Thursday, February 28, 2019

Page 1

Pro gra ms, Ath

Pivotal part

Mat master

A local teen is playing a role in a new movie about a real serial killer. See Arts + Leisure.

leti cs and Spe

cia l Eve nts for

Spring Acti

An Eagle senior’s second title highlighted local efforts at the state wrestling meet. See Page 1B.

Adu lts, You th

and Fam ilie s

vity Guide

MIDDLEB

URY Parks & Re cre ation move • grow • connect

Plan for fun What is there to do? See the town of Middlebury’s annual Spring Activity Guide inside.

March - May 2019

ADDISON COUNTY

Vol. 73 No. 9

Middlebury Park s & Recreati townofmiddlebur on Department y.org

INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont

Thursday, February 28, 2019

62 Pages

$1.00

Anglers fuel rally to save hatchery

License fee hikes could lead to reprieve By JOHN FLOWERS SALISBURY — State officials and leaders of several hunting and fishing organizations are exploring license fee increases among other possible financial remedies to avert a shutdown of the Salisbury Fish Culture Station. The facility supplies all the broodstock for rainbow, lake, brown and brook trout for stocking Vermont waterways. As reported earlier this month by the Independent, Gov. Phil Scott’s proposed fiscal year 2020 state spending plan calls for closing the Salisbury hatchery at 646 Lake Dunmore Road as a way of cutting in half an estimated $500,000 shortfall in the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife operating budget.

The Salisbury hatchery is also on the chopping block because it needs at least $12 million in upgrades to comply with upcoming federal water quality rules, according to Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Will Porter. So Scott administration officials are proposing to decommission the Salisbury hatchery, transfer its function to Roxbury and the other state hatcheries in Bennington, Grand Isle and Newark, and invest around $6 million to modernize the Roxbury hatchery. News of the potential closure of the Addison County hatchery prompted swift, vocal opposition from fishing enthusiasts, environmentalists and several Vermont lawmakers. The (See Hatchery, Page 9A)

ANWSD spending plan calls for 4.89% increase ST. STEPHEN’S EPISCOPAL Church member Tom Klemmer stands next to the new columbarium recently installed in the historic place of worship on Middlebury’s town green. The columbarium will store the cremated remains of up to 286 people, regardless of their religious affiliation. Proceeds from the sale of the columbarium spaces will pay for building repairs.

Independent photo/John Flowers

Church invests in final resting places New columbarium stores ashes, raises funds to help maintain St. Stephen’s By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is marketing space within its historic building in an effort to raise money for sorely need repairs. The future tenants won’t take up much room. They won’t be seen, heard, nor will they even draw breath. That’s because they’ll be deceased, having been reduced to ashes and placed in one of 286 separate niches in a new columbarium recently installed in the chapel of the wonderfully

inviting church on the town green that for the past 192 years has served as a spiritual hub for generations of Middlebury area residents. A columbarium is a compartmentalized structure used for storing individual cinerary urns. St. Stephen’s during the late 1990s became the first church in the county to install a columbarium within its building. That columbarium, ensconced in a nook within the church foundation, offered 32 secure spots in which parishioners could store their mortal remains in perpetuity.

Those initial, limited slots were quickly snapped up. The urns are positioned in a tough-to-access sliding drawer that fortunately doesn’t have to be opened much these days. An adjacent memorial garden creates colorful, respectful ambiance for those who repose in the inconspicuous stone chamber. Now church leaders are fielding inquiries from additional folks whose final wish is to make St. Stephen’s Church their final resting place. Members of the congregation’s facilities (See Columbarium, Page 16A)

By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — The Addison Northwest School District Board residents on Tuesday will weigh in on a proposed 2019-2020 spending plan of $22,139,341 that if approved will preserve all existing ANWSD offerings and increase spending by 4.89 percent. ANWSD Board Chairwoman Sue Rakowski said the board wanted to stand by district students

and employees. “The proposed budget maintains all ANWSD student programming and continues our commitment to high quality staffing by funding professional development and competitive salaries,” Rakowski said in an email to the Independent. The budget, if a separate article asking residents to put $50,000 into a capital improvement fund is also (See ANWSD budget, Page 9A)

Saunders to retire in May after long childcare career

Mary Johnson center seeks new leader

By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — It’s Monday morning at Middlebury’s Mary Johnson Children’s Center (MJCC), and the ambiance is like Grand Central Station. Staff are busy ushering a group of children outdoors for playtime. Others are helping kids pick up

well-used toys and books. The intoxicating odor of a homecooked meal wafts from the kitchen, signaling lunchtime is not far away. Each scene is enveloped in a cacophony of young voices, some registering astounding decibel levels. (See Saunders, Page 16A)

Time for citizens to be heard By the way The Phoebe Stone/Francois Clemmons event at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater is listed with the wrong date in the Arts + Leisure section of today’s edition. A+L goes to the printer early and just after it rolled off the presses we were alerted to the mistake. It will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12 (not March 2 as it’s listed). The “New England Review” presents these two Middlebury artists, known for their work in painting, opera, TV, and children’s books, as they read from and discuss their memoirs-in-progress, with an audience Q&A and a reception in the Jackson Gallery. This free (See By the way, Page 3A)

Index Obituaries........................... 6A-7A Classifieds.......................... 6B-7B Service Directory............... 4B-5B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar............... 8A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-3B

Board races, budgets, ballot measures on tap Do your civic duty and share your views with others in your municipality at the upcoming town meetings. These local gatherings get under way this Saturday in Starksboro, Ferrisburgh, Monkton and Salisbury and continue in our various towns until Tuesday evening when residents in Whiting and Granville call a close to their respective annual meetings. Prepare for your town meeting by reading about the issues and budgets that will be discussed in our town-by-town previews, which are organized alphabetically. Then take part in the life of your community!

Addison ADDISON — Addison residents on Town Meeting Day will decide a contested race for a selectboard seat, weigh in on proposed town spending that would create only a slight increase on the municipal portion of the Addison tax rate, and vote on two other spending articles related to infrastructure. Voters can discuss the ballot

Town Meeting Preview measures at the annual town meeting to be held at the Addison Central School, beginning at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 4. Financial issues and election of officials will be decided by Australian ballot on Tuesday. Voting will be held from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5. While longtime board member Steve Torrey is running unopposed to return to the selectboard, two-term incumbent Peter Briggs is facing a challenge for a two-year term from Alden Harwood. Briggs is a farmer who has also mounted challenges for the Vermont House and Senate as a Republican. Harwood until recently worked seven years as the director of facilities of the Mount Abraham Unified School District. In the past he has served as Addison’s zoning administrator, and in 2004 he ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for Addison delinquent tax collector. Addison residents will vote on

proposed general fund ($346,311) and highway ($764,136) spending and charitable contributions ($58,206) — all of which will be voted on separately. They total $1,168,653 add up to less than a 1 percent increase, or about $8,800, over current levels. Currently a penny on the Addison tax rate raises about $22,000, and even with no grand list growth that increase will not have much of an impact on the municipal portion of the town’s tax rate. Two separate articles on the March 5 ballot could push spending higher in the future if approved. The selectboard is seeking support for a five-year loan to pay for a $125,000 culvert needed on Goodrich Corners Road and for a 15-year loan to fund a new $175,000 salt-and-sand shed. Town officials said a new shed is necessary to meet state requirements. Residents in Addison and the other four Addison Northwest School District communities will also vote on a 2019-2020 spending plan of $22,139,341 to fund the ANWSD schools and the district share of Hannaford Career Center operations. After a year of level funding, that proposed budget would increase (See Addison, Page 11A)

MONKTON RESIDENT GEORGE Roy rises to ask a question of his state representatives during the 2017 Monkton town meeting. Monkton, Starksboro and Ferrisburgh kick off local town meetings this Saturday.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell


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Thursday, February 28, 2019 by AddisonPress - Issuu