MONDAY Â Â EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 26 No. 30
Middlebury, Vermont
X
Monday, September 29, 2014
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36 Pages
75¢
Change  in  solar  array  taxes  costs  towns Danforth shows how ‡ 0LGGOHEXU\ SHZWHUPDNHU LV IHDWXUHG LQ ´+RZ ,W¡V 0DGH¾ 79 VKRZ 6HH 3DJH
By  ZACH  DESPART NEW  HAVEN  —  Drive  from  Vergennes  to  Middlebury  along  Route  7,  and  you  won’t  go  more  than  a  few  miles  without  seeing  a  solar  ar- ray.  As  towns  like  New  Haven  are  deluged  with  proposals  for  new  solar  arrays,  citizens  and  town  RIÂżFLDOV DUH ZRQGHULQJ Âł:KDWÂśV LQ LW IRU XV"´ A  law  enacted  by  the  Legislature  this  past  spring  decreased  the  amount  of  property  taxes  towns  can Â
collect  from  the  owners  of  big  solar  farms,  and  some  New  Haven  residents  fear  their  town  will  soon  lose  some  of  its  most  valuable  assets  —  un- blemished  views  of  the  Champlain  Valley.  1HZ +DYHQ WRZQ RIÂżFLDOV DUH DOVR FRQFHUQHG that  they  have  little  say  about  where  projects  are  sited,  or  how  large  they  are. SOLAR  TAXES Like  all  private  property  in  the  state,  the  land  on Â
which  solar  arrays  sit  is  taxed  based  on  its  value  by  both  municipalities  and  the  state  education  fund.  Solar  arrays  themselves  are  taxed  through  a  separate  state  statute.  For  the  state  education  fund,  arrays  larger  than  50  kilowatts  are  taxed  at  $4  per  kilowatt  hour.  Thus,  the  2.2-Âmegawatt  Cross  Pollination  array  off  Route  7  in  New  Haven,  the  (See  Solar,  Page  17)
McKibben earns new recognition ‡ 5LSWRQ PDQ ZLQV LQWHUQDWLRQDO DZDUG IRU HQYLURQPHQWDO DFWLYLVP 6HH 3DJH
Big weekend at Mount Abraham ‡ 7KH (DJOH JLUOV¡ VRFFHU WHDP KRVWHG XQEHDWHQ 08+6 DQG WKH IRRWEDOO WHDP PHW OHDJXH IRH :LQGVRU 6HH 3DJH
Paint  it  red STUDENTS  FROM  MIDDLEBURY,  Vergennes  and  Mount  Abraham  union  high  schools  help  paint  one  of  the  horse  stalls  at  the  Addison  County  Fair  and  Field  Days  site  in  New  Haven  during  the  United  Way  of  Addison  County’s  annual  Day  of  Caring  last  Thursday. Independent  photo/Trent  Campbell
Stars sing Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ opera ‡ 6RSUDQR 5RFKHOOH %DUG ZLOO MRLQ ZLWK RWKHU Ă€UVW FODVV VLQJHUV DW 7RZQ +DOO 7KHDWHU WKLV ZHHNHQG 6HH 3DJH
Brandon  eyes  a  switch  WR ÀRRU YRWH RQ EXGJHW
Bristol  man  on  fast  track  with  high-Âtech  leg  braces
By  LEE  J.  KAHRS BRANDON  —  Vermonters  are  often  heard  yearning  for  the  past,  a  simpler  time,  they  say.  Now,  in  an  effort  to  change  the  course  of  Bran- don’s  recent  budget  voting  past,  a  small  band  of  taxpayers  has  an  in- WULJXLQJ LGHD %ULQJ WKH Ă€RRU YRWH back  to  Brandon  Town  Meeting. Over  the  last  two  years,  the  town Â
By  EVAN  JOHNSON  BRISTOL  —  After  25  years  of  restricted  mobility  and  chronic  pain,  47-Âyear-Âold  James  “Bubâ€?  Cole  of  Bristol  stepped  on  a  track  ODVW PRQWK DQG UDQ IRU WKH ÂżUVW time  in  a  quarter  century.  The  ex- perience,  he  said,  was  unforget- table.  “Imagine  wearing  glasses  and Â
of  Brandon  has  spent  thousands  of  dollars  and  hundreds  of  hours  holding  a  total  of  seven  re-Âvotes  by  Australian  ballot  in  order  to  pass  a  municipal  budget.  Taking  that  as  a  sign  that  perhaps  change  is  needed,  Lynn  and  John  Wilson  and  Janet  Mondlak  successfully  mounted  a  petition  to  revert  voting  on  the  an- (See  Brandon,  Page  35)
then  losing  them,â€?  Cole  said.  “Af- WHU \HDUV \RX ÂżQDOO\ JHW WKHP back  and  you  can  see  what  you’ve  been  missing.â€?  Cole’s  return  to  free  movement  was  made  possible  by  a  new  type  of  brace  for  the  lower  leg.  The  new  style  of  brace,  originally  designed  for  use  by  wounded  veterans,  has  (See  Mobility,  Page  26)