Take in Feeders, Bears are Around

by Mickey Smith

WOLCOTT – The shooting of a bear which was causing damage in the Richard Woolcutt Road area, draws to light the need to bring bird feeders in during this time of year.

Vermont Fish and Wildlife Game Warden Dennis Reinhardt said this is the time of the year when bears are apt to be wandering around neighborhoods looking for food. After having risen from hibernation, bears are hungry and until berries form on bushes, they are looking for food.

Reinhardt said the bear, which was shot on Richard Woolcutt Road, had been seen in the neighborhood for over a month, and had done some damage. Most of the places where damage had been done, birdfeeders, or other sources of food, were removed and the bear seemed to move on to different areas.

The bear was shot late one night, in an instance that Reinhardt described as a person being concerned and afraid for their property. He said the law relating to a bear damaging property was changed in 2004 to better address these types of situations.

Originally the law was very generic, stating a person could take a black bear out of season in defense of his property. The new law gets into specific details of what kind of damage needs to occur, who can shoot a bear, and how it must be reported to a game warden. The shooter is required to save the meat, too.

Damage to livestock, pet, or other domestic animal; bees or bee hives; a vehicle, building, shed, or dwelling; or to a crop or crop-bearing plant other than grass must occur to allow someone to take a black bear out of season. Once a bear has been shot, a game warden must be notified within 12 hours and the carcass must be properly dressed.

People are not allowed to kill a bear causing damage in a situation where bait or food has been intentionally left out to “entice or lure” wildlife onto their property within the last 30 days, this includes bird feeders.

Reinhardt said because of the situation with this bear, a ticket was issued regarding taking the bear after intentionally luring wildlife into the yard with a birdfeeder. He said this is the lesser of two offenses, and was used rather than taking a bear in closed season, which can be used in poaching situations.

Reinhardt stressed the most important lesson to be learned is for people to remove their feeders during this season when bears are looking for food.

Hyde Park School Vote Saturday

by Mickey Smith

HYDE PARK – Voters in Hyde Park will have their say about the proposed Hyde Park school budget on Saturday, June 9, at 8:30 a.m. in the elementary school gymnasium.

At two separate meetings, Hyde Park voters have turned down budgets presented by the school board. The newest proposal represents a 3.4% increase, down $65,647 from the budget, which was defeated on May 5.

With Eden passing the school budget last Saturday, Hyde Park remains the only town in Lamoille County without an approved budget.

Comcast to Expand Local Services

by Amy Kolb Noyes

Comcast, the company that bought out Adelphia cable in Vermont, has announced a major expansion of its fiber network that will deliver cable television, high-speed internet and phone services to parts of Lamoille County. The company announced a 300-mile extension of its fiber network in 2007, expanding services in 58 Vermont communities, including Hyde Park, Morristown and Hardwick. Comcast already serves portions of Morristown, Hyde Park and Johnson. Comcast spokesperson Mark Goodman said the company does not plan to expand into other Lamoille County towns at this time.

Also this year, Comcast plans to launch its digital phone service in Vermont. Last year Comcast built out 350 miles of broadband in the state.

"Comcast is delivering on our commitment to bring cutting-edge services to many parts of Vermont that have never before had broadband," said Dan Blakeman, vice president of Comcast's Vermont system. "With the arrival of spring, we've deployed construction crews all over the state who are hard at work getting the job done."

Customers will be notified in advance of local network construction activity and will receive various forms of communication as Comcast services become available in new areas, Blakeman said. Goodman noted new customers will be made aware of any marketing promotions as service becomes available.

According to a Comcast press release, the company provides complimentary broadband services to schools, libraries and Boys & Girls Clubs in Vermont. Therefore, its investments in education and youth development will also increase with the network expansion.

Eden Approves School Budget

by Mickey Smith

EDEN – It took discussion of two amended budget proposals over about an hour and a half, but in the end Eden voters approved the budget proposed by the Eden School Board on Saturday morning, June 2.

The voters approved the budget by a 61-54 margin after debating two amendments that looked at cutting the budget up to $341,000. The $2,348,190 budget requested by the school board, and eventually approved by the voters, reflects an increase of approximately $10,000 over the amount turned down by voters about a month ago.

School Board chair Patrick Cray explained the additional money was added to allow the board to hire someone to take a look at the staff and administration at Eden Central School to see if there are areas where money can be saved in the future. Cray explained by hiring someone outside of the school district, they can get an impartial view of staffing and look for ways to get the job done at a lesser cost. He said it appears the actual cost may be about $2,000 to bring someone in for the “audit” of services. He said money was also added to be able to cover a potential deficit in this year’s budget. As of the time of the meeting, though, it appears Eden could be seeing a slight surplus rather than a deficit.

During a pause in the questions, a request was made by Cray to call the question, this was turned down on a show of hands – after a voice vote was ruled too close to call by Moderator Bruce Shields.

An amendment was offered cutting the budget to $2,007,000. This number was offered as an attempt to keep the rapidly rising cost of education within the cost of living increase.

Former school board member Bruce Burnor sensed neither the amendment nor the original proposal was going to pass. He suggested amending the amendment to a number halfway between the two proposals, in an effort to find the middle ground that could be agreed upon, so the school board could leave the meeting with an approved budget.

“I’ve lost enough elections to know that first number isn’t going to pass,” said Burnor.

Burnor’s amended number was approved over the original amendment 66-42.

With the amount of the amendment decided, voters were able to vote on the amendment, regarding if they wanted that amount to be the budget. That vote failed by just one vote, 57-58. This brought the vote back to the original number, and a request for an immediate vote, which was approved unanimously. That vote passed 61-54, approving the budget for the town’s school system.

Fourth of July Schedule

by Amy Kolb Noyes

MORRISVILLE – Planning for Morristown’s Fourth of July celebration is now in full swing. The town has hired resident Nichole Gilbert to serve as coordinator for the event. Gilbert is working with Selectboard Chair Shaun Bryer to plan the festivities.

This year’s theme is “Morristown 2007: Where Liberty Dwells…”

The celebration is tentatively scheduled to begin Tuesday evening, July 3, with a free community street dance. Bryer said plans are not yet set in stone, but The Craftsbury Vibrations have been booked. They are scheduled to play from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m., at the Union Bank parking lot. The dance was planned by last year’s now-defunct Fourth of July Committee and sponsored by Union Bank and Ultramar.

The Morristown Centennial Library’s huge annual book sale will be held, rain or shine, on the library lawn, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Line up for the parade, on Wednesday, July 4, will take place as usual at the CCV parking lot, on Harrel Street, at 9:30 a.m. The parade will step-off at 11 a.m. and wind its way through town, over the traditional route, ending up at Peoples Academy.

Rather than festivities at the school starting directly after the parade, those activities will begin at 5 p.m.

Gilbert said there will be “food, music and fun,” including children’s activities. A live rock band will be on stage from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m., when the fireworks get underway.

Bryer said the details of the celebration are still being worked out, but the public should know the selectboard is committed to having an event.

“We have less time and less people than before, but we’re committed to having a celebration,” said Bryer.

For more information, call Gilbert at 888-1187 or email nicholedene@yahoo.com.

Pratt Named Vermont Athlete of the Year

by Mickey Smith

NORTHFIELD – Any sports opponent who has faced her will tell you Mackenzie Pratt is a fierce competitor. Couple that with her on-going battle with cancer and the 18 year-old Lamoille Union senior was the sentimental pick for female athlete of the year by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association at the annual VSSA banquet held at Plumley Armory of Norwich University Sunday, June 3.

Pratt earned the nomination for her May 2006 pitching efforts, which included three no-hitters and three one-hitters all while undergoing treatments for a cancerous tumor in her chest. Along with her pitching exploits, Pratt has been a mainstay at goalie for the Lady Lancers soccer team, and was among the team leaders in rebounds for the Division II champion Lady Lancers basketball team this year when cancer cut her season short.

Despite the lengthy list of accomplishments for the North Hyde Park resident, she may be most remembered for a shot she missed.

With about 20 seconds left to go in the ’06-’07 Division II finals, Pratt found herself entering the game to a standing ovation from both the hometown crowd and their opposing fans. Not wanting to get tangled up in the play, Pratt hung back staying out of the action. A steal and an outlet pass later and Pratt, with grin that stretched from Newport to Pownal, was on her way to the basket. She missed the shot, but the girl who was supposed to stay out of the action, battled for the rebound before the buzzer sounded.

Pratt thanked her family, friends and community for the support shown throughout her ordeal. She said sports is what has kept her going through her fight with cancer. After being on the treatment side, Pratt plans to put what she has learned to use as a nurse. Next fall she heads back to Norwich University, where she hopes to play at least softball.

Pratt’s male counterpart for the top amateur athlete of Vermont was David Ball, of Orange, the University of New Hampshire football player set the Division 1-AA record for touchdown receptions. Ball snapped the record previously held by Jerry Rice, who was a legend in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers.

To win the award, Pratt bested a field that included Erin Clodgo, a national high school wrestling champion; Kelli Hier, Vermont’s Miss Basketball; and Molly Arronson, Vermont’s top amateur golfer.

A recording of the VSSA banquet should be available for airing on Green Mountain Access TV by summer time.

Sludge Spreading Explained

by Amy Kolb Noyes

STOWE – Over the past couple of weeks local dog walkers and others have been voicing, and emailing, concerns over the safety of sludge application near Stowe’s Quiet Path. The Quiet Path is a mown grass trail that ambles around the Mayo Farm fields, owned by the Town of Stowe.

In fact, the application of treated human waste at the Mayo Farm fields far predates the existence of the path. Last Thursday, May 29, Public Works Director Justin Rabidoux explained the procedure and history of sludge application in a memo to Town Manager Charles Safford. Rabidoux stated he drafted the memo in anticipation of questions being raised after last week’s sludge application.

Rabidoux noted the sludge application is in compliance with a Biosolids Land Application Permit issued to the town by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. He suggested the placement of warning signs may have caused some unnecessary alarm. The signs, reading “Restricted Area – Sludge Application Field,” were subsequently relocated by the town.

“I agree the signs we posted are ominous, however, that is the language required by the State,” Rabidoux wrote in the memo. “When the signs were originally installed last week, they were placed between the path and the road, making it appear as if the public was to stay off the Quiet Path. That is not the case and this morning we relocated the signs so they are between the path and the Mayo Farm fields.”

The sludge application stops 25 feet away from the path, and the perimeter is marked by stakes. Rabidoux continued, “Our sludge application permit does not list walking adjacent to the sludge fields as a prohibited activity. The signs are not meant to discourage walking, but are required by permit for notification purposes and to give the public information to aid in their personal decision making process.”

The Town of Stowe has made a significant investment in the sludge application process, including upgrading the sewer plant and purchasing the Mayo Farm itself.

Rabidoux explained, “It should be noted that the Sewer Department contributed $400,000 to the purchase of the Mayo land with the expressed purpose for sludge application. The area of the Quiet Path in question was created only one year ago with the understanding by staff that its use as a quiet path would not be compromised by sludge application.”

Among Stowe’s recent sewer plant upgrades is the ability to produce “cleaner” Class A sludge. Although the town’s sludge application permit allows spreading both Class A and Class B sludge on the Mayo Farm property, Stowe is now only producing Class A sludge at its sewer plant. Ironically because Class A sludge is considered largely harmless, it may not be used on the town fields in the future.

According to Rabidoux, “Class A biosolids contain minuscule levels of pathogens and have a market value as a product that can be sold and applied to a residential lawn or garden as a fertilizer. From this point forward the Town is exclusively producing Class A sludge. Next spring our options to dispose of the sludge, in addition to land application, are numerous. Staff plans on exploring these options over the next six months.”

Lamoille Union Summer School – Not Just For Lamoille Union Students

by Mickey Smith

HYDE PARK – For the sixth year, Lamoille Union is hosting a summer school program for students around the area. Through sponsorship by the Green Mountain Technology and Career Center, the program remains free for students in the tech center’s service area – including the sending towns to Lamoille Union – Peoples Academy, Stowe, Hazen Union, and Craftsbury Academy.

Tim Messier, director of the Lamoille Union Summer School program, said this is believed to be the only free summer school program in the state and is an excellent opportunity for students to pick up full-credit for a course.

Messier said the program is limited to only one course per student because of the homework load and wanting to keep the goals realistic.

He said one year they offered a morning and afternoon session and had a handful of kids attempt both – not with good results. So now the program is limited to a morning session, which runs from 8:30 to 11:15 a.m., Monday through Friday for the month of July. The only day-off scheduled will be July 4.

Messier said the program is great, both for students who need to make up a credit and for those who want to get a class out of the way to free up time for other endeavors. He said sometimes students heading into the pre-tech program will take a class to show their commitment to schoolwork.

Credits are being offered in the core areas with local teachers providing the instruction. Jeremy Scannell and Karen Schnee are teaching English/language arts; math is being taught by Bill Baker; science is being taught by Noah Noyes; and Tim Horton will be teaching social studies.

An official registration deadline is set for June 18, but Messier said, space permitted, students can be accepted up to June 25 when final notification of class offerings will be made.

Messier said they have strict policies on behavior and attendance, as the classes have to be intense to get a quarter’s worth of material into a month. While it’s intense, he said, the students are able to focus on the one class without other distractions and best of all are out before noon every day.

He said, in the past, the program has met with a lot of positive results. Over the first five years, a poll of participants has given the program a 90% favorability rating.

Things Look This Way to Me

Editorial by J.B. McKinley 6/7/07

Reading Around the Year

Looking up from my work scanning lists of college graduates for those from our area and then receiving an email of the most recent column from the ACT “college board” people, the thought comes to mind that May/June is a time when lots of folks think the time for reading is over. The young have been released from mandatory school, the slightly older have heaved a sigh of relief and slammed the $120 boring textbooks shut, and most of the rest of us either don’t think of reading much beyond road signs and directions on the box – if we’re really in a bind.

BUT, and it’s a big BUT, there are lots and lots of really good reasons to read more, or start reading more – right now.

That ACT column quoted a Johns Hopkins 2002 report that claimed as much as 22% of the school year, or two months of instructional time is lost by students who don’t read during the summer. As for those of us who are currently out of school, how many of us don’t, to some degree, rely on reading to do our work? Would you do your job better and be better placed to move up and earn more money if you read, understood what you read and wrote better?

Hand in hand with the almost universal need to read and read well is the almost universal availability of reading material. Words shout messages at us from every surface. Trashcans are full of newspapers and magazines (I know, have your little joke about this article and its ultimate receptacle!) Everywhere you wait, something to read is within reach. Reach out and improve your skills or those of your kids.

It’s just a suggestion, but sometimes I was even able to stop the reaching out and grabbing at the check out line by reading some of the stuff displayed there to my kids. Pick up something fun to read, even if it is about the pregnant space visitor from Alpha Centauri.

Keeping reading material in obvious places in your house is good for your kids. Mentioning that you read the book, or these days the comic book, that the movie was made from, might get your child to read the real thing. Make the effort once in awhile (tonight?) to snap off the TV when a show isn’t so great and pick up a magazine. Researchers say it is these simple examples that children remember.

Then, of course, there are the truly “hardcore” readers who subject their kids to the Library. But if you are willing to go that far, don’t just visit. Don’t just come in the door and stare around. Engage the librarian in a discussion. They actually love to suggest things you or your children may enjoy reading. There definitely is something to read on the shelves that will make you laugh or cry. Find it.

Well, ‘nuff said. But a week or so from now when we are listening to graduation speeches, take a minute to consider how those folks learned to speak that well and get their points across. I’ll bet all them spend quite a bit of time reading.