May 31, 2007

By ANDY KIRKALDY

VERGENNES — In a special meeting held on May 22 the Vergennes Union High School board voted against two administrators’ recommendation and preserved the school’s German language program in a decision that may be a preview of future difficult choices that lie ahead at VUHS.

About 25 citizens and staff members came to the meeting to support the German program, which Principal Ed Webbley and Addison Northwest Supervisory Union Superintendent Thomas O’Brien had said should be phased out over the next three years after the retirement of longtime teacher Joy Minns, who will step down at the end of this school year.

O’Brien said he was disappointed by the board’s decision given the school’s scheduling and funding problems, one of many tough calls he said the VUHS board may have to make in the next six years, when enrollment is estimated to decrease by as much as 20 percent.

May 31, 2007

By JOHN FLOWERS

MIDDLEBURY — Vermont House Speaker Gaye Symington said the state should be proud of what she characterized as a “very productive” 2007 session during which lawmakers passed initiatives that will have a long-term, rather than a short-term, payoff.

Symington, a Jericho Democrat, acknowledged that while the Legislature did not make a lot of big headlines and breakthroughs on issues like property tax reform, she believes lawmakers did take important steps to ensure that Vermonters will have energy savings, a better telecommunications network and stronger farms in the future.

May 28, 2007

By ANDY KIRKALDY

VERGENNES — Vergennes board of listers chairman Mel Hawley told aldermen last week that the effect of the just-completed city-wide reappraisal would be “staggering� on many homeowners, but that the results of the 18-month valuation effort were fair.

Since 1993, the last time the city’s property was reappraised, Hawley said that the value of Vergennes homes has increased at a faster rate than the value of the city’s commercial and industrial properties.

As a result, he said, homeowners have actually been paying a lower percentage of the city’s taxes than they should have been. Now, according to examples Hawley provided aldermen at their May 22 meeting, homeowners could be looking at tax hikes ranging from 4.5 percent to 37.3 percent.

“Residential properties over the past 14 years were paying less than their fair share. So what this is, is actually corrected,� Hawley said. “I know it’s staggering, but it’s correcting inequities that occurred over that 14-year period.�

May 28, 2007

By CYRUS LEVESQUE

LINCOLN — A local resident is planning to build six houses on about 60 acres of property between Purinton Road and Downingsville Road in Lincoln into six separate housing lots. If the plan goes through, it will represent a substantial development in the area.

The Lincoln Planning Commission will evaluate the proposal at a public hearing on Monday, June 7, at 7:15 p.m. the town office.

The property belongs to Lincoln resident Dhyani Ywahoo. She said she decided around 2005 to build houses on the land both to develop the investment, and for some friends of hers, who will be living in some of the houses. “I wish to regather some of my investment, and also wish to have friends living nearby,� she said.

Originally, she said there were ambitious plans for a “green� development that would have greatly reduced energy use and relied on renewable fuel sources such as solar or geothermal energy. “With the cost of fuel, it’s really become very significant,� she said.