the essex
September 13, 2018 • The Essex Reporter • 1
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{ Thursday, September 13, 2018 }
Infrastructure issues present challenge for town center plan By COLIN FLANDERS
FILE PHOTO
Green Mountain Power announced today a multi-year agreement with GlobalFoundries to provide more stable energy costs in a move both companies say will help ensure the chip manufacturer’s viability in Vermont.
GMP, GlobalFoundries broker multi-year deal on energy costs By COLIN FLANDERS Green Mountain Power announced today a multi-year agreement with GlobalFoundries to provide more stable energy costs in a move both companies say will help ensure the chip manufacturer’s viability in Vermont. The deal lowers GMP’s transmission class rate – of which GlobalFoundries is the only customer, using and maintaining its own distribution grid – by 2.73 percent starting next year. That rate will be frozen through September 2022. In exchange, the chip manufacturer agrees to maintain a specific level of power usage on-site and will forgo rate cuts or credits that GMP will give the rest of its customers next year thanks to more than $27 million from the federal tax reform, a news release said. The plan is subject to review and approval by state regulators. “As the state’s largest manufacturer, we consume more electricity than any other single customer, and energy costs are determinant of the competitiveness of our operations in Vermont,” said Dale Miller, GlobalFoundries’
Vermont senior location executive, in the news release. He added the company’s ability to purchase competitive energy in the state will factor into “future investment decisions.” The deal looks to address GlobalFoundries’ longstanding complaints about energy costs in the state. While among the lowest in New England, costs here remain significantly higher than in neighboring New York, where GlobalFoundries has two other facilities, due to regional power costs. Production at GlobalFoundries runs 24 hours a day, resulting in a high energy demand, totaling over 400 million kilowatt-hours in 2016 alone, according to Thomas Jagielski, director of site operations, who testified to the public utility commission in 2017. That same year, Jagielski told the PUC, the company paid about $40 million in energy costs, including about $4.5 million to operate its distribution system. If the company used the same amount of power at its Malta, N.Y. facility, the cost would have been less than half that total. See AGREEMENT, page 2
Town officials are working to address several issues that could potentially impede growth in the Essex Town Center after a letter from the public works department raised concerns with the first draft of the area’s new master plan. In a letter to the planning commission, public works director Dennis Lutz and his staff charge the ETC Next proposal recommends growth without answering how the town could handle the inherent infrastructure demands. The department highlights four areas of “significant concern.” One – a change in the plan that would have forced the town to accept large portions of Route 15 as a Class I highway – has already been nixed, and Lutz believes any stormwater problems can be remedied without too much disruption. But the department’s remaining concerns around water pressure, fire flow and sewer allocations will likely force the town to improve or alter its current infrastructure if it hopes to accommodate the plan’s vision for the town center. Given the consultants’ initial recommendations, growth in that area is likely: The draft plan envisions two mixed-use zones straddling Route 15 with building heights of up to four and five stories. And even without increasing density, the town is struggling to provide enough water pressure in the higher elevation portions of the town center because of their relation to the pump stations, Lutz said. Higher buildings mean
more demand to get the water to the highest floors, and the only way to remedy this problem is to create a new pressure zone with pumps whose sole purpose is to serve the town center. Lutz suggested the impacted development cover the costs on either a building-bybuilding basis or a collective, privately-funded system.
“These things can be fixed. It's just a matter of who pays for it and when.”
Dana Hanley Director of community Development
Separate from water pressure needs is the flow of water used to combat fires, where lower levels can lead to less protection and increased insurance costs. Lutz pointed to other areas in town with similar flow issues that have forced developers to pay for their own storage tanks. A potential fix in the town center comes in the form of a joint project with the Champlain Water District, which wants to build another pump station in the village to control water flow in and out of Essex tanks and allow the town to connect its water system. The town is waiting to hear back from the district on potential pipe routes and See ETC, page 3
Vermonters benefit from land conservation Report shows 900 percent return on investment in protecting natural lands By AMANDA BROOKS
STOCK PHOTO
Mosquitos testing positive for West Nile virus were found in Essex last week, according to the Vt. Health Department.
West Nile virus detected in Essex By COLIN FLANDERS Mosquitos found in two different locations around Essex have tested positive for West Nile Virus, the Vt. Health Department announced last week. The test marks the second time in less than two months that mosquitos carrying the virus were found in town; Essex’s first positive test was reported in early August. Though there have been no reports of human cases in Vermont so far this year, health officials learned last week a horse in Windham County had tested positive for the virus, according to a news release. “Animal cases like this are cause for concern because it means mosquitoes carrying the virus are out there, and they’re biting,” said Natalie Kwit, a state public health veterinarian, in the news release. Each year, the Vt. Agency of Agriculture conducts weekly tests between June through October to track the virus’ prevalence in the state. Tests examine so-called pools – comprised of anywhere between one to 50 mosquitos – collected at the same trap on the same day. The health department summarizes that data in a weekly report posted to its website (www. healthvermont.gov). West Nile virus spreads when an infected mosquito bite a human or an animal, though it can’t be transmitted between the two. The health department says the virus has been See VIRUS, page 2
PHOTO BY VNRC
The Forest Partnership held a press conference at the VYCC West Monitor Barn last week to announce the impressive results from a study examining return on investment in land conservation in Vermont.
A new report from the Trust for Public Land reported that for every $1 invested in land conservation in Vermont, $9 is returned in natural goods and services. “This is the third highest return on investment we’ve seen among the dozen studies we’ve conducted in states across the country,” said Shelby Semmes, the TPL’s Vermont and New Hampshire state program director. The 900 percent return on investment in land conservation comes back to local municipalities in various forms of natural goods and services, the report said. The TPL report explained that conserving lands bolsters local econoSee INVESTMENT, page 2
Essex drug dealer receives six-year sentence in federal case By MIKE DONOGHUE BURLINGTON – A Philadelphia man who officials say set up a drug distribution business in Essex has been sentenced to six years in prison. Wendell E. Saunders, 41, learned on Friday he will be on federal supervised release for three years after he is discharged from prison. He also is wanted for a possible parole violation in Philadelphia. Saunders had already pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to knowingly possessing heroin with intent to sell on Sept. 17, 2015, the day he was arrested in Essex Jct. An Essex Police informant told in-
vestigators he started buying heroin, often 60 bags at a time, in August 2015 from Saunders, who used the street name "J," court records show. An Essex Police detective assigned to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force got two confidential informants from Essex to obtain drugs four times from Saunders in August and September 2015, court records show. They said the sales ranged from 30 to 100 bags. A couple of the early drug sales happened near apartments at 39 Prospect St. in Essex Jct., where the informant said he met Saunders, records show. After one of the buys, Essex Police
stopped a vehicle in which Saunders was a passenger. The driver was a Colchester man who was previously arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, records show. Police noted Saunders had one cell phone in his hand and another under his leg. There were two more in the center console and one in the driver's side door. Saunders and the driver claimed they were going to a store and to the beach, but surveillance showed they did neither, the Essex drug detective said in court papers. Instead they drove directly to his girlfriend Allison Paquette’s apartment in Barre City. See DRUGS, page 4