Berlin Community News

*

This  communication is put together and distributed on a volunteer basis by resident Corinne Stridsberg simply in an effort to share information and build community, it is not from the town of Berlin.

Please share this with your Berlin friends and neighbors.  If you're not already receiving this news directly by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com.

*

Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook to find bits of current news, some not included here:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224

Of note:

Below you will see a few stories from a bit further away... RUHS architect students are getting out into community to work on a project made me think about how more students, not just those who go over to the Barre Tech program could use some hands on experience.  Also at RUHS it caught my attention that a large donation to use as a scholarship has been made.  This will likely help kids get to college that might not otherwise or and also help so that students will not has as much debt when they get through - which is a difficult if not overwhelming burden to start out any career with.  There are two stories regarding school lunches, which makes one ask how should lunch programs be run and locally, do all students have access to a school lunch? 

*********************

RAY BURKE - SUPER SENIOR!

BERLIN TOWN REPORTS

LUNCH AT TOWN MEETING

ABSENTEE BALLOTS

PAT MCDONALD FOR SENATE

BERLIN SCHOOL BUDGET PRESENTATION - POWERPOINT

CITY WOULDN'T REFUSE PUBLIC "PARKLET"

OTHER NEWS OF NOTE

            SCHOOL LUNCHES; REAL LIFE CHALLENGE; $100K DONATION

*********************

RAY BURKE - SUPER SENIOR! 

It was just a matter of time before WCAX Super Seniors would be interviewing Ray Burke here in Berlin, please take the time to go to the link to watch:

http://www.wcax.com/category/166239/video-landing-page?clipId=9865026&autostart=true

***

***

BERLIN TOWN REPORTS

In addition to picking up a copy of the town report up at the town office, you can find the reports online:

Town & School Annual Reports

http://www.berlinvt.org/2013%20Town%20and%20School%20Annual%20Report.pdf

Auditor report which was not included in Town Report this year

http://www.berlinvt.org/2013%20Town%20Audit_-02212014123336.pdf

***

***

LUNCH AT TOWN MEETING

Berlin Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary will be offering lunch again at Town Meeting this year. $5 for soup & sandwich (always a choice of each) along with a beverage. Seems like there is usually pudding also. Food is always good and it's a great opportunity to support the Ladies Auxiliary who help out when the fire department is out on a fire scene. The part I enjoy is the chance to visit with friends, neighbors, and even meet some new folks. Come down to Town Meeting and linger awhile if you can!

***

***

ABSENTEE BALLOTS

If you don't think you'll be able to make it to Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 4th (meeting at 10am, polls open 10am - 7pm) be sure to request an absentee ballot. Easy to do, either give a call to the Town Clerk's office (229-9298), drop a note (108 Shed Road, Berlin, VT 05602), or stop by. If you're requesting for a spouse or other relative you can't actually pick it up, it will need to be mailed to that person. Absentee Ballots must be received back before by March 4th at close of polls at 7pm to be counted.

***

***

PAT MCDONALD FOR SENATE

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

   Last Thursday evening, February 19th at a Legislative event, I announced my run for #VT Senate in Washington County for 2014. If you would like to read my announcement, the Press Release I sent out to the media, or follow my campaign, check out my website at www.patforvtsenate.com. Sign up to receive emails from me - I would love to stay in touch and hear your issues and concerns. Throughout my campaign I will emphasize the importance of opportunity and affordability because like most Vermonters, Bruce and I have watched our property taxes go up steadily, every year, and we struggle with living on fixed incomes - so much so that we have both had to take part-time work to supplement our retirement income. However, hearing about job losses, increased poverty levels, an exploding drug epidemic, the dismal state of our mental health care system, the cost of health care, and -- more recently -- concerns about safety in our own communities, we realize that our own affordability struggle, while frustrating and real. actually pales in comparison to what many of our neighbors are going through. So as much as I had planned on retirement, I decided it was a critical time for me to step back in. In addition to my website, you can reach me at patmcdonald8411@charter.net or (802)371-7080. 

Thank you.

Pat McDonald

***

***

BERLIN SCHOOL BUDGET PRESENTATION - POWERPOINT

Berlin School Board vice chair Chris Rice has narrated a powerpoint presentation about the Berlin Elementary School Budget which you can find at this link: http://youtu.be/MYD1FZ-P03g. At the Pre Town Meeting on Monday, March 3rd at 6 pm the School Board of Directors will be available to discuss this presentation at an informational meeting to be held at the school. 

People who are on the ballot running for a seat on this board on encouraged to be at the Pre Town Meeting to introduce themselves to the public. Meanwhile, if you would like to send out some information on yourself and why you're running for school board I would be happy to share it in the News to Know.

***

***

CITY WOULDN'T REFUSE PUBLIC "PARKLET"

Pub 2/21/14 Times Argus by David Delcore

   MONTPELIER — A local architect pitched his plan to build a public “parklet” for downtown Montpelier to a cautiously receptive City Council this week.
   Ward Joyce, who lives in Montpelier and teaches architecture at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center, told councilors that his students are working on four designs for “parklets” — portable landscaped decks placed adjacent to sidewalks in urban settings. He said he is prepared to have one built, at no cost to the city, and placed on a prominent State Street bridge.
   “The Rialto Bridge is probably the most social spot in town,” Joyce said. “It’s where the sun shines in a fabulous way” in the afternoons.
   It is also, Joyce said, the spot where those employed in both city and state government converge in the capital.
   “I think it’s a perfect place to have a public amenity developed on a trial two-year basis,” he said.
   Joyce said he’s already raised two-thirds of the money needed for construction, persuaded his employer to cover the cost of insuring it, and is working on a plan to have downtown merchants take turns maintaining it.
   “It’s not for a business,” Joyce stressed. “It’s purely a public space.”
   Or it will be, if and when Joyce obtains approval from Montpelier Alive for a seasonal structure that would fill two parking spaces but won’t need a thumbs-up from the city’s Development Review Board. Montpelier Alive is spearheading a process to establish parklets downtown.
   Due largely to parklets’ temporary nature, city officials have concluded they won’t require zoning permits and aren’t subject to the city’s design review standards. 
   They will require a $50 application fee and be subject to an annual “parking replacement” charge of $810 per parking space.
   Given the public nature of his proposal, Joyce asked councilors to waive those fees in exchange for what he described as a gift to the city.
   Councilors did as they were asked, though they warned there is no guarantee Joyce’s proposal will be awarded any of the six parking spaces the council has provisionally agreed could be occupied by parklets during the summer months during a two-year trial period. That decision, they said, would be made as part of a competitive process that is in limbo pending voter approval of a package of charter changes on Town Meeting Day.
   One of those changes would give the city the authority to do what it was advised it couldn’t last year: allow private businesses to set up shop in parklets in the public right of way.
   However, City Manager William Fraser said it is unclear whether that change is needed to go ahead with the parklet Joyce proposed.
   “This would be a public use of a public space,” Fraser said, suggesting it was different from three private proposals that stalled despite the city’s endorsement last year.
   Councilors asked Fraser to seek a clarification from the state on that point. But they indicated their desire for Joyce’s proposal to be considered as part of a process that will be spearheaded by Montpelier Alive if the charter changes are approved.
   Councilor Alan Weiss warned that even if the voters support the proposed changes to the city charter, there is no guarantee they will be approved by the Legislature this session.
“If it’s not (approved by the Legislature), I’m not convinced the city could go ahead with this plan,” Weiss said.
   Weiss, who expressed lingering concern that parklets — public or private — run afoul of the conditions for issuing permits for “outside seating in the public right of way,” noted the site Joyce selected was already a popular gathering spot for local youth.
   “Understand, we’re not building these for the general public, we’re not building these for our visitors, we’re building these for the teenagers who enjoy sitting in that warm sunshine,” Weiss said.
   There’s nothing wrong with that, according to Councilor Thierry Guerlain.
   “I know there’s going to be days when it’s too noisy and it’s too rowdy, but these are our kids,” he said, noting local youth have never taken to the plaza in front of City Hall and have been discouraged from congregating in front of City Center.
   “I like the idea we’re going to have a place where kids can hang out,” he said. 
  However, Guerlain did worry that parklets — particularly public ones — could become attractive nuisances.
   “I like the idea, but I’m wondering how we monitor what’s going on in the parklet,” he said, suggesting he wouldn’t want people sleeping in them.
   Guerlain predicted the two-year trial period the council proposed would give city officials and residents an opportunity to decide whether parklets add something worth keeping to downtown Montpelier, or are simply a seasonal waste of parking spaces.
   Councilor Anne Watson said she was pulling for the former.
   “I hope that they’re safe and they’re beautiful and they enrich the town,” she said, suggesting it was important for the council to establish criteria for evaluating the experiment in advance.
   Mayor John Hollar agreed.
   “Not everybody is going to love these,” he predicted. “There’s been some push back already.” 
   That said, Hollar noted the parklet concept enjoys the near-unanimous support of the council — at least to give it a try.
   “If it doesn’t work we’ll reconsider it,” he said.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com

***

***

OTHER NEWS OF NOTE:

UTAH SCHOOL THROWS OUT CHILDREN'S LUNCHES BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS OWED MONEY

Posted 1/30/14 on www.buzzfeed.com

As many as 40 children at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City had their lunches seized and thrown away on Tuesday because their parents had fallen behind on payments.

“It was pretty traumatic and humiliating,” said Erika Lukes, the mother of an 11-year-old whose lunch was taken away. Lukes told the Salt Lake City Tribune that as far as she knew, she was up-to-date with her payments. “I think it’s despicable. These are young children that shouldn’t be punished or humiliated for something the parents obviously need to clear up.”

The large number of students with zero or negative balances at Uintah Elementary prompted the Salt Lake City school district to send a child nutrition manager to the school on Monday to resolve the issue.  According to a statement on the district's website, school officials spent Monday calling parents to let them know that their children owed money for lunches. On Tuesday, although calls to parents continued, the district nutrition manager decided to withhold lunches from students who didn’t have enough money in their accounts. “Unfortunately, children are served lunch before they get to the computer for payment” and students with a negative balance were forced to hand over their trays and watch as they were thrown away (district policy dictates that once food is served to one student, it cannot be served to another). Instead of Tuesday’s meal of pizza and salad, the students whose accounts were in debt were given milk and a piece of fruit.

Fifth-grader Sophia Isom told KSL TV that the nutrition manager was checking each student’s account as they went through the lunch line. “She took my lunch away and said, ‘Go get a milk,’ ” Sophia said. “I came back and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ Then she handed me an orange. She said, ‘You don’t have any money in your account so you can’t get lunch.’” According to the Salt Lake City school district website, elementary school lunches cost $2.00 per meal and parents are able to make payments towards their children’s accounts online.

Salt Lake City’s school district apologized to parents and students on Wednesday. “We understand the feelings of upset parents and students who say this was an embarrassing and humiliating situation. We again apologize and commit to working with parents in rectifying this situation and to ensuring students are never treated in this manner again.” Since so many parents were surprised to learn they owed money to the school, the district says they plan to re-evaluate the way parents and students are informed about their account balances as the current practice of notes sent home seems not to be working.

***

***

GOOD SAMARITAN PAYS OFF ALL NEGATIVE BALANCE LUNCH ACCOUNTS AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (IN TEXAS)

by Jonathan Wolfe 2/7/14

   Houston resident Kenny Thompson just made a lot of children very happy.

   After hearing of the Utah school officials who threw away the lunches of children with unpaid balances, he decided to see if children in his area were having problems paying for lunch as well.

   "I'm like, 'Wow. I know that's probably a situation at my school, and the school my son goes to, and the other schools I mentor at.' So I came in and inquired about it," Thompson said.

   Sure enough, children at the school had the same problem.

   Thompson discovered that many of the children were forced to eat cold cheese sandwiches while their peers had full trays of hot food.

   “It was horrifying, it broke my heart,” Thompson said. “These are elementary kids. They’re not bankers, and not responsible for the financial issues in the household.”

Thompson, a child mentor of ten years, was so bothered by the situation that he decided to do something incredible.

   He went to Valley Oaks Elementary School and paid off every negative lunch account balance at the school. The good deed cost him $465. If you ask Thompson, he’ll tell you it's the best way he could have spent the money.

   "When I left the building knowing that they were getting fed, they didn't have that stress," said Thompson. "The best money I ever spent."

   Thompson’s kindness looks to be contagious. He told Houston station KPRC that he heard reports of a woman going into another school and offering to pay off delinquent lunch accounts just like “the man on TV.”

   “They say everything is bigger in Texas,” Thompson said. “That means our hearts too.”

***

***

A REAL-LIFE CHALLENGE FOR STUDENTS

Pub. 2/20/14 Herald of Randolph

   Joslyn House in Randolph received an unusual visit last week Tuesday: a visit that might have long-term consequences. Both the visitors and the Joslyn House residents enjoyed it.

   The visitors were 13 students in grades 9-12, a new elective at Randolph Union High School who are taking “Residential Architecture Design” course.

   The focus of this project, explained the instructor, Ken Cadow, is to look at some of the unrented rooms at the Joslyn House and envision how they can be made more inviting to prospective residents.

   “This is a very real problem,” Cadow said. “The kids understand that a viable operation like the Joslyn House needs to rent as many rooms as possible in order to remain healthy. Empty rooms cost money.”

   To that end, Cadow invited Norwich designer Ann Shriver Sargent to meet the students at Joslyn House so that they could witness, firsthand, how a designer looks at a space.

She explained to the students that their first impressions of a space are likely to be the same as those of a prospective tenant. She brought attention to aspects of the rooms that designers take into account—how the natural light falls into a room, how the doors affect the use of the room’s floor space, and the positioning of furniture.

   Her visit, Cadow said, ”brings to the students both the practicalities of honing an eye for design, and also how intention in design can lead to a better quality of life.”

Interaction

   The instructor noted he was greatly impressed by the visiting that happened between the students and the residents.

“The seniors opened the doors to their rooms that were their beautiful homes, filled with a life’s worth of memories. They discussed changes they’d made to suit their tastes and shared the stories. The kids were respectful; they were highly attentive.”

   Meanwhile, in the empty rooms, the students were measuring walls, distances between outlets, the swing of doors, and the height of windows.

The next step, Cadow said, will be for students to put their measurements and findings onto paper.

   Bill Bonsignore of RACDC (which owns Joslyn House) is providing old blueprints of the house. That will help students get a sense of how the other systems--electric, plumbing, etc.--run through the walls and might affect design decisions.

   The students will even be asked to price out different approaches to making the empty rooms more inviting, and will submit those proposals to RACDC.

   “My hope is that there will be momentum there to carry the plans out in some form,” the instructor said.

   When the students left, each was served a cupcake.

   “It reminded me of visiting my grandmother’s house!” Cadow commented.

***

***

ANONYMOUS DONORS OFFER $100K IN SCHOLARSHIPS (IN RANDOLPH)

They hope the community will add to fund

   Graduates of the class of 2014 at Randolph Union High School will be the first recipients of new scholarship funding, RUHS announced this week.

   Two retired educators from Middlebury, who recently relocated to Brookfield to be near family, have donated $100,000 to start the Randolph Community Scholarship Fund.

   That amount will be distributed to this year’s graduates, and the donors plan to give the same amount annually for the next few years to the scholarship fund.

   The donors hope to spur more Randolph area individuals and organizations to contribute to the Community Scholarship Fund and help it grow, said director of student services, Carolynn Parker.

   The donor couple would rather not have their names identified, she said.

   While they are initiating the fund as well as developing the selection criteria and selection process, they hope that eventually the scholarship can continue without their involvement.

   “I am blown away by the generosity of this gift, and I hope our students fully appreciate how fortunate they are to live in a community where two people would make this possible,” Parker said.

   “Our benefactors understand how college costs have skyrocketed, leaving many college graduates with extraordinary debt. They do not want any student to not attend college because they feel they can’t afford it. This is an incredible gift.”

   Qualifications

   To qualify, students must demonstrate financial need and plan to attend a Vermont State college—or justify their out-of-state college choice, perhaps because their major is not offered in-state.

   The range of awards is broad, and can go upwards of $10,000 a year. Students may re-apply for up to three additional years of continued funding.

Students will be expected to repay a small portion of their award after they have completed college, Parker said. This money will go back into the fund to help support future graduates.

   The Community Fund involvement will not end with the passing of a check. The process requires the student to interview with a committee and also to meet again midway through their first year of college.

   “Being former educators, our benefactors are aware that students can gain acceptance to college fairly easily, but following through and doing the hard work to stay in school can sometimes be the most difficult part,” Parker explained. “They want to provide encouragement as well as financial support to the students chosen for this scholarship.”

   Distribution of this scholarship fund will begin with the class of 2014, and applications will be available in early April, she said.

   Any community individual or organization interested in donating to the Community Scholarship Fund may contact Parker at 728- 3397.

   “The founders’ real hope is that people and organizations from the area will contribute to make this a sustaining fund,” Parker stressed.

***

***

*

This  communication is put together and distributed on a volunteer basis by resident Corinne Stridsberg simply in an effort to share information and build community, it is not from the town of Berlin.

Please share this with your Berlin friends and neighbors.  If you're not already receiving this news directly by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com.

*

Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook to find bits of current news, some not included here:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224

*********************

EMAIL CHANGE, TOWN REPORTS, MEETING TIMES, DEADLINE

CROSSTOWN TOWING SERVICE

BERLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GARDEN

CONSERVATION CAMP APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE 
MONTPELIER PARKING FEES INCREASED

CCV OFFERS FREE ONLINE MONEY COURSE

REVENUE SAID TO BALANCE SHORTFALLS IN BERLIN AUDIT

LONGTIME VT STATE EMPLOYEE CALLS IT A CAREER

WILL VERMONT'S GREEN UP DAY TRADITION BE TRASHED?

*********************

EMAIL CHANGE, TOWN REPORTS, MEETING TIMES, DEADLINE

Please note that because of a computer issue, the email address for the Town Clerk has been changed to BerlinTownClerk@berlinvt.org. Town Reports are back from the printers and can be picked up at the Town Office. Berlin Elem. students will also be asked to bring home a copy to their family. Please bring the book with you (or if you still need one you can pick one up) at Pre Town Meeting Monday, March 3rd at 6pm at Berlin Elem. and also at Town Meeting, Tuesday, March 4th at 10am. The polls will be open March 4th for voting 10am-7pm. Last day to become a registered voter is Wed., Feb 26th. Absentee Ballots are now available.

***

***

CROSSTOWN TOWING SERVICE

Did you know there is a new towing service in town? Ian Lacasse's Crosstown Towing is always open and can be reached by calling 802-839-0189. Ian now has two flat bed trucks and will get your vehicle where it needs to go. If you have AAA you can call them and request Crosstown Towing. Check them out on facebook.

***

***

BERLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GARDEN

Already thinking of outdoor projects?  If you can help construct a garden shed at Berlin Elementary School April April 23rd please be in touch with Cindy Gauthier at cgauthier@u32.org.

The school is also looking for folks who can volunteer some time and/or expertise in finding and applying for grants to help make the school garden sustainable.  The garden supports both the education of students and their foodservice program.  Again, please be in touch with Cindy Gauthier.

***

***

CONSERVATION CAMP APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE 
For 12- to 14-year-olds interested in learning about wildlife and conservation, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s Green Mountain Conservation Camps applications are available.
The camps have two locations: Buck Lake in Woodbury and Lake Bomoseen in Castleton. Each camp program lasts one week. 
The camps start June 22 and run until Aug. 22. The fee is $250 for a week. For more information visit the Fish and Wildlife Department website, www.vtfishandwildlife.com.

***

***

MONTPELIER PARKING FEES INCREASED

Parking Fees Go into Effect pub. 1/30/14 Times Argus
MONTPELIER — Officials in the Capital City are reminding residents that effective Feb. 1, new parking fees will go into effect.
The changes were recommended by the Montpelier Parking Committee and approved by the City Council in November.
Rates for parking meters will go from $0.75 per hour to $1 per hour.
For permits, the 60 State St. lot and the Blanchard Court lot will see increases in permits from $50 to $100 per month, and short-term vending permits will increase from $0.35 per hour to $0.75 per hour. Permits for the North Branch, or Jacobs Lot, will increase from $70 per month to $100 per month.
The old Vermont League of Cities and Towns lot next to Shaw’s will see an increase in permits of $40 to $70 per month.
The Pitkin Circle lot will see an increase in the seasonal rate, from April 1 to Nov. 15, from $262 to $325 per year.
Permits for Stone Cutters Way will increase from $41.67 to $60 for 21 permits. The increase does not include 26 spaces still covered by a temporary contract with Co

***

***

CCV OFFERS FREE ONLINE MONEY COURSE

Community College of Vermont is offering a free noncredit online money course called Money Smarts that is based on the open online course concept.  Money Smarts, which starts March 3 and runs through April 7, will educate students on a multitude of topics regarding money, with the goal of increasing financial literacy and getting control of personal finances. Some of the topics that will be discussed weekly include budgets and goal setting, understanding credit, mastering credit cards, borrowing basics, and services provided by banks and credit unions.  High-speed (cable or DSL) Internet access is recommended for the course. To enroll visit http://looc.ccv.edu.

***

***

REVENUE SAID TO BALANCE SHORTFALLS IN BERLIN AUDIT

Pub 2/19/14 Times Argus by David Delcore

  BERLIN — The town report is hot off the presses, but Berlin residents interested in their town’s financial performance in the most recent audit won’t find those results in its pages.
  The audit for the fiscal year that ended June 30 arrived a few days too late to make it to the printer by the Feb. 10 deadline. The delay is being attributed to turnover in the town treasurer’s office and a change in accounting firms. 
  “It was a combination of those two things,” Town Administrator Jeff Schulz said Tuesday, noting the audit, which was presented to the Select Board this week, is available for inspection at the town offices.
  The town took in $26,000 more revenue than the $2.45 million that was originally estimated, while spending just over $70,000 more than the $2.65 million that was budgeted.
  Two areas — the Police Department and the Water Supply Commission — were significantly over budget, according to the audit, which indicated there was a reason for both.
  Though the $851,628 the town spent on its Police Department was $34,114 over budget, most of that was offset by additional revenue — primarily a $26,136 public safety grant.
  The water commission, which has been working on plans to launch a municipal water system serving the Berlin Four Corners area, was $54,567 over its $10,000 budget. However, Schulz said that figure is misleading because the town expects to be reimbursed for the water project-related expenses it incurred. That money should be booked this fiscal year, he said.
  The audit reflects the Select Board’s decision to use $150,000 in surplus funds to reduce the amount of property taxes needed to finance last year’s budget. That contributed to a $249,058 depletion of the general fund balance, which stood at $588,195 at the close of the fiscal year. About half of that money — $292,865 — remained for unrestricted use at the start of the current fiscal year.

  The audit shows the town still has a comfortable cushion, according to Schulz, who said the 40-page document arrived too late to be included in this year’s town report.
  Part of that had to do with the fact the town quickly burned through two appointed treasurers before settling on the current one, Diane Isabelle. She came on board after the close of the fiscal year, essentially inheriting books that were kept by a patchwork of predecessors.
  That challenge was compounded by a switch to new accountants. Though the Montpelier firm Mudgett, Jennett & Krogh-Wisner had audited the town’s books in the past, that was at least three years and four treasurers ago.
  david.delcore @timesargus.com

***

***

LONGTIME VT STATE EMPLOYEE CALLS IT A CAREER

Pub Feb 19 WCAX by Joe Carroll

(Be sure to check out the video of the story!! at http://www.wcax.com/story/24769571/longtime-vt-state-employee-calls-it-a-career )

   BERLIN, Vt. - It was a special day at the Vermont Lottery headquarters, not because there was a jackpot winner, but another treasure-- the retirement of a longtime employee.

   A card designed to look like a giant check read, "Carole Lacasse, 52 years, thank you for over 108,000 hours served."

   It was hugs and gifts for Lacasse. The longtime state employee has spent the last three decades working for the lottery. When she first started sales were around $4 million, today it's over $100 million.

   "Each and every one of you have made this wonderful for me," Lacasse told co-workers.

   Twenty-one people work for the lottery. Just about all the staff members and former employees came to wish 71-year-old Lacasse luck.

   "She's the perfect mother. She watches out for everybody, kind of boost your morale when you need it, tells you funny stories or gives you the lay of the land when you need it," said Greg Smith, the executive director of the Vermont Lottery.

   Her job was secretary to the Tri-State Lottery Board. And for a woman who knows just about everything that goes on in the office, the party was a surprise.

   She and her husband, Andy, are longtime motorcycle enthusiasts. They traveled all over Canada and the United States. But their first trip will be to Florida without the bikes.

   "We're family. A lot of us have been here 27, 28, 29 years. We've seen our kids grow up; we don't hire baby-sitters anymore, you know," Lacasse said.

   She plans to volunteer on various boards in the area. She's also active in her church. And as the poster at her party said, It's been a great ride.

***

***

WILL VERMONT'S GREEN UP DAY TRADITION BE TRASHED?

Posted Feb 19 WCAX by Alexei Rubenstein

video of story: http://www.wcax.com/story/24768643/will-vermonts-green-up-day-tradition-be-trashed

   MONTPELIER, Vt. -  From the very first Green Up Day back in April 1970 when it took an act of Congress to close down the interstate, to today's iconic images of volunteers with green bags collecting liter, Green Up Day has become a true Vermont tradition. But the nonprofit that runs the whole operation is facing a budget crunch.

   "Our situation is as such that we do not have enough support to continue past 2015," said Melinda Vieux of Green Up Vermont.

   First, major sponsor Ben & Jerry's pulled out in 2012. Then late last year Green Mountain Coffee Roasters said it will also not continue to support the effort. For an organization with just a $120,000 budget and two part-time staffers, it made an immediate impact.

   "It doesn't happen for free. It takes a couple of human beings to make Green up Day happen," Vieux said. "We're experiencing a pattern with corporations, including that a number of them in Vermont have become so successful they have national and international focus and are not as interested in the local Vermont support."

   Green Mountain Coffee and Seventh Generation say they have changed their criteria for charitable giving, supporting year-round efforts instead.

   Ben & Jerry's issued a statement saying, "we continually reassess and adapt our partnerships on an annual basis."

   Green Up Vermont gets 66 percent of its budget from about 15 corporate sponsors. Cities and towns kick in about 17 percent of contributions approved by voters on Town Meeting Day. And the state provides another 14 percent.

   Vieux says despite waning volunteer enthusiasm at times in the past, the Green Up tradition remains strong today. She says unlike "adopt a highway" and similar programs, Green Up inspires action on one day across the state.

   "I don't know any other state in the country that has such an endeavor that engages people from all walks of life and raises community spirit like Green Up Day does," Vieux said.

   Lawmakers might have a fix in the works. A bill in the House calls for adding a voluntary Green Up Day checkoff contribution box to state tax forms.

   "It's an opportunity for kids in school to learn about littering and cleaning up their environment. It's a way for communities to come together and I think that Vermonters will want to support it when they're given an opportunity to, so I was really happy to put the legislation in," said Rep. Janet Ancel, D-Calais.

   And the governor says he'd like Green Up to keep going.

   "You know Green Up Day is important to Vermont and it's an extraordinary tradition started by Dean Davis," said Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Vermont.

   If approved, Ancel says the checkoff box could generate upward of $50,000-- enough green to help keep Green Up Vermont humming along for another half a century.

***

***

*

This  communication is put together and distributed on a volunteer basis by resident Corinne Stridsberg simply in an effort to share information and build community, it is not from the town of Berlin.

Please share this with your Berlin friends and neighbors.  If you're not already receiving this news directly by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com.

*

Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook to find bits of current news:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224

CONTRA DANCE FEBRUARY 9

BERLIN TAX TIME

PIE FOR BREAKFAST

BERLIN NEIGHBORS FIGHT CELL TOWER

DELINQUENT TAX NUMBERS HOLDING STEADY (except Berlin)

FROM BERLIN FRONT PORCH FORUM

****************

CONTRA DANCE FEBRUARY 9

There will be a contra dance and dinner to benefit the Capital City Grange on Sunday, February 9th.  From 3pm - 4pm there will be a family dance, 4:30 - 5:30 is dinner, and from 5:30 - 8:30pmMaivish (Jaige Trudel and Adam Broome) with Mary Wesley calling.  Tickets at the door: Adults $10 to dance and $10 to eat.  Kids 15 and under $5 to dance and $5 to eat.  Be sure to bring shoes to put on inside as they have a gorgeous floor and want to keep it that way.  Capital City Grange Hall on Route 12 in Berlin.  https://www.facebook.com/montpeliercontradance

***

***

BERLIN TAX TIME

It's that time again, next Berlin tax payment is due on February 15th, 2014. Yes, that's a Saturday. Payments should be brought in to the Town Treasurer by Friday the 14th at 4:30pm or they can be left in the deposit box outside the front door (which will be checked Sunday morning). Payments can also be postmarked (not a office meter but postmarked by the post office) by Feb 15th. 
Payments not made will incur a late fee of 8% penalty and 1% interest, even if it's late by just a day or two.

***

***

PIE FOR BREAKFAST

Two opportunities are upcoming to indulge of a vast variety of pies for breakfast. The first is at the American Legion at 16 Stowe Street in Waterbury on Saturday, Feb. 15th from 7am - 11am (or when the pie runs out) $7 for all the pie you can eat.  Kids eat for $5. Sponsored by Waterbury Rotary Youth Exchange Committee. It just doesn't get much better then going to a community all you can eat pie fest.

Then a fantastic second opportunity on Saturday, March 29th at 9am - 11am (or until the pie runs out) at the Rumney Elementary School. Last year their pricing was $6 per person or $5 if you brought your own plate and utensils. Another post will be made when I have those details. Rumney also had a selection of whole pies to purchase. Unbelievable the variety of pies to be found at these events - in my experience there are lots of dessert pies but also meat pies, spaghetti pies, and quiche. Mark those calendars for both dates and see you there!

***

***

BERLIN NEIGHBORS FIGHT CELL TOWER

Pub 2/5/14 Times Argus by David Delcore

   BERLIN — A plan to put a 114-foot cell tower on the wooded hillside overlooking a local housing development is generating static from residents who complain Verizon Wireless has failed to accurately communicate what the project will do to their neighborhood.
   The tower, they claim, will be a view-spoiling eyesore that, by all accounts, will protrude more than 35 feet above the tree line, threatening their property values and quality of life.
   Feeling angry and outgunned, residents of Partridge Farms this week urged the Select Board to do whatever it could to block the state Public Service Board from doing what they say it has done 249 times in the past four years: approve a cell tower application.
   It is far from clear what, if anything, the Select Board can do to influence the quasi-judicial PSBprocess that is well underway, but members agreed to consult the town’s attorney, Rob Halpert, about their options and discussed filing a more forceful follow-up to the town’s Dec. 30 submission in the case. That document raised questions about the height and location of the proposed tower and its potential effect on the Partridge Farms neighborhood.
   Before the discussion, Selectman Ture Nelson, a Partridge Farms resident who has formally objected to the proposed cell tower, joined some of his neighbors in the audience. Also, Chairman Brad Towne disclosed he has an unrelated deal with Verizon Wireless to place one of its towers on property he owns in another area of town.
   Those disclosures were followed by a lively discussion during which neighbors accused Verizon Wireless of filing “inaccurate, inconsistent and incomplete information” with the PSB involving its plans to construct a cell tower on a 70-acre parcel owned by resident David Baird.
   According to the neighbors, the application didn’t address the potential aesthetic effects on Partridge Farms. They also claim the housing development was intentionally cropped out of some of the photographs that accompanied the initial application.
   “This isn’t out in the middle of nowhere in a forest like Verizon Wireless is trying to make it out to be,” Nelson said. The proposed tower would be on a wooded ridge less than 150 feet from the edge of a development that has more than 50 single-family homes.
   Owners of several of those homes attended Monday night’s meeting and expressed their unanimous concern about the “monopole” tower that they argued would stick out like a sore thumb on a virgin ridge.
   “In my opinion this (tower) would create an extreme and unnecessary visual impact in our neighborhood,” one resident said.
   Though he was unable to attend Monday night’s meeting, Plateau Drive resident Robert Lehmert said he was upset with what he considered the applicant’s attempt to downplay legitimate aesthetic concerns of the neighborhood by ignoring it.
   “(Verizon Wireless) hid it,” he said. “They obscured the existence of a neighborhood.”
   Like those who spoke Monday, Lehmert said he believed the tower could be relocated on the 70-acre parcel in a way that would be less intrusive to Partridge Farms residents and still accomplish the company’s goal of enhancing service along the Barre-Montpelier Road, as well as the Route 2 corridor between Montpelier and East Montpelier. However, he said, the company’s representatives turned a deaf ear to those suggestions.
   “Nobody has taken any time to communicate with us, and we are the people who will have to live with this eyesore,” he said.
   Responding to written concerns submitted recently to the Public Service Board by Lehmert, Nelson and the town, Verizon Wireless representatives have maintained worries about aesthetics have been “grossly overstated” by the neighbors. Only the top 36 feet of the tower will be visible from vantage points in Partridge Farms, and that height is needed to provide for adequate service, fill coverage gaps and accommodate the future co-location of other carriers.
   According to the company’s filings, the 110-foot tower would be topped by 12 panel antennas that would increase its height to 114 feet. The tower would be designed to blend into the hillside setting, the company said, and only about 36 feet of it would be visible above the tree line, which has an average height of roughly 78 feet.
   Notwithstanding neighbors’ concerns, Verizon Wireless contends the project qualifies for the expedited review typically afforded telecommunications facilities of “limited scope and size.”
   Though Berlin’s zoning regulations don’t come into play because no local review is required, they do establish a target of 20 feet above the average tree line, while leaving the door open to exceptions to provide adequate coverage in the community or to accomplish co-location that could limit the number of towers needed.
   Verizon Wireless claims both criteria come into play.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com

***

***

DELINQUENT TAX NUMBERS HOLDING STEADY (except Berlin)

pub 2/5/14 Times Argus

   There has been little or no measurable increase in the level of delinquent tax rates and tax sales around most of central Vermont in the past fiscal year, say town and city officials across the region, and in some cases rates have actually decreased.
   “Delinquency rates have held pretty steady,” said Barre Town Clerk Donna Kelty.
   “In Barre Town, the delinquency rate was 2.48 percent in the fiscal year of 2011-12, and 2.28 percent in 2012-13.”
   Kelty said these rates have fallen from the 2007-08 fiscal year when the delinquency rate was 4.6 percent.
   In Montpelier, delinquent tax collector Beverlee Hill reports the city hasn’t had a tax sale in five years. Hill said that before going through the process of a tax sale, she often checks to see if properties are in foreclosure.
   “Most of the ones that could go to tax sales are in the foreclosures process. I let the property go through foreclosures rather than do tax sales,” Hill said. “The city gets all of the taxes, penalties and interest when a property goes through foreclosure, just as it would if it went to tax sale, and it saves the city from going through the cumbersome process of a tax sale.”
   Montpelier residents paid $8 million in taxes during fiscal year 2013. A total of $775,000 in taxes was delinquent, for a rate of less than 1 percent, one of the lowest in central Vermont. Hill said all but $34,000 of the delinquent tax dollars for fiscal year 2013 have been collected.
   The capital has had a good history when it comes to delinquent taxes: The city’s delinquent tax balance for fiscal 2012 was just $148, while the delinquent balance for fiscal 2011 stood at $376. Hill said the reason for the small balances in previous years has been the city’s ability to work out successful payment plans for people with delinquent taxes, as well as properties that could go up for tax sale and are not in the process of foreclosure.
   In Waterbury, Municipal Manager William Shepeluk reports that the city’s total delinquency number as of January had reached $250,000, up from $227,000 in 2013 and $215,000 in 2012. Shepeluk does not view the increase as very significant, however, saying he’s not all that concerned.
   Waterbury boasts one of the steadiest delinquency tax rates in central Vermont. Shepeluk projects the outstanding delinquency rate for 2013 to be somewhere in the range of 2 percent. This is similar to previous years’ rates of 1.83 percent in 2012 and 2 percent in 2011.
   In Plainfield, delinquency rates are on a steep decline, decreasing 60 percent since 2009. According to delinquent tax collector George Cushing, “The town report reflects delinquent taxes through the end of December 2012 were less than $25,000.” Cushing said this was mostly attributable to two taxpayers. The most recent tax sales in Plainfield took place in 2011 and 2012.
   Barre has also seen a fairly stable delinquent-tax situation, although there were 11 tax sales in the city in 2013. However, that was on par with numbers from previous years: eight in 2012, 13 in 2011, and 12 in 2010.
   “The tax sales really just affect cash flow,” said City Clerk Carol Dawes. “They don’t affect the budget. You really can’t budget for that kind of thing.”
   Bucking the regional trend, delinquent taxes have increased in Berlin. As of December, the delinquent tax figure stood at $240,435, up from the end of June, when delinquent taxes in the town were at $182,753. Town Administrator Jeff Schulz thinks the rise in the numbers may be partly due to turnover in treasurers, as Berlin has seen a number of different people holding the position during the past couple of years.

***

***

FROM BERLIN FRONT PORCH FORUM

Below are several recent postings .... there have been many more about a variety of topics, looking for services, garage sales, meeting announcements, events, etc.  Membership is free - to join go to: http://frontporchforum.com

Tracy Roux, Fresh Tracks Farm Winery • Vt Rte 12 

Posted to: Berlin

Event: Feb 8, 2014, 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Robert Wernecke • Pine Hill Drive 

Posted to: Berlin

Contact:

Stephanie Smith|Community Engagement Coordinator A*VISTA
Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission
29 Main Street Suite 4|Montpelier, VT 05602
(802) 229-0389|smith@cvregion.com
www.centralvtplanning.org|Find us on Facebook!

Nate Rogers • Rowell Hill Rd 

Posted to: Berlin

Bob Illingworth • Freedom 

Posted to: Berlin

Event: Feb 14, 2014, 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM

A couple other recent Front Porch Forum postings of note on Feb 4th were: "Designing the Home Garden and Small Farm for Climate-Change Future" (event Feb 10th 6:30pm -8 pm at MHS) and "Letter from the U-32 Board" regarding their finalized budget.