Wallingford News - 49th Edition June 2009
Editor’s
Note:
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Zoning Permits Issued
Property Transfers
Passports
U.S.
and
Canadian citizens under the age of 16, or under the age of 19 traveling with a
school, religious or other youth group, may present a birth certificate,
consular report of birth abroad, naturalization certificate or certificate of
Canadian Citizenship. Birth
certificate can be an original, photocopy or certified copy.
{Please note
that these meeting minutes are a brief summary and are not the final approved
version.}
Selectboard
R. Nimtz reviewed Lane Associates’ answers to
questions posed at the last meeting about the heating and a/c for upstairs. A
large portion of the cost will be paid for by the Wallingford Historical Society
with the balance offset by the cell tower income. A vote was tabled until B.
Brooks was present.
Conservation Commission members spoke on the
Committee’s desire to clear brush and sticks, clear exotic plants that are
invading, and put signs or markings on the trees along some trails on the south
end of the “pit”. Approval was given.
Paul DiIonno was appointed to serve on the Recreation
Committee.
Rec Committee members recommended rehiring three of
the employees from last year’s program. There are 22 families interested so
far, and the Selectboard was urged to make a decision now so parents can make
summer plans for their children.
There was discussion concerning the condition of the
ball fields and the lack of volunteers to maintain the fields. The Selectboard
authorized funding to fill the cracks on the basketball and tennis courts, along
with the purchase of one load of clay for the fields.
Leo Preedom requested that the tree in front of his
home be removed. Julie will obtain
quotes although F. Bruce feels the tree is healthy.
The Selectboard read a complaint regarding barking
dogs.
The Sheriff spoke with the resident who disrupted the
peace on
The mowing bid was awarded.
A Caterer’s License was approved.
The Selectboard rehired Kim Maniery as Rec Director
at $17 per hour; Dominick Maniery at $12 per hour; and Stephen Culbertson at $15
per hour.
B. Brooks reported that a settlement was agreed upon
at the mediation regarding Whitmore vs. the Town of
Residents of
The Selectboard approved installing HVAC on the
second floor.
Reps from Rutland Regional Planning Commission came
to discuss
The Selectboard did not agree with RRTC to substitute
the improvements of the horizontal alignment through the area of the Green Mtn.
Railroad overpass on Vt. 103 with a project in Benson, both of which are on the
VTRans list.
The Selectboard signed an updated U.S. Forest Service
Agreement.
Two caterer licenses were approved.
WES was awarded a $3,000 grant by the Vermont Safe
Routes to Schools Task Force. E.
Chuderski and L. Wade were hired as lifeguards, with salary to be determined at
a later date.
Child Safety
Ordinance Adopted
Zoning &
Subdivision Regulations Public Hearing
Planning
Commission
The Planning Commission reviewed and discussed the
Town Plan that needs updating.
Recreation
Committee
The firemen received permission to use the recreation
field for Fun Day, July 18th. The Rec Committee approved giving the
WVFD a family pass for
Elfin
Lake
for their raffle.
The Committee reviewed a letter of recommendations
for signage at the ball field from VLTC and discussed recommendations that have
been made previously.
The three people that that Committee recommended for
the summer rec program were hired by the Selectboard. Keith has made calls to
find lifeguards for
We need to fix the roof covering the opening to the
girls’ room at the lake. The parking lot has been enlarged. We will need to
pull out and replace the two signs that are now in the middle of the parking
lot.
The Selectboard approved the fixing of the cracks on
the basketball/tennis courts. We need to get a second bid.
We will purchase a load of clay for the baseball
fields, which was approved by the Selectboard.
The fencing at the recreation field has been
installed. We also want to put in fencing behind the basketball court on the
west side.
Keith will make the contacts for the parade.
We will have a field clean up Wednesday April 29 at
Sue Duskiewicz has resigned and there is now a
vacancy on the recreation committee.
To date there are approximately 29 kids signed up for
the summer rec program.
The Selectboard hired two lifeguards. We are waiting
for other applications that were going to be completed.
Lifeguard salaries were discussed.
With a draft schedule Keith shared at the proposed pay rates, and each
employee working 28 hours per week, the salary would not be over budget of
$7,500. We would like to put an ad in the newspaper for the lifeguard positions.
The fire department is coming to the lake on June 6
to burn the pile of brush.
Wilk Sealing said the job is too small for them to
seal the tennis and basketball courts.
We need to find trucking to bring in the clay to the
baseball field. The barrel that is buried in near the playground needs to be dug
out and filled in by the town. We need to get the town to do this.
The MRUHS band is all set for the parade.
Regarding complaints about
Prudential
Committee
Zollie gave a presentation as to what they can do to
rebuild the kitchen at the lodge. The Board hired McKernon Group.
Jeff asked if we could look at getting an early check
for the camera and the valve for the pumper truck.
Stephane asked how the loan was coming. The bank
reported we more than likely not be getting the loan for such a small dollar
amount and suggested that we borrow from ourselves. The Board authorized taking
the money from the general fund to pay the down payment for the air packs.
Bill Brooks reported the Selectboard is still
interested in pursuing the issue of the town taking over the fire protection.
The Selectboard authorized the road crew help the
fire department make repairs to dry hydrant and to install a new one at no
charge.
The Prudential Committee will be notified of the
pre-construction meeting for the pedestrian bridge at the ball field.
Bill Brooks reported the Selectboard would like to
have pursued having Districts #1 and #3 residents vote.
The Prudential Committee will check with VLCT for legal advice on adding
this to the contract.
Zollie gave a presentation as to where things are
with the boys camp. Zollie is in the process of getting plans for the sprinkler
system. Zollie is working at getting some numbers for Ron to give insurance to
get a check. The contract was reviewed.
Dennis said that he would like us to take possession
of the fire hydrant that we’ve paid for. The hydrant at the end of the bridge
needs to be replaced
The Committee will propose to the construction crew
for the pedestrian bridge that they buy a shed from Garden Time or Home Depot,
and the Fire Dept will run the phone and power, and then when they are done they
leave the shed.
The Committee reduced the rate for Wildwood Co-Op to
$90 for rental of lodge in August.
Jeff reported that the lock to the gas tank had been
cut again. The department will switch to diesel for the trucks. The remaining
gas will be sold at $1.60/gallon. Jeff was authorized to buy signs to put in the
parking lot for unauthorized vehicles.
Carl Buffum came to get an update on what was going
on at the Boys Camp. Scott explained that we need to have a sprinkler system put
in as a code upgrade and that is the big issue right now.
The new water and sewer rate for the 2009 2nd
Qtr was set at Water: $4.45, Sewer: $3.57, and the Fire District Tax .0348.
We are going to try and power and water hooked up for
temporary use at the boys camp. I will ask Dale to mark where the water line is.
It was decided to call Kevin Ruane to dig up line and put in an outdoor faucet.
Jeff will take a look at the power for us. Scott made the motion to have both
things taken care of.
I asked about doing a waive of fee for
Zollie Horvath asked if we could at least get the
$4000.00 released from the insurance so that he could bring on a designer for
the sprinkler system to get that started. It was decided that we could not get
this until the insurance settles with us.
The forestry truck was sold for $1,000 and the tanker
for $400.
Dennis asked if the Prudential Committee would like
to make some kind of donation to the Fun Day. It was decided to table until the
next meeting.
Wallingford
Wendy Wentz gave a presentation that covered the
science program of the 1st and 2nd grades, noting the
concepts taught, the experiments made and the value of the lessons learned by
the students.
Chuck W. reported that the
Jason noted that WES must hire an additional
one-on-one special education paraeducator for next year. The school will get 57%
back on the expenditure on the paraeducator. All other contracts were as
budgeted. The Board approved signing
the contracts.
The inequity of paraeducator salary was noted as the
salaries appeared inconsistent. Walter said that the salaries are based on
tenure, training, responsibilities, and time of hire, and thus can vary greatly
in a school.
The Board approved paying $390 to
The evacuation drill was a success.
The 6th graders
The
Board approved the Principal’s salary at $71,000 for 2009-2010.
Laura Welch submitted her retirement letter.
The Board approved helping pay for the extra maintenance associated with
the RSSU summer camp at Clarendon.
Walter
received calls from parents who expressed a desire to expand the transfer
program to include Pre-K. He noted
that schools could enter into collaborative agreements for Pre-K.
VAC is still interested in collaborating, but VAC teachers are not yet
certified for pre-K. VAC said that one of their teachers will soon be certified.
Walter noted that June 30 is the due date to renew the collaborative
agreement with
Ken submitted a written report from the School Board
Association national meeting.
Wallingford
Seniors Happenings
Foot and blood pressure clinic on Wednesday, June 3rd
at
Senior Planning Committee will meet on Wednesday,
June 10th at
Join us and the Wallingford Historical Society for a
film presentation on
Join us for a Senior Trip to the
Our thanks to Bill Baker for his talk and display of
models of the freight wagons used in the 1800’s migrations west.
The scale and detail of the models were superb.
Remember the Seniors’ lunch every Monday at
Senior Vermonters are invited to take advantage of
several social opportunities during these summer and spring months. Many towns
throughout
A Communion Service led by Pastor Jim at the
Wallingford House will be held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at
The
Well…… spring took it’s time in getting here
but it was well worth the wait! Days
are cool, mostly sunny, sometimes wet, and very, VERY green!
Gorgeous flowers and colorful birds make for delightful days!
Life is good except, perhaps, for the insects that are intent on bugging
and being real pests AND they seem to know just when your arms are full!
Speaking of full, the
Monetary donations are not the only donations welcomed at the Library.
Magazine gift subscriptions
are another way to make a donation. Currently
the gift subscriptions we are receiving include Down
East and Eating Well. If you
would like to give a magazine gift subscription, please call me at the Library,
and I can tell you the magazines we are currently receiving.
Also, videos
(DVD and VHS), music, puzzles, hard cover books would be appreciated.
There are only three requirements: (1)
all donated items must be in good condition; (2) donations must be dropped off
when the library is OPEN; and (3) we be allowed to sale the items that are not
added to our collection. Just
give me a call at 446-2685 if you have any questions or would like to make a
donation.
Buy a bag of books for $5!! Thanks to all the help that Kevin is providing at
the library, I am back to weeding books and preparing for automation!
There are new books added to our book sale every.
All proceeds from the sale go directly into the library automation
account! Stop by and buy several
bags!!
ARRIVALS:
Title
Author
The Lost City of
The Girls from
Fatally Flaky
Diane Davidson
Brimstone
Robert Parker
Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors (children’s
book)
Joyce Sidman
Animals Charles Darwin Saw (children’s book)
Sandra Markle
Slum Dog Millionaire (movie)
Open Veins of
Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent Eduardo Galeano
Book Review:
A few weeks ago at the 5th Summit of the Americas, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a gift of the book Open Veins of Latin Americ: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,
written by Eduardo Galeano. It
caused quite a stir, and, in one day,
The book, written in
1971, analyzes the history of Latin America as a whole from the time of the
European discovery of the New World to contemporary Latin America arguing
against European, and later the United States, economic exploitation and
political dominance over the region. Shortly
after publishing the book in 1973, Galeano was forced into exile after a
military junta took power in Uruguay. As
a result of the book’s left-wing perspective, it was banned by the military
governments of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.
Rather than chronology, geography, or
political successions, Galeano organized the various facets of Latin American
history according to the
The Vermont State Parks “Check out the Parks” pass has arrived.
The pass is FREE to our
library
Library Hours
M – closed
Tu, Thu, Fri –
Wed –
Sat –
Su – closed
Kevin House, Assistant
Telephone: 446-2685
Coming Events
for the Maple Valley Grange #318 on Route 7 South in South
Every Tuesday from
Coming Events
for the
Friday, June 12th
Buy
In $50 1 $25
re-buy Pay out 66% plus bounty
For more info, call Dennis Stocker at 446-2263
Town Wide Tag Sale
The
Wallingford Volunteer Fire Department is looking for participants to join them
for a day of town-wide tag
If anyone would like help burning their brush piles
or filling their swimming pools, please call the Fire Station at 446-2295.
Wallingford,
Check out the
"Boy with the Boot"
The Chipman Lodge 52 FAM holds meetings on the
second Thursday of each month at
Suicide Survivors Support Group meetings for those who
have lost a loved one or friend through suicide are held at the Maple Leaf
Clinic,
2009 Summer
Recreation Program
For children entering first through 7th
grades 60 per week plus a $25 registration fee.
Activities include swimming, fishing, arts and crafts, sports, games and field
trips.
Location: Drop off at
For registration packet or more information, call Cheryl or Kim at 770-8122 or
email cmaniery@rssu.org.
NEW FOR
Angel Food
Ministries
now available in
Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated
to providing substantial grocery savings to communities
throughout the
U.S.
COMMUNITY
LUNCH
LUNCH,
LOVE & LAUGHTER
Rutland Area
Lecture Series
Spring 2009
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Lectures are
held on a Friday afternoon from
Call
773-0184 for information.
June
5, Raising a Puppy with a Purpose
June 12, Therapy Dogs
June 19, RCHS, 50 Years of Helping People & Animals
The
Wallingford Memorial Rotary Club, in collaboration with the
Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department's Let's Go Fishing Program, is again
hosting a Fishing Clinic on
The
children's program will run from
ATTENTION ELFIN
New Elfin
NON RESIDENTS:
Hurry
in to the Wallingford Town Office to buy your family pass for the 2009 season.
Monthly Discussion Regarding Current
Events……..
If
a group got together once month, we could have a moderator to keep the
discussion orderly. We could decide
on a topic a month in advance so that we would be prepared for discussion.
If any one has any interest, please call Fred Thurlow at 446-2880.
Thank you.
Identity Theft- How to protect yourself and what to
do if victimized. Many of the offenders committing identity theft and
forgery are drug abusers. In order to finance their addiction, these offenders
are stealing mail, dumpster diving behind businesses and breaking into cars,
homes and businesses looking for any documents or articles that may contain this
information. Your personal information is then being used to apply for credit
cards, retail credit or to counterfeit checks with your account number.
It is important to protect your information at all
times and ensure that any business that obtains your information in the course
of doing business is questioned by you as to how they are going to protect or
destroy that information once they have finished with it.
If you find that you have been victimized, follow the
steps outlined and keep a personal file on each incident to aid in clearing up
your credit.
If someone has used your personal identifying
information, such as your social security number, date of birth and name, to
open lines of credit or to obtain services, you will first need to contact all 3
major credit reporting bureaus to place a "Fraud Alert" on your credit
report. When you call the following toll-free numbers, this will notify
businesses that you may be the victim of fraud. Request a copy of your credit
report to review. Contact the following bureaus:
|
Trans |
1-800-680-7289 |
|
Experian: |
1 888 397 3742 |
|
Equifax: |
1-800-525-6285 |
Review all of the information on your credit report
and determine if the entry is a mistake or fraudulent.
Wallingford
If
you’d like to receive emails under the
Fiery Faith & Fiddles
Celtic
music performed by the Sky Family from
A new public
opinion survey that asks how the public views transportation in Vermont’s Western Corridor
has been launched. The brief on-line survey, available at www.vtwesterncorridor.org/survey,
is part of a five-region study to develop a multimodal Transportation Management
Plan for western
July 18
….Green Up Day
Congratulations
Graduates
Mill
Wallingford
Elfin
Beautiful
Elfin
Lake, located off Route
140W, will be opening on Saturday, June 20 and is open to the public throughout
the summer. Call the lake at
446-2496 for hours, rates, rentals and rules.
Kick
Off Summer with Vermont
Days
The weekend of June 13 and 14 is a great time to
celebrate the arrival of summer and enjoy a free sample of Vermont’s excellent
fishing, state parks, and historic resources. All Vermont State Park day areas,
state-owned historic sites, and the Vermont Historical Society Museum in
Montpelier will be open at no charge.
This year, Vermont is also celebrating the
State’s first Forestry Centennial – the 100th birthday of the Division of
Forestry and our first state forest.
June 13 is Vermont’s
Free Fishing Day -- the one day in the year when residents and nonresidents may
go fishing without needing a fishing license. It's a great opportunity to take
the family fishing and create memories to last a lifetime.
Vermont Days is a free
statewide event celebrating Vermont’s natural resources, history, and talent
brought to you by the Departments of Forests, Parks & Recreation, Fish &
Wildlife, Tourism & Marketing, the Division of Historic Preservation, and
many supportive state employees and volunteers.
Learn more and check for details at www.vermontdays.vermont.gov.
Green Hill Cemetery
Many of us do not realize what an opportunity we have
until the opportunity is no longer available. Death is something many of us do
not want to talk about, but it is something we all must endure. When you are in
good health, mentally and physically, is the time to plan for death. When
sickness comes, you have troubles enough and you do not need to worry about a
cemetery lot.
Those of us living in
Fred Thurlow, Trustee of
Join us at
99 Maple Street
on Saturday, May 30th
from Noon-4:00 p.m. for a tour of our new facility.
Legislative
Report for June
This was going to be my adjournment report but, as
most of you must know, the governor will probably veto the Budget we passed. I
will be returning to
It was not a perfect budget - it's not a perfect world. As we like to say in
Before trying to solve the revenue shortfall, the
State already made over 100 million dollars in cuts and pending adjustments. The
proposed 2010 budget includes an additional 59.3 million dollars in
cuts to State programs and services. These were "hard decisions".
The Legislature, through the Conference Committee, put together a revenue
package that includes collecting money owed to the State already, closing two
loopholes to make our tax system more fair, and some moderate consumption tax
increases. With the revenue raised we were able to give an income tax break to
lower and middle income Vermonters. To put the revenue package in some context,
only 21.3 million dollars in new taxes are raised to solve a 281.5 million
dollar budget problem. That's just 7.5% of the total problem raised by increased
taxes. Our budget provided a middle and lower income tax break for struggling
Vermonters in these tough times. 7% of Vermonters would have their state income
taxes lowered or remain neutral. The Governor proposed moving 63 million dollars
from the general fund to the education fund. This included the teacher's
retirement fund. His proposal effectively asks local school boards to balance
the State budget with increased property taxes. We didn't believe Vermonters
could afford this. Our proposed budget, in the spirit of compromise, and
recognizing that everyone has to share the load, does move 18.4 million from the
general fund to the education fund. However, because of the hard work done by
our school boards this year, and by using some reserve funds, the homestead tax
rate and the base per pupil grant will remain exactly the same as school boards anticipated
when they passes their budgets on Town Meeting Day.
Even as we made difficult choices and cuts, new
revenue and tax shifts, our budget sheltered important programs that protect our
most vulnerable citizens:
1. VPharm - helps senior citizens with prescription
medication. The Governor proposed eliminating the program, we kept it intact.2.
June Grads Program - helps developmentally disabled students transition out of
high school. The Governor's proposal provides no funding. We budgeted 1 million
dollars. 3. The Governor proposed
slashing 1.3 million from Aid to the
Aged, Blind and Disabled Vermonters. The Legislature restored half of the cut.
These are just a few facts about the budget we passed. Next month, we'll know
more. I just wanted you to understand why I supported the budget and get some
real information about its impact. I'll also report about other legislation we
passed next month. Keep in touch.
Happy Gardening,
Eldred French
Camp for Rent
on Tinmouth Pond
FREE Consumer
Electronics Recycling Event
Monday June 8 – Wednesday June 10
at
Go to www.wallingfordvt.com
to learn more.