Essex Reporter Feb. 26, 2015

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ESSEX

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

SWEETHEART BALL

Vol. 35, No. 8

OLIVER PARINI PHOTOGRAPHY

Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Essex Junction, VT 05452 Postal Patron-Residential

Town Meeting Day voters’ guide

6 p.m. community dinner, 7:30 annual meeting at EHS on Monday; ballot voting Tuesday By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter

Joan Carr and Frank Miller.

More PORTRAITS on 10a

Regional Education District Study Committee members announced The school boards of Essex Junction (Prudential Committee), Essex Town and Westford are excited to announce the 20-member committee made up of citizen volunteers who will study the potential for forming a Regional Education District (RED). The three school boards voted unanimously on Dec. 16, 2014 to form a study committee, which would study the advisability of forming a RED between Essex Junction, Essex Town and Westford under Vermont’s Act 156. The scope of the Study Committee’s work is defined by statute and will be guided to analyze those statutory requirements, while the cost of this study will be reimbursed by the state of Vermont. The 20-member Study Committee was formed to consist of two Westford citizens, eight Essex Junction citizens, and 10 Essex Town citizens (with at least one board member from each community seated among the 20). Citizens in each of the participating communities wrote letters of interest

and the committee members for each town/village were then decided on by their respective school board members. “The school boards were very impressed with the caliber and number of applicants,” said Essex Town School Board Chair Kim Gleason. “Each board considered a variety of criteria before making their final decisions in an effort to bring forward a group of individuals who represent the diverse makeup of our communities. I would like to personally thank this group again for their time and interest in serving on this very important committee.” (*denotes the school board representative from each location)

The first meeting of the RED Study Committee will take place on March 4 starting at 7 p.m. and will be held in the library of Essex High School (2 Educational Drive). The public is welcome to attend.

The Study Committee is made up of the following volunteers: ESSEX JUNCTION (8) Robert Bouthillier Amy Chess Marla Durham* Linda Costello Brian Donahue

Wes McClellan Keeley Schell Adam Sollace ESSEX TOWN (10) Sam Gilliam Kim Gleason*

Tom James Kim Kedzierski Gary Kling Brendan Kinney Cathy Printon Mitchell Stern

Gather, taste and learn Founders Memorial School celebrates farm to school program By PHYL NEWBECK For The Essex Reporter Stacey Bruyns’ original plan had been a simple harvest dinner for parents and staff at Founders Memorial School, but like the food on the menu, the plan began to grow. Bruyns had been involved in organizing the Farm to School committee at Founders and the group applied for and received a Heart and Soul Grant, which they planned to use for the dinner. The more they talked about the event, the bigger it grew and soon they decided to create something resembling an indoor farmers’ market, sending invitations to others who would help them raise awareness of the Farm to School program and the benefits

it brings. The event – called Gather, Taste and Learn – will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on March 5. Abbie Nelson, the Education Coordinator for the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) and Christa Alexander, co-owner of Jericho Settlers’ Farm, will be the opening speakers. After that, guests will go from booth to booth as though at a farmers’ market, but in addition to having access to goods, they will also learn about the products and those who provide them. Vendors will include the Chittenden Solid Waste District demonstrating a worm compost bin, the Vermont

– See FARM on page 2a

Jill Tarule Tom Thompson WESTFORD (2) Heidi Coppola Martha Heath*

It’s a short list of decisions that face Town of Essex voters Monday and Tuesday during Town Meeting Day: Determine a budget for next fiscal year, decide whether to reallocate $800,000 for town hall upgrades and select a town moderator and selectboard member. Sounds simple. But the selectboard’s $12.6 million budget proposal is more than just a spending plan for 2015/2016. It’s a piece of financial wizardry that reconciles the unification of the Town of Essex and Village of Essex Junction highway departments, administrative leadership, tax collection systems and stormwater responsibilities. Approve it and voters will endorse the selectboard’s collaboration with the Village Trustees to unify a community long segregated in governance by its village boundary. The effort echoes previous ones to merge or separate the two overlapping municipalities, which have all fizzled in controversy. It’s a piecemeal approach that to this point shows no change in staffing levels for either municipality or major tax burden shifts from village to town. “There are no hidden agendas, there is no stealth efforts about merger or separation in this. It is really just looking at getting the delivery of services most efficient and following the guidance of what we call smart governance,” selectboard chairman Max Levy said last week at a budget presentation in front of the Village Trustees. “We are looking to continue that spirit of cooperation and sharing of services across municipal boundaries because when you work together, you can find efficiencies that can help bend that curve of what budget increases are going to be in the future.” Village President George Tyler added: “The two boards have been collaborating, in my experience, as never before to share services, lower costs and really create a new atmosphere and environment for the whole community that saves money and does things more efficiently.” Tax equity In order to consolidate town and village road

– See GUIDE on page 3a

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS Brad Luck is running uncontested for a second term on the Essex Selectboard. The town moderator position, which is responsible for running Town Meeting, is sought by Rick Magianni and Steven Eustis. Voting takes place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Essex High School for Essex Junction residents and Essex Middle School for Essex Town residents. The following are the candidates’ positions. EUSTIS “I try to run a very open and friendly meeting. I try to make it a conversation. I view the moderator as a conductor where if no one is talking, you’re trying to get people to talk, and if there is a lot going on, you’re trying to calm things down. You try to strike a balance … It sets the tenor of the entire evening.“ “A couple people said they like how I do the village meeting and asked me to run for town moderator. It’s a nice way I can give back to the community.” Editor’s Note: Eustis currently serves as moderator for the Village of Essex Junction Annual Meeting. MAGGIANI ”I am running for moderator in the hopes that I can follow in (longtime moderator Steve McQueen’s) footsteps, act as our town moderator for a number of years, and moderate town meeting to (residents’) satisfaction.“ ”My goal is a well-run, organized and impartial town meeting where issues are discussed fully and fairly, and where your voice can be respectfully heard. Another goal is to give a voice to those who generally don‘t get a voice – in other words, expand the discussion to better arrive at thoughtful solutions.“ ”I offer my extensive experience with Roberts Rules of Order, as well as a background of being elected to three different boards of directors. I have served as a director and as chair of each board, and am well acquainted with the ground rules for running meetings.“ ”I have been a resident of Essex Town for 30 years. I’m a regular – See CANDIDATES on page 3a

Texting/driving story hits home

‘It only takes a second,’ EHS community is told By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter Members of the Essex High School community came face to face with the consequences of texting while driving last week in a chilling presentation of the Essex Youth Coalition. In 2011, Emma Vieira hit her Colchester neighbor Debbie Drewniak with the car she was driving, killing Drewniak’s dog and leaving her disabled. A recent graduate of Colchester High School at the time, Vieira was making plans for the evening by texting friends before the crash. Drewniak was with her chocolate lab near the side of the road, checking her mailbox. The story was relived in detail in a documentary by Werner Herzog called “From One Second to the Next,” which was played at EHS last Wednesday. After the documentary, Vieira and Drewniak’s sister, Liz Drewniak-Brigante, also

– See TEXTING on page 3a

Emma Vieira, left, recounts the car crash that injured Debbie Drewniak in 2011 in Colchester during a presentation last week at Essex High School. Drewniak’s sister, Liz Drewniak-Brigante, right, told the story from her family’s point of view. PHOTO | JASON STARR


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