pre-paid burner cellphone that was traced to a Milton store where George bought it, state police said.

Auclair later pleaded guilty to accessory to first degree murder in January. She was scheduled to get the same sentence of 18 years to life as her son, but in April she petitioned a judge to allow her to withdraw her guilty plea. She also wants to fire her lawyer.

Judge Kevin Griffin had initially said he would try to schedule the sentencings for George and his mother on the same day so family members of the victim would need to travel only once from out-of-state for the hearings.

That plan fell through when Auclair pulled the plug on her plea deal.

“It’s about as bad as it gets,” Griffin told George on Monday about the execution-style murder of a family member.

Federal Judge Christina Reiss sentenced George to 89 months in federal prison on the gun count in November 2021. As part of the plea agreement, he is serving his federal sentence in a Vermont prison, and it is likely to run concurrently with his state time.

George said at his change of plea

hearing that his mother was the person who fired all the shots into her estranged husband. It marked the first time she had been identified in public as the shooter.

George, a five-time felon, also was convicted separately in federal court for illegal possession of a firearm in connection with the homicide.

During the investigation, Vermont State Police detectives said they determined George was in illegal possession of two firearms — the stolen 9-mm Beretta

A nearby doorbell camera at a Hinesburg home captured the sound of 14 shots. George’s defense lawyer Daniel M. Sedon said evidence showed only one gun was used at the scene. The homicide investigation pointed to George as the apparent shooter after he stole firearms from a Colchester home of James Synott the night before the shooting. George broke into the unattended home on Arbor Lane while his mother fulfilled plans to meet the homeowner and David Auclair for dinner at the Lighthouse restaurant in Colchester. Synott was a mutual friend.

The Auclairs were in a rocky marriage, and police said Angela Auclair had a romantic interest in another man who would visit their home on Vermont 116 in Williston. That man drove George to Colchester for the home burglary to steal guns, state police said.

Kory Lee George

Home Bill responsibly balances investment, affordable housing OPINION

From the Senate Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale

Recent arguments against increased density in population centers have used the tired refrain of “Vermont is not for sale.” This rhetoric and political opportunism are unworthy of one of the most serious policy issues of our time and creates false enemies out of those trying to build housing that is affordable and accessible for Vermont families.

It is true that Vermont is not for sale, and that is largely because there are no homes to purchase — less than 600 in the entire state — and certainly none that low- and moderate-income Vermonters can afford. That is not something to celebrate or politicize, and it does not create a welcoming environment to keep repeating this refrain.

Shrouded in virtuous pretense, saying Vermont is not for sale is akin to harkening back to a nostalgia for large land holdings and housing exclusivity that has left its legacy in Vermont’s vast racial and generational homeownership gap and homelessness crisis.

Owning a home has long been at the center of closing wealth disparities and building the stability of neighborhoods. With false constraints on the number of houses available on the market nationwide, we have seen the largest increase in the purchase price of homeownership in modern history. This has widened the wealth gap and destabilized communities. Vermont is not only swept up in this trend but is at the forefront in unfortunate ways: We have the highest rate of second homes, the highest number of acres per dwelling, and the largest share of households of two

people or less in the entire nation.

What’s more, Vermont is not immune to the political, class-based and racial housing segregation that is leading to the decline of our democracy. During the Great Migration of southern Black farmers who sought greater freedom in the north, Vermont actively recruited Swedish farmers to ensure the vast working landscape remained in white ownership. This was on top of a foundation of anti-Black and antisemitic housing covenants, real estate promotions exclusively welcoming white families and intellectual leadership in the eugenics movement.

Vermont is not among the whitest states in the country by accident, and allowing ownership opportunities in dense, multi-family housing projects is one of the best paths we have to break the shameful trend of reducing Black homeownership down to a mere 22 percent. Fifty years ago, when Act 250 was just being implemented, it was at 40 percent. White homeownership in Vermont reflects the national average at 72 percent, a 50-point difference.

This is not to blame Act 250, but to point out that its intent of creating “compact village settlements” with working lands in between has been perverted into creating exclusive communities that result in sprawl and a lack of affordability. We also have a tremendous homelessness crisis, and the research consensus is clear: More housing units slow rent increases, and lower rent prices drive down homelessness while also giving people choice at different stages of life.

Finally, as we look to the growing threat of climate change, we cannot turn our backs

See HINSDALE on page 9

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VERMONTCATHOLICHOMES.ORG

Protect our most pristine lakes

Guest Perspective Pat

Suozzi

Last year the Vermont Senate passed S.146, a bill relating to the permitting of indirect discharges. What does this mean? It will mean more protection for our lakes and ponds.

To protect Vermont’s high-quality waters, those lakes that exceed the Vermont Water Quality Standards should be reclassified from B2 to A1 watersheds. A1 reclassification would better protect water quality, require earlier state interventions if phosphorus levels rise and enable priority access to funding for restoration.

The Department of Environmental Conservation has so far determined that at least 12 lakes — Caspian, Cole Pond (Jamaica), Coles Pond (Walden), Echo (Charleston), Maidstone, Newark, Raponda, Rescue, Seymour, Shadow, South Pond (Eden), Willoughby and Havey’s — are eligible for reclassification. Together these lakes represent over 50,000 acres of watershed that would be protected.

However, all work to protect these very special lakes and their watersheds has stalled because of an antiquated limitation on the design capacity of septic systems in the watersheds of Class A waters as cited in Vermont Statute 10 V.S.A. § 1259 (d). This statute is now functioning as a barrier to increasing protections for lakes through reclassification. Four of these lakes — Maidstone, Caspian, Echo and Shadow — have submitted petitions to be reclassified but these petitions, while fully reviewed and deemed administratively complete, have been on hold

for well over two years due to this limitation.

The Federation and its member lake associations have been working in conjunction with local communities, watershed groups and the Department of Environmental Conservation staff for many years to institute best management practices to reduce runoff and prevent rising phosphorus levels. Much has been done but there is still more that needs to be done. Phosphorus levels continue to rise in many lakes, including some of our cleanest and most pristine lakes.

It may seem counterintuitive to say that very clean lakes would be better protected by removing a limitation on the size of septic systems in their watersheds. However, today with newer innovative alternative systems, the focus solely on capacity no longer makes sense. Properly managed, these newer septic systems can dramatically reduce the pollutants in wastewater before it enters the leaching field. Such systems, which can manage larger capacities, are cleaner, more efficient and would provide better protection for the state’s waters.

The current statutory limitation means that a community septic that could replace older, possibly failing, individual septic systems could not be installed — even if the total design flow of that community system was lower than the total of the individual systems.

For example, in 2022, seven lakefront homes on Caspian Lake banded together and replaced their individual septic systems with a community system that was sited farther from the lake, uses newer technology, is cleaner and more efficient and cost the homeowners less than the cost to replace each

individual system.

That high cost of replacing an individual septic is also a serious barrier to replacing older systems thus often leaving those older systems in place. However, lowering the cost by creating community septic would not be possible if these watersheds were reclassified to A1 under the current statute.

To remedy this situation and to better protect the state’s freshwater resources, the Federation of Vermont Lakes and Ponds is urging the Vermont House Committee on Environment and Energy to take this bill up and to make the statutory change this year. Our lakes and ponds depend on it.

This commentary is by Pat Suozzi of Hinesburg, president of the Federation of Vermont Lakes and Ponds.

Letters to the Editor

Local rep showed shameful behavior

To the Editor:

It was disturbing to see the recent behavior of an elected official related to the Champlain Valley School District school budget vote. Hinesburg and Charlotte’s Statehouse representative, Chea Water Evans, used her position and platform to publish a baseless and incendiary letter, distributed throughout the district just days before the vote, threatening the closure of local schools should the budget not be approved.

Without any basis in reality, or even a suggestion by any other source, this totally irresponsible threat most certainly swayed many uniformed minds.

We shouldn’t be surprised. embers of our supermajority Legislature continue to spread such reprehensible deceptions to please their special interest supporters on almost every issue — think housing, energy, ethics.

Since the passage of our new, local 20-plus-percent tax hikes, the only legislative response has been to form yet another 18-month “study” committee comprised of the very same vested interests who got us into this mess. No thoughts of controlling spending were considered.

There is one very tenuous chance of reprieve for taxpayers. Just remember, when you struggle to pay those outrageous new tax bills in November, that the legislative election is just one week earlier. Vote for integrity.

Leonard Duffy Hinesburg

Aging thing is for the birds

In Musing

Carole Vasta Folley

That’s it. The truth is unavoidable. I’m officially old. Truly, I am not ageist, nor do I have anything against aging. Who wouldn’t prefer it to the alternative?

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m still a kid inside or at least in my 20s. Even though I’ve spent the entirety of my life aging, I don’t think I recognized it until I looked in the mirror and saw my mother staring back at me. By the way, get that woman a vacation or at least some retinol cream.

I think there are elements of aging that may require recalibrating our sense of self. Face it, until now, there are things I never had to think about. Like how to get up off the floor. Or figure out how I got there in the first place. It appears I’m finally old enough to know that beta blockers aren’t board games and AARP isn’t a sound a character makes in a comic book.

with one finger, reusing paper towels, sporting comfy shoes, arguing with my husband about his cassette tape collection, and actually enjoying Ricola cough drops. The very same ones my 92-year-old mother-inlaw keeps in her fanny pack. Alongside her tissues. Oh my god.

At restaurants, I’m flummoxed when they hand me the early bird menu and inform me it’s 5 p.m. That’s when I used to eat lunch! I’m dumbstruck until I get excited that they have rice pudding.

Thank goodness many people get better with age. You hope we all become more our true selves, wiser, with broader perspectives. That we freak out less about life’s quirks and, more challengingly so, our own and other people’s quirks. That instead, we have more practice focusing on what matters.

Lately, this aging evidence has been piling up. Unavoidable, irrefutable clinchers that only mean one thing. I’m older. I have crossed some invisible line and there’s no going back. And if I did, who knows, I might trip on it. Apparently, nowadays, I also have to worry about breaking a hip. As if that was ever a good idea.

Here’s a few things that alerted me to my aging:

I like birds. When did that happen? No, seriously, I’m now a super fan. The other day I stood mesmerized by a little titmouse flitting about. The fact that I even know the word titmouse is damning. I can’t imagine what I would’ve thought that word meant in my youth.

I have tissues in my purse. OK, let me fess up. The truth is, they’re in my fanny pack. In admitting that, I want to tell you I could die from embarrassment. But really, that could happen anyways. Any minute.

I can’t open my prescription bottles. Nothing makes you look more like an oldster than flailing about the kitchen trying to open something. That along with texting

Like fine wine, aging causes us to be smoother, gentler. Sometimes increasingly more valuable. I like the wine analogy way better than cheese. Although it does seem to apply to some people I know. Like aged cheese, they’re harder, sharper and quite crumbly. Worse, some are moldy. Trust me, stick with the fermented grapes.

Back to birds — can’t help it — the other day I spied the most brilliant cardinal. He was perched on an evergreen, plump in scarlet vibrance. Instantly, I was reminded of my friend’s parents who passed. Cardinals make her think of them. So, whenever I see one, I think of her mom and dad too. Because that’s the other thing about getting older, we lose many we love.

Maybe it’s why I’ve fallen in love with birds later in life. There’s something about their flight that harkens to feelings of passage and transition. Just like aging. My past selves have flit away, uncatchable, and yet they’re in the ether too. Like the flock of redwing blackbirds I watch from my desk when they flutter away in the evening as the sun gracefully descends towards the horizon.

Carole Vasta Folley is an award-winning columnist and playwright. Visit carolevf.com for more info.

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Carole Vasta Folley

COMMUNITY

Community Notes

Interfaith Project awards grants totaling $35,000

The Shelburne, Charlotte, Hinesburg Interfaith Project (SCHIP) has announced its spring 2024 grant awards.

Grants in the amount of $35,020 were awarded to 13 nonprofits in the three towns that met the criteria of serving the people of the community. Recipients included Boy Scout Troop 6110, Charlotte Senior Center, Hinesburg Nursery School, New Village Farm, Pierson Library, Shelburne Nursery School, Shelburne Parks and Recreation, St. Catherine of Siena Church, Vermont Cancer Support Network, Vermont Parks Forever, Hinesburg Community Resource Center, Charlotte Food Shelf and Shelburne Food Shelf.

The award to New Village Farm came from the newly established major grants category. Grants funded in this category are designed to provide seed money for future self-sustaining projects.

These awards are made possible because of SCHIP’s mission to raise funds through the sale of donated, gently used clothing, household items, accessories, art and collectibles at its upscale resale shop on Route 7 in Shelburne next to the town offices. Since

April 2005, more than $902,600 has been distributed.

SCHIP accepts grant applications twice a year. The deadlines are March 15 and September 15. The maximum grant size is $3,000 for routine grants and $15,000 for major grants. Application forms are available at theschip.org.

Call the shop at 802-985-3595 or check the shop’s Facebook page for information about shopping, donating, volunteering or to help in other ways.

Participating faith communities are Charlotte Congregational Church; Hinesburg United Church; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church, Charlotte; Shelburne United Methodist Church; St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, Shelburne; St. Jude’s Catholic Church, Hinesburg; and Trinity Episcopal Church, Shelburne.

Meet the calves, cows at Shelburne Farms dairy day

Dairy day at Shelburne Farms is Sunday, May 5, 1-4 p.m.

Head down to the Shelburne Farms dairy

See COMMUNITY NOTES on page 9

Return visitor

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA LAZAR

Alexandra Lazar took this photo of the intracacies of a robin’s nest on her porch in Charlotte. Last year, she said a robin raised three rounds of babies in it, and now that spring has sprung, she’s returned to fill the nest once again.

Sen. Kesha Ram, D-Shelburne, says there are fewer than 600 homes for sale in the entire state of Vermont, which keeps prices high, including rents, as illustrated above in data from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

HINSDALE

continued from page 5

on climate refugees, and saying we are “not for sale” is akin to saying we are closing our borders as coastal sea levels rise — even as low-lying areas in Vermont become more flood prone. We need to build units densely on higher ground in anticipation of the uncertainty and destruction to come, and there is no amount of money that can do that without the appropriate regulatory reform to get people to safety.

The Senate’s proposed BE Home Bill, S.311, responsibly

COMMUNITY NOTES

continued from page 8

barn and meet the spring calves and Brown Swiss cows. Take a wagon ride to the pastures, watch the calves get their afternoon milk, explore the dairy barns, see the cows come down the lane for afternoon milking in “cow parade” style, and view them getting milked in the parlor.

The cost is $5 per car; walkers get in free. No registration is required.

Howard Center panel addresses substance use

The education session, “Substance Use and Our Community, takes place Thursday, May 2, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at dealer.com, 1 Howard St., Burlington. Both in-person and virtual attendance options are available. (Please note the correct day of the week.)

The session is part of Howard Center’s spring community education series.

balances targeted investment within our limited means and reduces the cost of building housing to make it affordable for everyone. In fact, we have put more money into supporting affordable housing in the fiscal year 2025 budget proposal than the House, and we have done so while trying to encourage much-needed, climate-friendly density in population centers and along transit corridors, as well as choice and clustered affordable housing in rural areas.

A panel of experienced clinicians will provide an overview of substance, including programs and services that provide treatment and efforts to create a bridge between people who use drugs and recovery, followed by a question-and-answer period.

This event is free, and attendees

See COMMUNITY NOTES on page 12

The final product will have the agreement of economic and environmental stakeholders alike because they are not mutually exclusive.

So, I ask you, before simply buying into this divisive rhetoric that some are trying to profit while others suffer, what is the alternative to a Vermont that is for sale? It is a Vermont that is foreclosed to the many who want to call it home at a rate they can afford. That is not a future I want for our beloved state, and neither should you.

Kesha Ram Hinsdale, a Democrat from Shelburne, serves the towns of South Burlington, Shelburne, Charlotte, Hinesburg, Milton, Burlington, St. George, Westford, Underhill, Jericho, Richmond, Winooski, Williston, Essex and Bolton in the Legislature.

OUTDOORS

Secret deaths that take place in our forests

Into the Woods

Ethan Tapper

One of the great joys of being a forester is developing a deep and complex relationship with the vital and beautiful biotic communities that we call forests. It’s a doubleedged sword: Building a more in-depth understanding of forests also forces us to confront some harsh realities.

When I walk in the woods, I see forests that are young and simple, invaded and degraded, missing vital pieces and parts. I see both a complex community of living things and a world of things that are missing. I call these missing things the secret deaths in our forests — all the things that never had a chance to exist.

It’s easiest to visualize these secret deaths in a parking lot. Every parking lot — everything that’s not a forest or a wetland — in Vermont is the site of a cleared forest or a drained wetland. When that forest was cleared, some trees were killed. However, what has transpired since, and what will continue into the indefinite future, is a far greater loss: the trillions of living things of thousands of different species that will simply never exist because that parking

lot will never be a forest, and never provide habitat for them — again. While it’s harder to visualize while walking in a forest I am also surrounded by secret deaths. Nearly all of Vermont’s forests are young and simple; most having regenerated from agricultural land within the last century. Nearly all are missing critical habitats and characteristics — big, old trees, dead wood, a gappy, irregular canopy, and different sizes and ages of trees — that have defined them and provided habitats for biodiversity for millennia.

Our forests have lost or functionally lost numerous tree species to non-native pathogens, have been invaded by non-native invasive plants that undermine forests’ diversity and resilience, have lost wildlife species and seen new species introduced. When I walk in the woods I am overwhelmed by the abundance of life, but also by how much life is missing: the living things that cannot exist because our forests lack the basic attributes that these species have adapted to for thousands of years.

As forest managers, forest stewards and forest-lovers, it is vital that we recognize that caring for

See INTO THE WOODS on page 11

up young wildlife can do more harm than good,

The most eco-friendly flooring

Keep young wildlife where it belongs— in the wild

Watching wildlife is enjoyable, especially when young animals appear in the spring. But it is best to keep your distance. Picking up young wildlife can do more harm than good, according to state wildlife officials, and it is also against the law.

watchers to respect the behavior of animals in the spring and early summer, and to resist the urge to assist wildlife in ways that may be harmful. Here are some helpful tips:

harmful diseases. Do not handle them. Even though they do not show symptoms, healthy-looking raccoons, foxes, skunks and bats may also be carriers of the deadly rabies virus.

wood

When people see young animals alone, they often mistakenly assume these animals are helpless or lost, in trouble or needing to be rescued. Bringing young wildlife into a human environment often results in permanent separation from their mothers and a sad ending for the animal.

Handling wildlife could also pose a threat to the people involved. Wild animals can transmit disease and angry wildlife mothers can pose significant dangers.

Vermont Fish and Wildlife scientists encourage wildlife

• Deer and moose nurse their young at different times during the day, and often leave young alone for long periods of time. These animals are not lost. Their mother knows where they are and will return.

• Young birds on the ground may have left their nest, but their parents will still feed them.

• Young animals such as fox and raccoon will often follow their mother. The mother of a youngster is usually nearby but just out of sight to a person happening upon it.

• Animals that act sick can carry rabies, parasites or other

• Many wildlife species will not feed or care for their young when people are close by. Obey signs that restrict access to wildlife nesting areas, including hiking trails that may be temporarily closed.

• Keep domestic pets indoors, leashed or fenced in. Dogs and cats kill many young animals each year.

• Avoid projects that remove trees, shrubs and dead snags that contain nests during the spring and summer.

For information about rabies, call the Vermont Rabies Hotline at 800-472-2437.

COURTESY PHOTO

Picking

according to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. It’s also against the law.

INTO THE WOODS

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forests goes far beyond the trees. Managing a forest responsibly also means caring for animals and plants, fungi and insects, soil and waters — the entire forest ecosystem — and safeguarding all these things into the indefinite future. I began my own journey in forestry as someone who just loved trees and forests and wanted to protect them. As I learned more about forest ecology, and the reality of the threats and stressors that our modern-day forests face, I began to see how forest management could help restore ecosystems, help them navigate the incredible challenges of the modern world and help them move into an uncertain future with grace.

I began to see how the death of

trees could be an important tool for creating habitats for thousands of species and ecological attributes that had been missing from our landscape for centuries. I started to question what “protecting” a forest truly meant.

We do not have to be bystanders, watching our forests navigate a climate crisis and a biodiversity crisis alone. We can take action to reverse the secret deaths in our forests, but we can’t do that without making some compromises, without doing some things as complex and as bittersweet as cutting down trees. If we look at forests with a more expansive view of forest ecology, and an understanding of how the death of a tree can help contribute to the lives of

CVU pitches a complete game, remain undefeated

LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

Baseball

Champlain Valley 10, Middlebury 2: Travis Stroh went 2-for-2 at the plate to help Champlain Valley beat Middlebury Monday, April 29.

Stroh also drove in a run, while Andrew Nunziata threw for four innings and gave up one unearned run on two hits.

CVU moved to 4-0.

The Redhawks also won Saturday, beating Burr and Burton 5-1.

Stephen Rickert threw a complete game, giving up just four hits and one run and striking out 12. Russell Willoughby, Riley McDade and Stroh each had an RBI.

Girls’ tennis

Champlain Valley 5, Mount Mansfield 2: Champlain Valley got some key wins in singles to clinch a win over Mount Mansfield Monday.

Anna Dauerman, Cassie Bastress, Sage Peterson and Addie Maurer got straight set wins in singles for the Redhawks.

Millie Boardman and Leonie Schwetlick combined for a win in doubles.

billions or trillions of organisms, now and in the future, we can see that it’s a small price to pay.

Understanding the secret deaths in our forests is sobering but also hopeful: When I walk through the woods, rather than focus on the secret deaths, I think of what Dr. Gabor Mat calls “the compassion of possibility,” or trying to see the forest not just for what it is missing, but also for what it could be. If we act, we can reverse the secret deaths, helping forests rediscover their true capacity for life.

Ethan Tapper is the Chittenden County forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. See what he’s been up to at linktr.ee/chittendencountyforester.

Boys’ tennis

Champlain Valley 7, Mount Mansfield 0: Champlain Valley swept Mount Mansfield in straight sets in all seven matches on Monday.

Oscar Andersson, Ziggy Babbott, Jacob Graham, Nolan Sandage, and Luke Sampson all won their singles’ matches for the Redhawks (2-1).

Dash Tota and Nick Blasious won in doubles, while Henry

Frost and Charlie Jennings got the other.

Girls’ lacrosse

Champlain Valley 17, Mount Anthony 8: Marlie Cartwright had an eight-point effort to lead Champlain Valley over Mount Mansfield Saturday, April 27.

Cartwright scored four goals and dished out four assists for CVU, which moved to 2-1.

Stella Dooley added four goals of her own, while Bibe Frechette had a hat trick. Emerson Rice and Claire Marcoe each tallied twice for the Redhawks, and Carly Strobeck and Lulu Sarandos also scored.

Goalie Clare Stackpole-McGrath earned the win.

Boys’ lacrosse

Champlain Valley 11, Mount Anthony 3: Champlain Valley remained undefeated after beating Mount Anthony Saturday.

Matias Williams had four goals and an assist to pace the Redhawks (5-0), while Peter Gilliam chipped in with two goals and an assist. Alden Endres also tallied two, while Jacob Bose (two assists), Anderson McEnaney (one assist) and Jacob Whitcomb each added a goal.

Will Kearney stopped six shots.

Softball

Lyndon 20, Champlain Valley 5: Hannah Blanchard went 2-for-4 for Champlain Valley but it was not enough as the Redhawks fell to Lyndon Saturday.

Blanchard had a double and two RBIs for CVU (0-4), while Baylee Yandow went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

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PHOTO BY LEE KROHN

Daffodils frame a fence line on Meach Cove Road in Shelburne.

CLASSIFIEDS

CHARLOTTE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD

Will hold a public hearing at Town Hall, 159 Ferry Rd., Charlotte, VT on the following applications during its regular meeting of Wednesday, May 22, 2024:

7:05 PM 24-053- SD-SDA (FP) Lussier – Final Plan review for 3-Lot Subdivision and Subdivision Amendment at 212 Carpenter Road

For more information, contact the Planning & Zoning Office at 802.425.3533 ext. 208, or by email at: pza@townofcharlotte.com.

Community Bankers

BUDGET CUTS

continued from page 1

about 18 paraprofessional positions and just under 15 teaching positions. The district will also be making reductions in a variety of teacher coaching roles, library staff, central administrative positions, as well as custodial and IT support positions.

“Overall, 42 FTEs — it’s a big number. It’s certainly impactful for students and staff,” Gary Marckres, the district’s director of operations, said.

Marckres emphasized that not all those positions necessarily represent layoffs, however.

budget were never actually filled. Other reduced positions represent the pruning of partial responsibilities for several individuals rather than the elimination of a whole job.

Moreover, most of the staffing reductions are being distributed across the various schools in the district, so no one school is bearing the brunt of staffing reductions.

ing opportunities for students to study Latin and music, among other subjects.

The revised budget also excludes approximately $1.5 million that had been earmarked in the initial budget proposal for school facility maintenance needs. That money was expected to fund crucial HVAC system upgrades in school buildings across the district that have aging heating and cooling infrastructure.

Community Bankers

Community Bankers

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

Community Bankers

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

There is no better time to join our Team!

There is no better time to join our Team!

According to a breakdown of the positions shared on the district’s website, many of the reductions included in this year’s budget and in the first iteration of next year’s

“We made these decisions together as a leadership team,” Marckres said. “We used a weighted student count in each building to equalize the proportion of reduction across all our schools and the central office.”

According to Marckres, a number of schools in the district have HVAC systems that are around 20 years old and beginning to fail.

Community Bankers

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

There is no better time to join our Team!

There is no better time to join our Team!

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS® There is no better time to join our Team!

North eld Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all.

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all

Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all

Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!

Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!

Relevant Skills: Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!) Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!

Relevant Skills: Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!) Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

Relevant Skills: Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!) Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

Relevant Skills: Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!) Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

Opportunity for Growth

If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

Opportunity for Growth

If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

Opportunity for Growth

NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professional development within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a career in an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

PUBLIC HEARING

Hinesburg Development Review Board Tuesday, May 21, 2024 7:00 pm

Still, fewer resources all around will have an impact on student learning. Among the positions that will be scrapped for the next school year are a handful of math and literacy interventionist positions, limiting the amount of extra support available for students. The district is also eliminating two essential arts and world language positions across the district, reduc-

COMMUNITY NOTES

continued from page 9

are encouraged to share their experiences and contribute to a discussion on how to work together to create a safer, healthier community.

“These were improvements that we thought were important for students and staff to really have a good learning environment in those buildings,” Marckres said. “We are not going to be able to do them right away. We’ll have to get them into our capital improvement plan and look to do those projects in the future.”

NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professionaldevelopment within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a careerin an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

What NSB Can Offer You

Opportunity for Growth NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professional development within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a career in an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

What NSB Can Offer You

What NSB Can Offer You

NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professional development within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a career in an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

What NSB Can Offer You

Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program. Commitment to professional development. Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work -Life balance!

Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program. Commitment to professional development. Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work -Life balance!

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program. Commitment to professional development. Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work -Life balance!

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program. Commitment to professional development. Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work -Life balance!

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

Karen & Tim CornishSubdivision revision to modify the approved lot #4 building envelope on a 6.44-acre property located on the east side of Gilman Road between Birdie Drive and Hines Road in the Agricultural Zoning District.

Vestry Community Center Inc. - Conditional use review for the demolition of a historic building & maintaining non-compliant allowances on a 0.06-acre property located at 10632 VT Route 116 in the Village Zoning District.

The moderator is Beth Holden, chief client services officer at the Howard Center. Panelists include Dr. John Brooklyn, medical director, Howard Center; Dan Hall, director of outpatient services, Howard Center; Heidi Melbostad, director, Chittenden Clinic, Howard Center; and Dr. Daniel Wolfson, Start Treatment and Recovery program physician leader, University of Vermont Medical Center.

Participants are encouraged to register early as spaces are limited. Contact pdetzer@howardcenter. org.

Green Up Day is set to go in Charlotte

and Spear’s Corner Store. Sign up for a route on at charlottevtgreenupday.com through Friday, May. 3. Or get bags and find a route to clean up at the event on the 4th. Junior and Tyler Lewis will have trucks at the school for the trash that is collected, and Sustainable Charlotte will also hold its annual electronics recycling collection.

Shelburne Town Hall hosts contra dance

Calling all contra dancers. Queen City Contras is holding a dance at Shelburne Town Hall on Friday, May 24.

Mary Wesley will call to the sounds of Red Dog Riley. All are welcome, all dances are taught, and no partner or experience are necessary.

Employer / Member FDIC

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

The meeting will be both in person and remote. See meeting agenda on town website with details on how to participate.

Charlotte Central School is the location for the 54th annual Green Up Day, on Saturday, May 4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Green bags will be available starting Wednesday, April 27 at the Charlotte Library, Old Brick Store

The cost is $12 adults over 18, $5 kids 12-18 or low-income, and those under 12 get in free. Dancers should bring a pair of clean, softsoled shoes. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., beginner lesson at 6:45 p.m. and dancing goes from 7 to 10.

HINESBURG CENTER II

continued from page 1

raise building sites approximately 6 feet above the current FEMAbased flood elevation.

“The project’s fill will cause an increase and will contribute incrementally to an increase in the horizontal extent and level of floodwaters during peak flows up to and including the base flood discharge,” reads the document.

“Placing the fill in the floodplain effectively cuts off the existing, lower elevation areas that provide floodwater storage and conveyance,” while also raising the water surface elevations adjacent to the project flooding.

According to the documents, hydraulic modeling results demonstrate that the planned development will cause a 2.6-inch rise in water surface elevation in base flood elevations, but the standard is only met if the proposal provides modeling that demonstrates a rise of 1.2 inches or less.

“The Agency of Natural Resources basically says that is too big of an impact, but they are unwilling to quantify what that impact is,” Grabowski said. “I think common sense basically tells you that two and a half inches of additional water is not really going to impact anybody. Considering also that the design is basically

putting all the proposed houses five feet above what that floodplain level would be.”

The Act 250 commission took other specific concerns with future property owners on the property tract and the potential to increase risk to existing properties. “The current owner is accepting increased flood risk for subsequent owners who are not part of this process, hence the whole development becomes (flood-prone) adjacent landowners,” the decision reads.

The appeal, Grabowski said, brings the project to a standstill as he also tries to work with the Agency of Natural Resources to find a resolution. That most likely means a change in original plans.

“We are looking at a possible modification to the plan,” he said. “We’ve already communicated with the agency and talked with them directly to say that we will try to comply with the standard that they have decided to impose.”

But the denial causes multiple levels of concern for the town that has been supportive of the development from the start.

Hinesburg’s village area, 40 square miles of land off Route 116 between the LaPlatte River and Patrick Brook, has for decades

been targeted by the town for new housing and commercial growth. More important, town officials have banked on the more than 300-units of housing development, as well as the added commercial development, to inject much-needed tax revenue into town coffers.

To try and increase tax revenue, the town has pursued a path of development in its village district to prevent residents from shouldering the brunt of the town’s increasing tax burden. However, concerns over this strategy have mounted in recent years, given the village area’s proximity to the Patrick Brook floodplain and the damage wrought by July’s historic flooding. Hinesburg was largely spared any major damage, but a portion of the town’s village area was very briefly underwater.

These concerns, Grabowski said, are most likely what largely influenced the state’s decision-making.

“Unfortunately, in this day and age, this is a very politically charged topic now,” he said. “Even with common sense saying, what’s two and a half inches causing as far as impact, I think you’re going to have a hard time fighting city hall on this, so to speak.”

To add to the concern, specific

concerns of the Act 250 commission were centered around the project’s proposed Patrick Brook bridge crossing that connects this development with another planned development, Haystack Crossing — which is also currently under Act 250 review — to the north.

“I think that it would be fair to say that we really need another road connection so that we are not a one-road village,” Alex Weinhagen, the town’s director of planning and zoning, said. “We need to have street networks and interconnectivity especially during peak traffic times when people are pretty upset about the level of backup. Having multiple options for vehicles to flow through in and around the village is really important.”

While the crossing is consistent with multiple iterations of the town plan and other official town maps, he said developers of the two projects were set to cover the full costs to build the infrastructure without any funding coming from the town.

“It’s not an inexpensive piece of infrastructure to put in, certainly not something that the town has the money to build on its own,” he said. “Again, it’s just unfortunate that we can potentially be seeing

that project move ahead, but without the crossing that two developers had agreed to install.”

Since the development review board’s approval of the Haystack Crossing project was contingent on the completion of the Patrick Brook crossing at some point in the development process, the town issued a response to the Act 250 commission currently reviewing the Haystack Crossing development, so that project doesn’t also get held up in court due to the crossing complexities.

“While the Haystack Crossing DRB approval was premised on a future Patrick Brook crossing, only one condition of the DRB approval needs to be revised,” wrote town manager Todd Odit in a letter to the commission, noting that the development review board’s final approval for the project required that the Patrick Brook crossing be constructed no later than three years from the approval date.

The week-long bait drop is a cooperative effort between Vermont and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to stop the spread of the potentially fatal disease.

The developers, he wrote, will be seeking lot-specific approvals — like site plan review — from the development review board once the Act 250 permit for the project is approved. A revision of that stipulation by the board will be considered at that time.

Rabies is a deadly viral disease of the brain that infects mammals. It is most often seen in raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats, but unvaccinated pets and livestock can also get rabies.The virus is spread through the bite of an infected animal or contact with its

RABIES BAIT continued from page 2 saliva. ways fatal treatment 100 percent a person So far have tested those have According animals mal behavior, an animal it. People animals

or call 985-3091

PLEASANT VALLEY, INC.

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