Saturday, January 19, 2013

 

News to Know January 19th

BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW JANUARY 19, 2012
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Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted at http://socialenergy.blogspot.com
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If you're not already receiving this news by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com
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Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
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Included below please find:
TRYING TO STAY HEALTHY
FIRE GUTS STORAGE BARN AT BERLIN FARM
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
VERMONT'S CITIZEN LEGISLATURE
MORE ON KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY
LETTER TO THE EDITOR RE LIBRARY FUNDING
THOSE FAMOUS GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
SHUMLIN: FEDS TO PONY UP FOR BERLIN FACILITY
BERLIN POND YELLOW PERCH LIMITS REDUCED TO 10
PARKING ISSUE RESURFACES AT BERLIN POND
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TRYING TO STAY HEALTHY
It's advice we've all heard before but with the flu making it's rounds, whooping cough rates being up and other icky illnesses going around it bears repeating - get your vaccinations, wash your hands a lot (don't touch your face either), use good cough etiquette by coughing into your elbow or a tissue (and wash your hands either way).  Also eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water, get some fresh air and exercise and be sure to get enough sleep.  Another tip is to disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as keyboards, doorknobs, and phones. We're all good at taking care of others but be sure to take care of yourself too! 
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FIRE GUTS STORAGE BARN AT BERLIN FARM
Pub 1/11/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — A noontime fire that started on the hay-strewn floor of a large barn at the Herring Family Farm on Thursday made short work of the Quonset hut-style structure.
   By 12:30 p.m. the walls at both ends of the barn were gone and its contents destroyed. Though its arched metal roof was still standing, firefighters said what remained of the still-smoking building was not structurally sound.
   It could have been worse, according to David Lockerby, who works at the farm and spent the last three days moving 600 bales of hay from the barn to the one that was still standing a few yards away.
   According to Lockerby, the fire started some time after he’d loaded the last eight bales into his 1994 Ford pickup, which was parked in the barn.
   Lockerby said he’s not sure how it happened, but he is sure what he saw when he spotted the fire that was reported moments before noon.
   “The ground was on fire,” he said.
   It might have been heat from the muffler of his truck or a spark from the idling vehicle, but Lockerby said something ignited hay on the floor of the old storage barn.
   “It spread fast,” he said, noting there would have been more fuel for the flames if he hadn’t moved 150 bales of hay that morning.
   Berlin firefighters arrived moments after noon and were quickly joined by volunteers from Northfield, Barre Town and East Montpelier, as well as firefighters from Montpelier.
   The fire was under control in 20 minutes, though members of the Berlin crew didn’t clear the scene until shortly after 2 p.m.
   Fortunately the fire didn’t spread to the nearby barn where Lockerby had moved the hay and where farm owner Mike Herring said he raises pigs and turkeys.
   Herring said he let the pigs out when he saw the fire and moved his turkeys to the far end of the barn as a precaution.
   He said no animals were hurt, though the old storage barn and its contents — mostly tools and Lockerby’s truck — were destroyed.
   “I’m not having a great day,” he said.
  david.delcore @timesargus.com
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
Are you on Anne Donahue's email list to receive Legislative Updates?  Remember that with redistricting, Anne now represents Northfield / Berlin.  You can request to be added to her email list by contacting her at counter@tds.net
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VERMONT'S CITIZEN LEGISLATURE
SOME VERMONTERS CAN'T AFFORD TO SERVE IN THE "CITIZEN LEGISLATURE"
Seven Days 1/9/13 by Paul Heintz
http://www.7dvt.com/2013some-vermonters-cant-afford-serve-citizen-legislature
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MORE ON KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY
From KH Library Director, Richard Bidnick:  "Library's cost money to run and if the Berlin citizens decide that they don't want to support this amount then they are free to pay $40.00 for a library card in 2013. I understand more than anyone the costs of property taxes etc but what are the things you actually get to use for the money that you pay?? I know the library is always there for everyone and costs a fraction in amount to support for such a wonderful cultural center. Currently we are getting a little over $4.00 per capita from Berlin while Montpelier citizens are paying over $37.00 per capita. There is a major shift going on right now in the city concerning all of these issues and why should Montpelier residents subside the costs so communities like Berlin can only pay such a small amount.  The bottom line is this. We need the money or I am going to have to cut services, hours and staff. This is the situation I am in. We cannot continue to be inequitable in our approach for funding from the government bodies."
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Currently I don't believe there a Berlin representative on the Kellogg-Hubbard Library Board - anybody interested?
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Here are some articles that pertain to the request by Kellogg-Hubbard Library for increased funding
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http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2013/01/city-council-discusses-budget-cuts-shorter-library-hours-degradation-of-city-services-are-possible-effects/
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http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2012/12/following-the-money-part-two-of-an-interview-with-montpelier-mayor-john-hollar/ 
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(part 1 of this article: http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2012/11/following-the-money-mayor-john-hollar-talks-about-city-spending)
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR RE LIBRARY FUNDING
Submitted to Times Argus & World on 1/19/13
   The Kellogg-Hubbard Library (KHL) funding request for Berlin is doubling this year.  According to the December 2012 letter to the Montpelier City Council (on the KHL website link for info on 2013 funding requests), "A figure of $25.00 per registered library card user has been assessed to the surrounding communities of Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex and Worcester."  In the December 14th Times Argus article "Kellogg-Hubbard says it needs more funding" it says "Berlin would have the most drastic change under the proposal, more than doubling its one-year contribution from $12,557 to $26,925"  
   If you divide $26,925 by $25 that indicates this was determined from having 1,077 Berlin library card users.  With the 2010 population of Berlin being 2,887 residents (about 1,100 households), I find it highly unlikely there are over 1,000 active library card users from Berlin.   If there are, they are families with multiple card holders who are apt to limit themselves to one card if they are having to pay.  Many elementary students were signed up for library cards on school field trips but that does not mean they have become active library users.
   If the voters choose not to support this request, Berlin residents will be charged $40 each for a library card.  To receive the equivalent of the $12,557 (which voters have previously approved) there would need to be 314 Berlin people getting cards.  To receive $26,925, 673 people would need to pay.  The last time KHL asked for a substantial increase from Berlin voters it was voted down.  I'm not sure how many residents paid for cards that year.
   There are other nearby libraries which are already being used by some Berlin residents who happen to live closer to them - the Aldrich Library in Barre ($12 per year for a library card) and the Brown Library in Northfield ($24 per year) and these will probably be turned to more if the KHL request is not approved. 
   The City of Montpelier and the Town of Berlin each bring unique and complimentary businesses and services that benefit our community as a whole.   Our family absolutely loves libraries and book stores and we are fortunate to have many to access.  I really wish this funding request were going to be by floor vote so it could be discussed and a more appropriate amount of funding could be agreed upon.  
   - Corinne Stridsberg, Berlin
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THOSE FAMOUS GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
Local Girl Scouts are now taking orders for Girl Scout cookies, which will be delivered in mid-February.  There are eight varieties, which sell for $4 a box, and all of the proceeds support local Girl Scouts and programs.
Girl Scouting is celebrating its 100th anniversary with the lemony Savannah Smiles cookie, honoring the birthplace of the organization. The program teaches the scouts five skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.
If you don’t know a Girl Scout but want cookies, call 888-474-9686, ext. 201, and leave a message including the name of your town, and someone will get back to you.
--Note usually there is a stand in the lobby of the school on Town Meeting Day for those of you who may still be looking for cookies!
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SHUMLIN: FEDS TO PONY UP FOR BERLIN FACILITY
Pub 1/9/13 Times Argus by Peter Hirschfeld
   BERLIN — After months of wrangling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Tuesday that the federal government will pick up the lion’s share of a $42.8 million plan to replace the 52-bed psychiatric hospital washed out during Tropical Storm Irene.
   At the groundbreaking for a 25-bed mental health facility in Berlin, Shumlin said that FEMA will pick up nearly 75 percent of the cost for a replacement plan that includes facilities in Berlin, Rutland and Brattleboro.
   Administration officials had at one point last year anticipated that FEMA would pay for as much as 90 percent of the construction costs. However, Shumlin said he was “thrilled” with the $30 million that federal officials have said Vermont can expect for the projects.
   “That means that Vermont taxpayers will be paying for this entire rebuilt system between $12.5 million and $15 million,” Shumlin said. “That is a great victory for Vermont taxpayers and worth celebrating.”
   The trials and tribulations of Vermont’s negotiations with FEMA became fodder for gubernatorial politics last summer when news broke that a technical miscue had led to an overly optimistic estimate of what Vermont could expect in federal aid.
   Republican challenger Randy Brock chided Shumlin for proceeding with a hospital replacement plan for which he had yet to identify a funding source.
   “I have taken some heat over the past months for pushing ahead with this project without knowing exactly how the dollars would flow,” Shumlin said Tuesday. “But I want to remind you that we had no other choice, that with the most vulnerable mental health patients not having a place to go, we didn’t have the option of doing what government does so well: waiting, thinking, planning, deliberating, arguing and hoping for a better day.”
   At a cost of $28.5 million, the 25-bed facility now under construction in Berlin will become the centerpiece of a “community-based” mental health system that aims to move away from the more centralized program in place before the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury was evacuated during Irene.
   The plan calls for 14 secure hospital beds at the Brattleboro Retreat and six beds at Rutland Regional Medical Center. Each of those projects will cost about $5.5 million.
   While construction is under way in Berlin, Brattleboro and Rutland, the state will rely on temporary facilities in Morrisville and Middlesex to alleviate pressure on emergency rooms, which have been forced to accommodate mental health patients who previously would have been admitted to the hospital in Waterbury.
   An eight-bed facility in Morrisville opened late last month; a seven-bed facility in Middlesex will be ready in a couple of months. The combined cost of those projects is $3.4 million, all of which will be paid for by FEMA.
   The nearly $30 million FEMA figure cited by Shumlin will include any payouts from the state’s insurance policy.
   Sen. Robert Hartwell, a Bennington County Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Institutions, said the FEMA funding levels announced Tuesday are “as good as it gets.”
   “If I had to pick something to help us with, this is the thing we need to be helped with,” Hartwell said.
   Flanked by lawmakers and members of his Cabinet, Shumlin plunged a ceremonial spade into a pile of camera-ready dirt on the Fisher Road parcel on which the new hospital is being constructed. The location, adjacent to Central Vermont Medical Center, has been lauded by mental health advocates who had insisted on proximity to a conventional hospital.
   If Irene had a silver lining, mental health advocates have said, it was in expediting the long-running debate over how to replace the state’s century-old psychiatric hospital in Waterbury. The antiquated facility was decertified by the federal government, costing Vermont about $10 million annually in lost Medicaid reimbursements.
   Shumlin said he expects that revenue to begin rolling back into Vermont when the Berlin facility opens by April 2014.
   “When we get those reimbursements back, we will pay for our entire new system with federal dollars in roughly a year and a half,” Shumlin said.
   Mark Landry, federal coordinating officer for FEMA, said that while he can’t officially announce the numbers Shumlin used Tuesday, the documents he provided to the administration “reflect with a high level of confidence the funding that the state of Vermont will receive based on eligible (damage) and eligible funding.”
   Shumlin said he expects similarly refined estimates from FEMA on reimbursement levels for the Waterbury office complex in the next 45 days or so.
   peter.hirschfeld @timesargus.com
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BERLIN POND YELLOW PERCH LIMITS REDUCED TO 10
Beginning on January 26th the Berlin Pond Yellow Perch limits are reduced to 10 under a revised "Test Waters" designation.  The press release can be found on the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources website at the following link:
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/site/cfm/PressRel/Detail.CFM?ID=2148
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PARKING ISSUE RESURFACES AT BERLIN POND
Pub 1/19/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — The onset of ice fishing has reopened a can of worms for the Select Board, which can’t seem to make a decision involving Berlin Pond that doesn’t disappoint someone.
   This week was no exception, as board members were again urged to prohibit parking on both sides of Mirror Lake Road. They appear to be headed in that direction, having told police to start warning — if not ticketing — those whose vehicles aren’t parked completely off the traveled portion of the narrow two-lane town road.
   Citing congested conditions they witnessed last weekend, board members said they were inclined to ban parking on the south side of the road, having already restricted parking on the north side last year as a safety precaution.
   Selectman Ture Nelson said he toured the pond Jan. 12 and counted 55 cars parked on the south side of Mirror Lake Road between Paine Turnpike South and Brookfield Road. Some, he said, were facing in the wrong direction, and most were encroaching on the traveled portion of the road.
   Nelson said the number of vehicles was alarming.
   “To me this is an issue we never even considered when we thought about the ‘no parking’ ordinance (last year),” he said.
   Selectwoman Roberta Haskin, who said she counted more than 40 vehicles on one of several Saturday spins around the pond, said that is a problem.
   “I think it’s a safety issue,” she said. “I’m very familiar with this road, and this road cannot support this kind of traffic.”
   Those observations came during a 30-minute discussion that began with Town Administrator Jeff Schulz telling the board that Police Chief Bill Wolfe and Fire Chief Miles Silk Jr. weren’t overly concerned after monitoring the situation last weekend.
   “(Wolfe) felt based on what he’d seen that folks were able to travel through the area fairly safely,” Schulz said, conceding that both chiefs acknowledged “potential problems” if vehicles parked farther out into the roadway.
   Selectman Pete Kelley said the vehicles he saw Jan. 12 were parked “as neat as a pin” but that most were at least partly in the road.
   “They did as good a job getting off the road as they could,” he said.
   Schulz said roadside parking requirements were something of a gray area. “It does leave a little bit of discretion to the (enforcing) officer,” he said.
   Board members heard from some residents who said they were concerned by the spike in traffic that accompanied the ice fishing season and from one sportsman who urged them not to overreact.
   According to Nate Smead, the novelty of ice fishing on a pond that was off limits for more than a century, coupled with poor ice conditions elsewhere in the state, were largely responsible for last weekend’s turnout.
   Smead said the state Fish and Wildlife Department’s plan to reduce the yellow perch limit — from 50 to 10 starting Jan. 26 — should further ease pressure on the pond.
   “It will reduce the impact,” he said.
   Smead questioned the wisdom of revisiting parking restrictions that were part of a summer-long debate last year. That began in May after the Vermont Supreme Court said the city of Montpelier could not regulate recreational use of the pond, which serves as its public drinking water supply. The city owns nearly all the land surrounding the pond.
   Since the Supreme Court’s ruling a culvert on Mirror Lake Road has been the primary access point, though tracks in the snow suggest some anglers have concluded that isn’t the only location where the public right of way overlaps the shore.
   The debate over access to the pond seemingly ended in November when voters overwhelmingly agreed that access should be allowed over a tiny town-owned parcel.
   “It was pretty clear that the residents of Berlin want access,” Smead said. “I don’t see why we would rehash something that the board got clear direction on.”
   Kathy Hartshorn said the November vote didn’t have anything to do with Mirror Lake Road, and she renewed her call for a parking prohibition.
   “I’m a resident, I’m a voter, I’m a taxpayer in this town, and I am asking you yet again to do the responsible thing and stop this while you can,” she said.
   According to Hartshorn, few of the people who have taken up ice fishing on the pond live in town.
   “Your obligation is to the residents of Berlin, not the fishermen from other communities who are hitting that fish population hard,” she told the board.
   Resident Andrea Chandler agreed.
   According to Chandler, posting signs prohibiting parking on Mirror Lake Road would be a step in the right direction, while creating an access area on the town-owned land would, in her view, be a step in the wrong one.
   “You can’t build your way out of this,” she said.
   The board is forming a committee to explore access issues involving the pond.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com
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Monday, January 14, 2013

 

News to Know Town Meeting Discussion

BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW JANUARY 11, 2012
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Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted at http://socialenergy.blogspot.com
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If you're not already receiving this news by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com
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Check out the Berlin, VermontCommunity News page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
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Included below please find:
BERLIN
TOWN MEETING VOTE
Below please find a conversation that has been taking place on Front Porch Forum regarding Berlin Town Meeting. I thought it important to have the conversation get to more folks and therefore I have cut and pasted all discussion on the topic to date to send along. The last post on this page includes a link to a survey on the topic. Everyone is welcome to join Front Porch Forum by registering free of charge at http://frontporchforum.com
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Berlin Town Meeting?
Norbert RhinersonScott Hill Road
Posted to:
Berlin Nov 21st
A couple years ago the Berlin voters decided that Town Meeting was no longer a place where the majority of things like the budgets should be discussed and voted on, instead these issues would be on the Australian Ballot so more of the voters could make these important decisions. There is still Town Meeting but it is not what it used to be and no really important things are covered anymore.
i thought that because this is supposed to be a forum for such discussions it would be a good time to ask for opinions one way or another.
We keep hearing and reading about Town Meeting being a true democratic assembly where things are discussed face to face, well that is no longer the case in Berlin.
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Berlin Town Meeting
Michael A StridsbergJunction Road
Posted to:
Berlin Nov 25
Norbert -- I hear what you're saying. I remember being brought to Berlin Town Meeting when I was young, and sometimes we'd be home late for supper. Now, Town Meeting barely goes until lunch.
I think there are two main reasons for the shrinking of Town Meeting. One is the reason you mentioned --that the town and school budgets are no longer voted on in open session, but are ballot items. I was there for the debate and vote that changed the way it's done, and I heard and understand the tension. It's the counterbalance between a small percentage of the population involved in discussing, changing, and passing a budget versus a larger percentage of the population having a chance to weigh in but with only a "yes or no" level of participation. Personally, I'm in favor of the older form of active give and take and consensus, but I do understand that a smaller and smaller number of people are able and willing to show up and join the debate. (Perhaps moving town meeting to an evening or weekend could offset this, as some towns have tried.)
The other reason I see for the shrinking of Town Meeting is that so many of the decisions about running the town are now made by various boards and committees. I remember long debates at Town Meeting about stop signs and traffic lights, about which roads to pave or grade, and about which areas of town to preserve and which to develop. Now there are bodies that deal with these decisions all year long, and the questions never appear before the town. Is this a better system or not? I'm not sure. The question has the same pro and con feel as the budget situation.
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Town Meeting
Henry DuketteChandler Road
Posted to:
Berlin Nov 25
About the Berlin Town Meeting not being the same anymore because important things like the budget issues are not discussed at the meetings are true. But in fact it was voted by the residents to have those issues voted by Australian Ballot so as to let more residents have a say on the issues.
But having said that, voting by Australian Ballet does not take away from discussing the important issues at Town Meeting to let people vent their thoughts and ideas on a particular issue/issue's
So I believe that voting by Australian Ballet is the only proper and fair way for all residents to have a say in the process of spending Town Tax monies.
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Berlin Town Meeting And 1500+ Missing Voters?

Peg E. MonleyLovers Lane
Posted to:
Berlin Nov 26
I have listened to the reasoning regarding the benefits of moving the town meeting votes to Australian ballot; mainly that it gives more people the chance to vote.
I was surprised(and disappointed)to find out that our town meeting participation has not increased greatly since we removed the voting from the floor.
We had over 2000 voters in the town of Berlin this month for the 2012 presidential election. Last town meeting we had about 400 voters when all the ballots were counted.
Where were the voters who wanted a chance to participate in town meeting? Wouldn't it be wonderful to have 2000 Berlin "voices" helping to guide the town. I miss the floor votes. And the ballot doesn't seem to be helping get more people involved... maybe we need other ideas.
Berlin Town Meeting Continuing Discussion
Norbert RhinersonScott Hill Road
Posted to:
Berlin Nov 28
Thanks to Michael Stridsberg, Peg Monley and Henry Dukette for keeping this discussion going about Berlin Town Meeting.
Looking back at what was discussed in open Town Meeting last year I don't really find much that would encourage many to attend.
We elected a Moderator and Paul Gillies was our choice, he always does a great job.
We had two articles on property tax due dates, penalties and interest on taxes paid late. One of those articles proposed to raise the interest even more if unpaid for a while. The latter one had been on the agenda for the last two Town Meetings and was defeated both times, you wonder why the Selectboard keep proposing that one. The members tried to lower the interest rates but that failed.
We allowed the Selectboard to borrow money and we declined to support further efforts at regionalization even though we approved a $15000 appropriation for a study of regionalization on the Australian Ballot.
And then there was the familiar article, to discuss any business that may legally come before the meeting.
Really not much meat there except for the last item and if no one knows in advance what it is we are going to cover under that why come at all. Peg Monley suggested new ideas, maybe this is the place where we could make Town Meeting worth while by suggesting subjects before hand and circulating points of view in advance.
Forgot to mention one really important item that the Fire Dept always serves a nice meal at a reasonable price and what they earn from that helps their budget. If we get done too early no one will even be there for that.
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Berlin Town Meeting
Corinne StridsbergJunction Road
Posted to:
Berlin Nov 28
Perhaps it's time for another vote to see how voters feel now that we've used Australian ballot for budget votes for a while.
Personally, I would love to go back to having the town and school budget discussed and voted for on the floor along with being able to discuss other matters. It's so important to have the discussion and instead of only having the option to vote for or against , you also can propose to raise or lower budgets.
I recall part of the reason to go to Australian ballot was that not everybody can get out of work to attend. My suggestion would be to have Town Meeting at 2 or 3pm (instead of 10am) in hopes that voters could arrange to get out of work early. This could be a better alternative than an evening meeting when some folks would have trouble driving in the dark. We'll never find a time that is perfect for everyone.
While I respect that some voters believed they would see more people voting on items, I don't believe that is what happened and much is lost without a strong showing of townspeople coming together to discuss and connect.
Our friends and neighbors who do not have internet access have fewer opportunities to be kept informed and for example aren't even a part of this conversation.
A well attended and lively Town Meeting makes a difference.
Corinne
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Berlin Town Meeting Continuing Discussion
Matt LevinLord Rd
Posted to:
Berlin Nov 29
There are merits to both formats, for sure. I'm inclined to support an in-person vote, as it allows for discussion and changes from the floor when issues are brought up.
Some towns have their Meeting on the weekend before Tuesday, and/or start at various times. That wasn't discussed in much detail when the vote was held on switching over to Australian ballot for the budgets. Perhaps if voters were presented with some options, they might reconsider.
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Berlin Voting - Looking At The Numbers
Corinne StridsbergJunction Road
Posted to:
Berlin Nov 30
With many thanks to Rosemary Morse, Berlin Town Clerk, for providing this information regarding voting here in Berlin.
Berlin Town Meeting Voting (the first Tuesday in March) before and after budgets were put on Australian ballot:
2005 476
2006 495
2007 342
2008 714
(In 2008 there were Charter Changes, changed Treasurer & Lister to appointed offices)
In 2009 there was a Special Town Meeting on Jan 17th which changed both the School and Town budgets from floor vote to a ballot as follows:
145 voted on the school article - 88 yes / 57 no
139 voted on the Town Article - 72 yes / 67 no
2009 492 First time budgets on the ballot
2010 397
2011 367
2012 536
Town Meeting voting numbers can also be compared with November General Election numbers, with the last four general election years as follows:
2006 934
2008 1184
2010 1016
2012 1272
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Voting
Peggy & Paul Irons• Crosstown Rd
Posted to:
Berlin Dec 1
Very interesting! So, on average, the number of people voting after the school and town budgets began being voted by Australian ballot, rather than on the floor at Town meeting, DROPPED by nearly 12%. Right?
So lets change it back, so we can discuss our budgets during Town Meeting, have the opportunity to make changes, then vote. The evidence shows that more voters are likely to participate.
Shall we gather signatures?
Thanks Corrine for your great service to our town.
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Berlin Town Meeting Continuing Discussion
Norbert RhinersonScott Hill Road
Posted to:
Berlin Dec 1
Thanks to Corrine for keeping this discussion going and the getting the numbers from our town clerk. The statistics were interesting but left out the numbers of people that were at the open town meeting each year and I guess the only way you get that number is to look at some of the actual votes. A couple were cited,ones related to the change. Many times the moderator will call the vote and if not challenged the decision stands so no vote number is available.
The intent in starting this discussion was to see if there was any interest in going back to open town meeting where really important things are discussed and could be revised on the floor.
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Berlin Voting - Looking At The Numbers
Michael A StridsbergJunction Road
Posted to:
Berlin Dec 1
Thanks again to Rosemary and Corinne for digging up the actual voting numbers. Pulling out my handy calculator...
For the four years prior to the change, when the town and school budgets were voted on open session, an average of 507 people cast ballots.
For the four years after the change, when the town and school budgets were ballot items, an average of 448 people voted.
One thing that's clear is that putting the budgets on the ballot did not increase the number of people who turned out to vote. In fact, it actually went the other way.
The outstanding question remains -- which is the better way to make a decision: 450-500 people in a closed booth, or 100-150 people in an open session?
I have my preference, but I can't claim to know the true answer. But I can see that with these numbers, either way a minority of the townspeople are making the decisions for the town.
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Voting
Michael GaydosDarling Road
Posted to:
Berlin Dec 2
I didn't realize that the number of participating voters had dropped after going to Australian Ballot. If this is truly the case, I too feel that returning to the town meeting forum would open up our community.
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Town Meeting And Voting
Henry DuketteChandler Road
Posted to:
Berlin Dec 2
Michael your quote on the Forum "The outstanding question remains -- which is the better way to make a decision: 450-500 people in a closed booth, or 100-150 people in an open session"?
Your statemetn really speaks for itsel, and hence, the fairest way to towns people to have a say in how their tax money is spent is to keep the Australisn Ballet, since by your own numbers, alot of people aren't able to attend Town Meeting. But you are right in your statement that a minority of people are making decisions for the town.
It would be interesting to know how many absentee ballots are cast.
(Which might be for disability, travel or out of state,or other reasons)
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Voting - So Far, Lone Dissenting View
Dave Daut•Crosstown Road
Posted to:
Berlin Dec 2
I am fully in favor of voting by Australian Ballot. Because of work, I would miss voting on the most important issues and the largest budget items if I can vote only during town meeting. I suspect there are many others in my situation. I also suspect, though probably difficult to prove either way, that the results are skewed if voting happens only during Town meeting to those who are able to attend. Open, honest debate and group participation is critical in our democracy. However, having the final say on an issue (i.e.vote) being available to me only at a narrow set time during a workday seems unfair.
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Voting
Phil Gentile• Paine Tpke. South
Posted to:
Berlin Dec 3
Let's find a mutual Saturday, when the seasons are changing and the weather is relatively bad for all kinds of activities, and have our meeting then. Everyone can budget one Saturday a year if they feel strongly enough about town issues.
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Town Meeting Alternatives
Norbert RhinersonScott Hill Road
Posted to:
Berlin Dec 15
When we first moved to Berlin 25 years ago I experienced my first open Town Meeting where budgets and many other issues were discussed and decided on the Town Meeting floor. I noticed that there were several members that were very vocal and I initially thought they were overwhelming everyone else, but in thinking about it later it only meant that they had done their homework before the meeting. Up to 2005 Town Meeting reports were mailed to every household., today if you want one you have to pick it up at Town Hall (They are larger and cost too much to mail) and I wonder how many people really research and analyze the budgets anymore. We do have pre Town Meeting but those sessions are not very well attended considering how many voters we have.
Prior to moving here we lived in a Massachusetts town with a population of about 15,000 and their Town Meeting was attended by voters specifically elected as Town Meeting Representatives. The meetings were held in the evening and went on for weeks and everything was discussed in great detail. They also had a financial committee which made recommendations on the budget. Perhaps that form of Town Meeting would work here.
In reading all the comments so far on Town Meeting it mostly comes down to the fact that the Australian Ballots brings out more voters than we get at open Town Meeting, but still a small percentage of the registered voters participate.
The main disadvantage of the Australian ballot is that if someone dislikes an individual item within the budget the only choice you have is to vote no. At open Town Meeting you could convince others that an item should be deleted or even increased..
So what would be a good change.
One idea would be to combine the pretown meeting with the town meeting itself, one just before the other, this would hopefully cause more people attend the budget discussions and do it on a Saturday. I understand the Selectboard could do this. The ballot would be later on the normal day and at the Town Hall. A change back to open Town Meeting would have to be a ballot vote.
Lets continue the discussion to see if we can find a method to get more participation.
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Town Meeting & Australian Ballot

Jeremy HansenBlack Rd
Posted to:Berlin Dec 15
I wanted to take a moment and renew the conversation about Town Meeting and using the Australian ballot.
A few different options have been proposed or seem possible:
* Leave the current Australian ballot system in place
* Switch budgeting issues back to a floor vote
* Switch election of officers back to a floor vote
* Start the meeting in the afternoon, at
2PMor 3PM

* Reschedule the meeting to Monday
* Reschedule the meeting to the previous weekend
* Circulate issues for discussion and share points of view ahead of time
Are there other options that have not been explored? Is anyone already circulating a petition to switch election of officers and/or budget items back to a floor vote?
The concern about getting off work is a critical one, but some folks may not know that Vermont law gives employees the right (with seven days advance notice) to take an unpaid day off for Town Meeting:
I realize that unpaid days off are often not an option for some who still want to participate.
One of the questions that occurs to me (thanks in part to Frank Bryan's book about Town Meeting, "Real Democracy") is whether we want to increase the *quantity* of participation or the *quality*. It appears to me that trying to increase the quantity by switching to Australian ballot may have decreased the quality. (And by the numbers Corrine reported, the quantity may have gone down too!)
As Pat Mcdonald suggested, I've put together a survey so that we can determine how everyone feels about these various possibilities:
I will keep it open until next Friday (the 17th) and report

Thursday, January 10, 2013

 

News to Know January 10, 2013


BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW JANUARY 10, 2013 - water vote dates corrected on 1/11/13
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Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted at http://socialenergy.blogspot.com
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If you're not already receiving this news by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com
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Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224

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Included below please find:

BERLIN ICE SKATING RINK IS OPEN
BERLIN PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM VOTE AND INFO MEETINGS
BERLIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY JANUARY 16 MEETING
DONATIONS FOR TOWN-AYR FARM
PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER DOCUMENTS AND DIGITAL PHOTOS
SUPPORT POURS IN TO FIRE-STRIKEN FARM
FLOOD INSURANCE HEARINGS ON TAP
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY-NEW LIGHTS ON EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
TAKING INVENTORY OF EVERY LIVING THING IN VERMONT

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BERLIN ICE SKATING RINK IS OPEN
The Town of Berlin's ice skating rink is adjacent to the Berlin Town Office at 8 Shed Road. There is a warm-up hut, port-o-let and lights for night skating. The switch to turn the lights on is located on the light pole located at the "elbow" of the "L" shaped rink. Part of the rink is utilized for hockey and part is reserved for recreational skating. ***

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BERLIN PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM VOTE AND INFOMEETINGS
There is a Special Town Meeting on February 13th for a bond vote on a new public water system in town. The polls will be open from 10am to 7pm at the Berlin Town Office. Registered voters can also vote by absentee ballot by contacting the town clerk. Absentee ballots must be obtained by 5pm on Tuesday, Feb 12th and be received back by the close of the polls close at 7pm on Feb 13th. If you're not yet registered to vote, you have until 5pm Thursday, Feb. 7th to register to be eligible to vote the following week.
There are two informational meetings coming up to explain about the proposed municipal drinking water system improvements and Article 1 which will be voted on. These will be held on Wednesday, January 16th and Wednesday, February 6 with both meetings starting at 6:30pm and being held at Berlin Elementary School.
Information regarding this can also be found at:
http://www.berlinvt.org/Water%20System%20Newsletter%2020130109162300750.pdf
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BERLIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY JANUARY 16 MEETING
The January meeting of the Berlin Historical Society will be held at the Berlin Town Office on Wednesday, January 16, 2013at 7:00 PM.  This is our annual meeting at which we will elect officers for the year. Our present slate has been serving our society for many years. It’s time for new blood. Please plan to attend and volunteer to run for one of our offices. I can assure you that you will find it interesting and rewarding.

Also on the agenda for this meeting:

- Our May potluck dinner meeting is fast approaching. We welcome ideas for a guest speaker.

- I recently purchased two more George Bosworth postcards on ebay.  One of these is a view of the back of Tom Willard’s buildings taken from across the water from the south. We have quite an extensive collection of these now and as I plan to attend this meeting I will show some of these and explain George’s postcard business of 100 years ago.

- Manny Garcia, as you know, has been researching the historical businesses and buildings along the Winooski River in the area of Montpelier that was annexed by Montpelier in 1899. Manny will bring us up to date on his latest findings on those related to gas and electricity.

~Richard Turner, Secretary

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PETITIONS FOR SELECT BOARD AND SCHOOL BOARD POSITIONS
Petitions can be picked up at the Town Clerks office if you're interested in getting your name on the ballot for one of the open positions.  You'll need at least 25 valid signatures (registered voters of Berlin who have not signed another petition for a different person running for the same position).  Petitions must be turned in no later than 5pm on Monday, January 28th.

The select board seats that are up for election are as follows:  The three year position currently held by Brad Towne; the one year position currently held by Ture Nelson and the one year position currently held by Craig Frazier .  Note there are petitions to collect signatures for Brad and Ture to go onto the ballot at the Town Office.

For the school board the seats that are up for election are: the three year position currently held by Mike A. Stridsberg and the two year seat currently held by Chris Rice.

The U-32 school board seat is also on the ballot this year since Mike Law was appointed to the position and now it's time to fill the position by election.

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If your name will be on the ballot and you'd like to share some information about yourself to the folks receiving News to Know, please send it along.

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DONATIONS FOR TOWN-AYR FARM
On line donations using PayPal can be made by going to:  http://towneayrefarm.chipin.com/towne-ayre-farm

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PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER DOCUMENTS AND DIGITAL PHOTOS
To protect your computer files, documents, digital photos, music, etc. consider backing them up to "the cloud".  One company that offers this service is "Carbonite" (http://www.carbonite.com).  For $59 per year you can get their basic service for one computer which after an initial back-up, continues to back-up your system on a daily basis.  Note that for a business it costs at least $229 but does include unlimited computers.  I'm told that "Mozy" is a popular company that offers this same service and there are other good ones such as "SOS Online" and I-Drive".  I believe they all cost about the same amount.

We've been using this service through "Carbonite" for the last few years and feel a bit better that if anything happened to the computer (whether stolen,  damaged/destroyed by flood, fire, leaking pipes or whatever the case may be), we will be able to regain access to what we had stored on the computer.  Now we need to spend more time scanning the photos that aren't digital and other documents to have them on "the cloud" also.  We all know how important insurance is and I consider this insurance for some of those non-replaceable items.

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SUPPORT POURS IN TO FIRE-STRIKEN FARM
   BERLIN — In addition to their neighbors, a tight-knit equestrian community in Central Vermont and horse lovers from across the country have rallied around the Towne family of Berlin in their greatest hour of need.
   The support has been pouring in following the massive fire last week that destroyed the
Berlin horse farm’s 4½-story haybarn and the family’s historic 20-room farmhouse.
   A local 4-H club that Rita Towne leads organized a donation drive; the secretary of the Vermont Horse Shows Association created an online account for direct cash contributions; and the next door neighbors have stepped up, too. One couple provided a camper that the family has been staying in following the big blaze that began last Wednesday evening and burned well into the early morning hours Thursday.
   As of early Sunday, the online account had $945 in donations.
   “People all over have been coming in with food and bags of clothes and seeing what we need, and neighbors have invited us to their houses to shower. It’s been like Grand Central (here),” Towne said.
   The cause of last week’s fire is not suspicious, according to investigators. It appears to have been accidently related to a piece of farm equipment.
   This actually wasn’t the first fire ever on the property. The original farmhouse was destroyed in another blaze in the 1880s, and then rebuilt, according to Brad Towne, who is a third generation member of the Towne clan to call the farmstead home. According to Brad Towne, the big barn pre-dated the reconstruction of the farmhouse.
   The Towne farm trains Morgan horses, and Brad Towne’s mother bred Morgans too.
   On the night of the fire last week, dozens of volunteers helped guide 12 horses and a pony from the stable and arena to an outdoor ring to get farther away from the flames. The horse barn was unaffected by the blaze, but one of the horses whose stall was near the adjacent haybarn has still been hesitant to return to its stall, Rita Towne said.
   “The day after the fire, they (the horses) didn’t say a word. They were in some sort of a shocked state. And some of them are still a little jumpy. And I am too!” Rita Towne said.
   After the fire, two horses appeared to have colic, which can be fatal for them, according to Towne. It was presumably caused by stress, and a veterinarian assisted with medicine, she said.
   But now, Towne said, the horses will whinny right back to her.
   “They’re drinking and eating the way they should,” Rita Towne said. “They’re getting their personalities back.”
   The property is still without running water and electricity, but Green Mountain Power plans to install a pole soon to get power to the horsebarn. The couple has been using a generator in the interim.
   And aside from a few bales, the fire also consumed the couple’s hay supply. But the community has already given two weeks’ worth to the Townes, and a Vermont Horse Show Association contact has indicated others have enough extra to give to tide the family over for another couple months.
   Rita Towne is on the association’s board, and her daughter, Bethany, is the organization’s vice president. Bethany Towne is also active in equestrain competition circles, competing in events from
New England to Oklahoma.
   It looks like the cats around the Towne farm are going to be OK too.
   The fire burned off the tips of the family housecat’s ears. “Jack” also suffered burns to his four paws, which are still bandaged. He’ll remain at the vet’s for a few weeks more, but likely looks forward to returning to the family. When Towne’s daughter visited Jack, he fell asleep in her arms within five minutes, Towne said.
   Even one of the barn cats has returned — a sure sign that the recovery is underway for the Towne family.
   The online address for donations to support the Towne family is
http://towneayrefarm.chipin.com/towne-ayre-farm


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FLOOD INSURANCE HEARINGS ON TAP

Pub 12/31/12 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BARRE — With a new digital flood insurance rate map for Washington County finally scheduled to go into effect in March, folks with flood insurance questions will have several opportunities to get them answered starting next month.
   A series of public meetings will be held throughout the county starting Jan. 8 in
Waterbury and wrapping up in Montpelier on Feb. 5. There will be five meetings in all, and each will focus on the newly revised flood hazard maps and the insurance options available for structures that may be affected by the updated designations.
   Countywide, roughly 200 structures have been identified for the first time as being at a high risk of damage by flooding, and their owners may benefit by getting flood insurance before the new map goes into effect March 19.
   Residential property owners who buy flood insurance before the map change can benefit from a more gradual increase in their insurance costs. They are eligible for low-cost “preferred-risk policies” that can be renewed twice before insurance increases to the full cost.
   An average flood insurance policy for property in a high-risk area currently costs around $1,400 a year for $170,000 in coverage.
   In many cases obtaining insurance for properties in those areas isn’t optional. Federal law requires lenders to be sure that mortgages on structures in the flood hazard area are insured for their known flood risk.
   While the flood hazard area is expanding in some areas, it is contracting in others. Countywide, roughly 500 properties are expected to drop out of the high-risk area, though that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to drop flood insurance. Owners of property outside the flood hazard area will benefit from lower available flood insurance premiums.
   The upcoming public information meetings are open to all and will be held on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
   The first meeting will be at
7 p.m. at Thatcher Brook Primary School in Waterbury on Jan. 8.
   The venue will shift to Barre’s Alumni Hall on Jan. 17 at 7 p.m., Brown Public Library in Northfield on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m., the Old Schoolhouse Common in Marshfield on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m., and Memorial Room at City Hall in Montpelier on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m.
   The new maps for Washington County have been in final form for some time, but their implementation was delayed while officials in Barre exhausted their ability to appeal the flood hazard boundaries in their community.
   Barre officials were concerned with a significant — and unwarranted, they believed — expansion of the flood hazard area on and around a 1,900-foot section of
North Main Street. Dozens of properties will be affected by the new designation, which creates insurance obligations and imposes rigid restrictions on any development.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com

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BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY - NEW LIGHTS ON EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

(This story you just need to see the video of so you can actually see the lights!)

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50138056n

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TAKING INVENTORY OF EVERY LIVING THING IN VERMONT

Posted: Jan 02, 2013 by Alexei Rubenstein

http://www.wcax.com/story/20489124/taking-inventory-of-every-living-thing-in-vt

NORWICH, Vt. -

   Whether it's a skier contemplating the serenity of the winter woods or an amateur photographer taking snapshots, Vermont is a state crammed with wildlife lovers.

   A new project by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies in Norwich hopes to capitalize on that enthusiasm. It's called the Atlas of Vermont Life.

   "It's like the Facebook of organisms. You can put something on there you don't know what it is and you'll get into a mini-conversation with a naturalist, maybe two towns over that has seen that and knows what it is," explained Kent McFarland, a biologist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.

   McFarland says recent efforts to document birds, bees and butterflies online led to this latest effort.

   "It didn't take much of a leap to go from a few species, a few organisms, to saying hey, we should be looking at everything," he said.

   The idea is to collect sightings from citizen naturalists to professional biologists. Anything goes-- from a picture of a Red Fox at Chimney Point to snow geese at Dead Creek or even black bear scat in Pittsford.

   "You hear about them running off to the tropics and discovering amazing new species, but really right here in our own woods of the Green Mountain State, we don't know how many species there are. We've got guesses of something like 24,000, 25,000, but we don't know exactly how many there are," McFarland said.

   On a walk in the woods, McFarland grabs his iPhone and puts the Atlas app to work.

   While there will inevitably be duplication and what may seem to be run-of-the mill species, McFarland says that ultimately the Atlas will generate research-grade data.

   "Sometimes we don't know what's going to be common in the future. So, what might be really of dirt common like a chickadee now, I mean there could be a disease 15 years from now that hits chickadees and we're going to be kicking ourselves we didn't know more about what chickadees liked. So, we say bring it on. Bring us all the data you can," McFarland said.

   The Atlas also allows experts to corroborate or correct sightings.

   "What that allows us to do is use crowdsourcing to actually help identify the species. And the more people that agree with you on it, the more reliable the sighting is and it jumps up a level. This sighting now is called research grade data quality," McFarland explained.

   And like life itself, the Atlas has no end point.

   "It'll go on and on and on cause we'll never, ever know where everything is in Vermont, but what's here and where it is. We're striving for that. We're striving to understand what's here and where it is," McFarland said.

   A hands-on effort to catalog the biodiversity in our own backyard.

   The Atlas of Vermont Life officially went online this week and already has over 3,000 observations and 1,000 species listed.  "Atlas of Vermont Life" http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/atlas-of-vermont-life


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