the essex
September 6, 2018 • The Essex Reporter • 1
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{ Thursday, September 6, 2018 }
First day busing draws mixed reviews By AMANDA BROOKS Issues with busing on the first day of school is not a new thing for the Essex Westford School District. However, with the transportation plan changing so frequently in the recent weeks, EWSD has been under a microscope. Thanks to some last minute planning by EWSD, Essex High School students who had historically had service were able to board a school bus last Wednesday
morning on the first day of school. This was possible when EWSD and Colchester SD consolidated the number of buses being sent to the Champlain Islands, said EWSD chief operating officer Brian Donahue. By working with Colchester, EWSD was able to board island students on one bus, freeing up a bus for EHS, he said. Two more buses and drivers were secured, so the district created seven routes for EHS students on the first day of school, Donahue
said. “With our new transportation manager and his expertise coming from a public transit background, I think we pulled off something pretty large,” Donahue said. “While there are so many challenges that have been created with this transportation and people really being put in tough positions, that is a really nice, small step.” Transportation on the first day of school was full of mixed reviews by parents.
Betzi Bilodeau said she had a great experience because her daughter's bus for Essex Middle School arrived at exactly the time noted on the schedule. “We’re bus stop No. 25 so I was a little concerned that the bus would be quite delayed, as in years past we’ve had major delays the first week,” Bilodeau said. “I was expecting major delays, but this morning, exactly at 7:36, as it said on our sheet, the bus pulled right in.”
She added that while some of the updates on transportation came last minute and without warning, the communication from administration was helpful. “I had figured out when our bus was supposed to come, and then the route did change last minute yesterday,” Bilodeau said last Wednesday. “It was a benefit to us, but I saw the update and was able to update my daughter.” Alicia McCurley’s children’s See BUSING, page 3
Essex founding father to receive new gravestone By COLIN FLANDERS A new gravestone for one of Essex’s founding fathers, Abram Stevens, will be unveiled in the village cemetery later this month, the result of a joint effort between the local historical society and his own descendants. The Sept. 15 dedication ceremony will feature speeches from members of the Essex Community Historical Society and Maureen Labenski, Stevens’ great-great-great granddaughter who helped fundraise for the gravestone by reaching out to to family far and wide. “I feel so gratified that it was a community-wide project and a family project,” said Labenski, who now lives in Burlington. “It’s just very rewarding and heartwarming to me.” Ann Gray, a member of the historical society, said the group initially looked into replacing the gravestone in 2011 but sidelined the cause after receiving a quote for more than $4,000 – a high price tag for the nonprofit group. Three years later, Labenski hosted a program about her family during the society’s “Tales and Treasures” series and donated her honorarium to the campaign. From there, Labenski and her cousin, Harmony Cism, launched a letter campaign aimed at their fellow Stevens’ descendants, and soon, donations poured in from around the country, some from as far as Florida and California. The Essex Community Historical Society then applied for several grants and earned support from the town to raise just enough for the new marker. The ceremony will mark the end of a long journey to rehab Stevens’ gravestone, to which time has not been kind. The stone is illegible from its perch on the small hill overlooking Main Street, a victim of two centuries of Vermont weather. But Stevens’ new gravestone – an exact replica that will sit in front of the original – features markings that at one time made its predecessor a sight to behold, filled intricate symbols that Labenski believes is a” tribute to his life and to the times.” Stevens was one of the first to settle in present-day Essex Jct., coming here in 1784, a year after the first settlers are said to have arrived, according to ECHS member Tim Jerman. Stevens died in 1826 at the age of 70, an inscription on his gravestone says. His service in the Revolutionary War also noted with an engraving that reads, “War of 1776," and he's believed to have fought alongside Gen. Richard Montgomery in 1775 at the Siege of Quebec, according to writings a town biennium published in the late 1800s.
Another fAir in the books Photos by KYLE ST. PETER Like always, the Champlain Valley Fair came and went in a flash. Fairgoers soared the sky, slid down to earth and caught up with their favorite furry friends. Catch up with some more sights from the annual event on page 4.
See STEVENS, page 2
Village sets sights on illegal activity near railroad, again By COLIN FLANDERS Reports of illegal activity on the multiuse safety path – whose construction, officials hoped, would deter such behavior – have prompted the village to consider new ways to address the problem. The village constructed the winding blacktop from Essex High School to Main Street in 2016 with the help of a Vermont Agency of Transportation grant and a local investment of nearly $100,000. Officials said at the time they hoped the path would eliminate drug and criminal activity there by sprucing up the area, and spruce up it did. But some residents say not much has changed. “It really just put a cosmetic fix on the
Trustees consider options after complaints about behavior on multi-use path issues,” said Joe Kudrle, a Grove St. resident who recounted calling Essex police a handful of times over the last two years to report unsavory behavior on the path, which is located right behind his property. Kudrle blamed the activity on a retaining wall where people often congregate to drink and hang out. They often throw trash into his backyard and along the path, he said, adding two months after residents cleaned up the path on Green Up Day, litter had already reclaimed a presence. “I can’t tell you how depressing [that]
was,” he said. Trustee Lori Houghton echoed both his concerns and his assessment for their cause. She said the wall is the only place she finds people hanging out along the path and described it as the only place in the community where she hesitates before walking down. “Now it truly is a safety hazard,” she said, “because we're saying to people, ‘Please walk on our path,’ but, ya know, there's some stuff going on.” Houghton asked staff to consider fenc-
ing off the retaining wall or installing plantings above it to deter people from sitting. Municipal manager Evan Teich said staff will return at a future meeting with some structural options. But he suggested staff and the trustees consider ways to address the underlying issues, too, worrying structural changes may only move the problem elsewhere. “If it's a homeless thing, if it's a mental illness thing, if it's a drug addiction thing, we [should] have the resources at the right place at the right time,” he said. Police Chief Rick Garey explained there’s only so much his department can do given its reported staffing shortage that’s all but diminished its proactive policing. See PATH, page 2