MONDAY Â Â EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 26 No. 48
Middlebury, Vermont
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Hope  grows  for  hydro at  falls  in  Middlebury
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By  ANDY  KIRKALDY MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Middle- bury  selectboard  last  week  took  what  could  be  an  important  step  to  clear  the  path  for  a  hydropower  plant  to  someday  be  established  at  Middlebury’s  downtown  waterfall. Board  members  and  Anders  Holm,  principal  of  Middlebury  Elec- tric  LLC,  signed  a  term  sheet  that  outlined  a  roadmap  to  build  a  new  hydro  facility  at  the  Middlebury  falls  of  the  Otter  Creek. Since  2006  the  board  and  Middle-Â
bury  Electric  LLC  have  engaged  in  occasionally  contentious  talks  about  how  such  a  facility  could  be  built  while  still  protecting  the  town’s  in- terest  in  preserving  the  beauty  of  the  falls  and  the  historic  integrity  of  downtown’s  heart.  Holm’s  family  owns  the  Holm  building  that  borders  the  Battell  Bridge  on  the  falls’  south  side  in  downtown  Middlebury.  Nine  years  DJR +ROP ¿UVW SURSRVHG D SURMHFW DW the  falls  that  could  generate  between  (See  Hydro,  Page  22)
Monday, February 16, 2015
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32 Pages
75¢
New  Haven  selectboard  candidates  say  solar  is  top  issue  facing  town By  ZACH  DESPART NEW  HAVEN  —  Four  candi- dates  will  face  off  for  two  seats  on  the  New  Haven  selectboard  in  an  unusually  busy  election  season.  The  races  will  be  decided  by  Aus- tralian  ballot  on  Town  Meeting  Day,  March  3. Charles  Roy  and  Jim  Walsh  are  vying  for  a  three-Âyear  seat,  while  Susan  Smiley  and  Steve  Dupoise  Sr.  are  competing  for  a  two-Âyear  seat.  Roy  is  the  incumbent  in  the  three-Âyear  seat;Íž  incumbent  Roger Â
Boise  is  not   seeking  re-Âelection  to  the  two-Âyear  seat. The  candidates  come  from  di- verse  backgrounds  and  stated  dif- ferent  reasons  for  running,  but  all  said  they  wanted  to  tackle  an  issue  that  has  been  a  hot  topic  in  New  Haven  over  the  past  year  —  the  ÀRRG RI VRODU DUUD\ DSSOLFDWLRQV within  the  town,  and  what  the  town  can  do  to  control  its  energy  future. CHARLES  ROY Charles  Roy,  who  turned  55  (See  New  Haven,  Page  31)
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JULNER  REMY,  A  native  of  Haiti  who  now  lives  in  Whiting,  currently  has  an  exhibit  of  his  artwork  hanging  at  the  EastView  at  Middlebury  retire- ment  community. Independent  photo/Trent  Campbell
THT to welcome African all-stars
Artist from Haiti makes a life in Whiting
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By  JOHN  FLOWERS WHITING  —  On  a  cold  Vermont  night,  Julner  Remy  warms  his  spir- its  with  recollections  of  his  native  Haiti,  recollections  he  commits  to  canvas  and  wood  with  deft  brush- strokes. His  paintings  have  recently  be- come  far  more  than  a  balm  for  his  soul.  A  lot  of  his  work  is  now  on  dis-Â
play  at  the  EastView  at  Middlebury  retirement  community,  where  the  33-Âyear-Âold  Whiting  resident  cur- rently  works  as  a  caregiver. “It  keeps  me  connected  to  Haiti,â€?  Remy  said  recently  during  a  break  from  his  studies  at  Vermont  Adult  Learning  (VAL),  where  he  is  on  WUDFN WR IXOÂżOO KLV KLJK VFKRRO GLSOR- ma  requirements  by  this  fall.
“It’s  like  a  memory  you  have  that  never  dies.â€? It  was  in  2009  that  Remy  and  his  wife,  Alison,  moved  from  the  Carib- bean  nation  of  Haiti  to  Whiting.  Ali- son  Remy  is  a  Vermonter  who  had  traveled  to  Haiti  in  2002  to  teach  at  an  orphanage-Âbased  school  in  the  community  of  Jacmel,  in  southeast  Haiti.  Julner  Remy  was  raised  in Â
an  orphanage  and  was  at  the  time  working  with  mentally  challenged  children  at  the  same  facility  where  Alison  was  teaching. They  met,  and  fell  in  love.  Alison,  a  special  educator  at  Rutland  High  School,  would  travel  back  and  forth  to  Haiti,  teaching  and  volunteering  and  maintaining  ties  with  Julner.  She  (See  Artwork,  Page  19)