MONDAY Â Â EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 27 No. 40
Top 10 of 2015 ‡ 7KH $GGLVRQ ,QGHSHQGHQW VHOHFWV LWV 7RS SKRWRV DQG VWRULHV IRU $ERYH %URRNH 7XSSHU ZLQV DQ DUPZUHVWOLQJ PDWFK DW )LHOG 'D\V )RU WKH ELJ VWRULHV DQG EHVW SKRWRV RI VHH 3DJHV
Middlebury, Vermont
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Monday, January 4, 2016
44 Pages
75¢
Shumlin looks ahead to 2016 Governor says he’ll ask ‘tough questions’ on Middlebury’s rail project By  JOHN  FLOWERS 02173(/,(5 ² *RY 3HWHU Shumlin  said  he  will  quietly  meet  with  stakeholders  in  the  massive  Middlebury  rail  bridges  project  in  hopes  of  defusing,  and  settling,  a  growing  dispute  between  the  town  and  Vermont  Agency  of  Transporta- WLRQ 97UDQV RIÂżFLDOV UHJDUGLQJ WKH size  and  duration  of  the  estimated  PLOOLRQ FRQVWUXFWLRQ SODQ Shumlin  made  this  disclosure  dur- ing  an  interview  with  the  Addison  In- dependent DW KLV 0RQWSHOLHU RIÂżFH RQ 'HF 7KH JRYHUQRU DOVR WRXFKHG upon  another  hot  button  topic  in  Ad-Â
dison  County  —  the  siting  of  solar  arrays  —  and  some  statewide  issues  DV KH SUHSDUHV IRU KLV VL[WK DQG ÂżQDO \HDU DV WKH VWDWHÂśV FKLHI H[HFXWLYH It  was  a  few  weeks  ago  that  Shum- lin  received  a  letter  from  Bruce  Hiland,  principal  owner  of  Middle- bury’s  Battell  Block,  urging  him  to  convince  VTrans  to  modify  a  pro- posal  to  replace  the  Main  Street  and  Merchants  Row  rail  bridges  with  new  bridges  that  had  three  more  feet  of  vertical  clearance  —  from  the  cur- UHQW IHHW LQFKHV WR IHHW ² WR DOORZ IRU GRXEOH VWDFN UDLO FDUV Largely  because  the  rail  bed  would Â
have  to  be  blasted  and  lowered  three  feet  to  achieve  that  clearance,  the  project  would  span  parts  of  four  \HDUV Hiland  and  more  than  60  others  who  signed  his  letter  have  argued  that  many  downtown  businesses  will  not  be  able  to  survive  the  many  PRQWKV RI QRLVH GXVW WUDI¿F GHWRXUV DQG DUWL¿FLDO OLJKW WKH SURMHFW ZRXOG EULQJ WR WKH GRZQWRZQ Opponents  have  argued  that  VTrans  should  simply  replace  the  EULGJHV DW WKHLU FXUUHQW KHLJKW RI IHHW LQFKHV 6WDWH DQG IHGHUDO DX- (See  Shumlin,  Page  38)
GOV. Â PETER Â SHUMLIN
Vt. Gas Systems proceeds with final hearings for Phase I project
Space goes from milking to writing ‡ $ ORFDO DUFKLWHFW ZRQ DQ DZDUG IRU WXUQLQJ D PLONLQJ SDUORU LQWR D ZULWHU¡V VWXGLR 6HH 3DJH
Tiger girls’ hockey is back on track ‡ $IWHU VXIIHULQJ D IHZ ORVVHV EHIRUH &KULVWPDV 08+6 UHFRUGHG WKUHH UHFHQW ZLQV 6HH WKH VWRU\ DQG SKRWRV 3DJH
New ambulance arrives for Midd ‡ $ IHGHUDO JUDQW KHOSHG 0LGGOHEXU\ 5HJLRQDO (06 EX\ D QHHGHG QHZ DPEXODQFH WR VHUYH WKH JUHDWHU 0LGGOHEXU\ DUHD 6HH 3DJH
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All  tied  up MIDDLEBURY  UNION  HIGH  School  126-Âpound  wrestler  A.J.  Campbell  ties  up  Granville  opponent  Cole  Haines  during  their  second-Âround  match  at  the  Hubie  Wagner  Invitational  Tournament  in  Middlebury  last  week.  Five  local  wrestlers  won  titles.  See  more  photos  and  a  story  on  Pages  32-Â35. Independent  photo/Trent  Campbell
By  GAEN  MURPHREE MONKTON  —  Three  landown- ers  now  stand  between  Vermont  Gas  Systems  and  the  164  property  easements  it  needs  to  proceed  with  Phase  I  of  the  Addison  County  pipe- line  project  —  if,  that  is,  the  Public  Service  Board  decides  in  Vermont  Gas’s  favor  when  it  issues  a  decision  in  its  reexamination  of  the  project’s  &HUWLÂżFDWH RI 3XEOLF *RRG The  Public  Service  Board’s  deci- VLRQ RQ WKH SURMHFWÂśV &HUWLÂż- cate  of  Public  Good  was  expected  in  December,  but  it  has  yet  to  issue  D GHWHUPLQDWLRQ ,I WKH 36% IDLOV WR UHDFK D GHFLVLRQ E\ -DQ D 0HPR- randum  of  Understanding  between  the  PSB  and  Vermont  Gas  that  caps  the  ratepayer  subsidy  at  $134  mil- OLRQ RI WKH FXUUHQW PLOOLRQ FRVW HVWLPDWH ZLOO H[SLUH Earlier  in  the  year,  the  PSB  had  “declined  to  take  actionâ€?  in  regard  to  Vermont  Gas’s  requests  to  use  eminent  domain  against  hold-Âout  property  owners  while  the  PSB  re- examined  the  pipeline  project’s  Cer- WLÂżFDWH RI 3XEOLF *RRG %XW LQ ODWH November,  the  PSB  issued  an  order  that  reversed  its  earlier  policy  in  re- sponse  to  Vermont  Gas’s  argument  that  timeliness  was  critical  for  the  project  to  be  able  to  go  forward  and  in  recognition  that  its  own  decision- making  process  in  reevaluating  the  SURMHFWÂśV &HUWLÂżFDWH RI 3XEOLF *RRG ZDV WDNLQJ ORQJHU WKDQ H[SHFWHG That  order  allowed  Vermont  Gas  (See  Vermont  Gas,  Page  2)