MONDAY Â Â EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 27 No. 43
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Middlebury, Vermont
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Monday, February 1, 2016
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Two  avid  hikers  conquer  115  peaks By  JOHN  FLOWERS WEYBRIDGE  —  Nothing  like  spending  a  sunny  afternoon  hiking  up  a  mountain.  The  picnic  lunch  tastes  even  better  with  a  panoramic  view. But  how  about  driving  four  hours  to  get  to  the  base  of  a  mountain  for  a  hike  of  more  than  4,000  feet  to  the  summit,  wading  through  armpit- high  snowdrifts  while  braving  sub- ]HUR WHPSHUDWXUHV DQG ÂżHUFH ZLQGV with  only  a  frozen  hard-Âboiled  egg  to  gnaw  on  for  sustenance?  How  about  facing  that  kind  of  challenge  115  times  on  mountains  throughout Â
the  Northeast  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  and  only  during  the  winter? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s  a  feat  that  Weybridge  neigh- bors  Michele  Bayliss  and  Dean  Ouel- lette  completed  last  month.  They  not  only  survived  it,  they  thrived  on  the  steady  diet  of  climbing  conquests  known  as  the  â&#x20AC;&#x153;Northeast  115.â&#x20AC;?  With  their  ascent  of  Mount  Abraham  in  Lincoln  on  the  second-Âto-Âlast  week- HQG LQ -DQXDU\ WKH GXR RIÂżFLDOO\ HQ- tered  a  very  exclusive  club  of  hiking  enthusiasts  who  have  successfully  :(<%5,'*( 5(6,'(176 '($1 2XHOOHWWH DQG 0LFKHOH %D\OLVV FHO- scaled  the  115  peaks  of  4,000  feet  or  HEUDWH UHDFKLQJ WKH WRS RI 0RXQW $EUDKDP GXULQJ WKH ODVW KLNH RI WKHLU higher  in  New  England  (67),  the  Ad- PXOWL SHDN H[SHGLWLRQ WR FOLPE DOO 1HZ (QJODQG DQG 1HZ <RUN PRXQ- WDLQV KLJKHU WKDQ IHHW (See  Duo,  Page  31) 3KRWR FRXUWHV\ RI 0LFKHOH %D\OLVV
Middlebury budget  plan  calls  for  no  tax  increase
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32 Pages
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Volunteers spin to aid United Way
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Seasoned recycling handler befriends eager college students Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s  note:  The  author  just  completed  her  education  at  Middle- bury  College  and  a  months-Âlong  in- ternship  at  the  Independent. By  JULIA  JOHN â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m  gonna  miss  you,  Kiddo,â&#x20AC;?  Bil- ly  murmured  one  day  this  past  sum- mer,  wrapping  his  weathered  ebony  arms  around  me. Â
It  was  the  tightest  hug  I  received  before  leaving  campus,  all  the  warm- er  and  more  meaningful  and  memo- rable  because  of  its  unexpected  con- viction.  I  was  not  sure  when  I  would  see  this  75-Âyear-Âold  Jamaican  man  again  after  departing  for  my  envi- ronmental  writing  class  in  Alaska,  so  our  goodbye  was  tinged  with  a  bitter-Â
VZHHW IHHOLQJ RI IDPLO\ DQG ÂżQDOLW\ Cliveland  Pottinger,  known  uni- versally  as  â&#x20AC;&#x153;Billy,â&#x20AC;?  works  at  the  Mid- dlebury  College  recycling  center.  He  has  done  a  bit  of  traveling,  talks  with  a  thick  Jamaican  accent  and  lots  of  gestures,  and  is  a  favorite  of  the  stu- dents  who  work  there.  (See  Billy,  Page  14)
By  JOHN  FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  Middle- bury  voters  at  their  town  meet- ing  will  decide  a  proposed  2016- 2017  municipal  spending  plan  that  will  not  require  an  increase  in  property  taxes. The  budget  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  which  does  not  UHĂ&#x20AC;HFW ORFDO HGXFDWLRQ VSHQG- ing  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  will  require  $6,943,658  in  property  taxes.  If  OKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d  by  voters  on  Feb.  29,  this  would  translate  into  the  same  munici- pal  property  tax  rate  of  98  cents  per  $100  in  property  value  that  residents  are  currently  paying  for  town  services. Middlebury  selectboard  mem- bers  made  it  a  priority  this  win- WHU WR GHYLVH D ÂżVFDO \HDU budget  that  maintained  the  cur- rent  tax  rate.  Town  Manager  Kathleen  Ramsay  said  this  was  accomplished,  in  part,  through  fuel  cost  savings  for  municipal  vehicles  and  buildings,  a  slight  increase  in  the  grand  list,  great- er  stability  in  health  insurance  costs,  increases  in  recreation  program  fees  and  revenue  from  new  recreation  programs,  and  the  use  of  surplus  funds  to  stabi- lize  the  tax  rate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Several  lucky  breaks  came  together  for  this  budget,â&#x20AC;?  Ram- say  told  selectboard  members  at  (See  Middlebury,  Page  7)