)
Date: July 21st 2008
The Maple Corner Net Newsletter is now
being published 2 times a month, usually on the 2nd and 16th, depending on how
much info I get, and how busy I am. You can easily contact me with news,
comments, criticism, or compliments, by just replying to this email. This
Newsletter now has 448 subcribers.
Please Note: If you change
your email adress, you will need to re-subscribe. You can do this directly at
www.maplecorner.net. I erase all undeliverable addresses
after each issue. To help prevent spam filters from blocking delivery, it is a
good idea to enter my sending address in your email whitelist, if you have such
a thing.
To search & read archives of past newsletters, see:
http://www.songseek.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi?f=list&l=maplecor
or www.maplecorner.net
Address Change: I am eliminating some of my older email addresses, including steveg@songseek.com , which Ihave used for 7 years, and some of you may have in your address books. To find out my new email, go to www.songseek.com and click on the "contact me by email" link. There will be a form there which you can use to email me. I will reply with a working email. - Steve Gallagher
As of right now the Newsletter is being sent from steve@maplecorner.net , which is working, but may be changed in the future.
I am leaving on a trip to Prince Edward Island in a few days, and will not have good or convenient internet connection for maybe 3 weeks, so the next Maple Corner Newsletter woun't happen 'til at least August 16th.
Contents:
Reminders and Updates:
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Subject: Support young Calais
performers!
If you are looking for a night out with good music and lots of laughter come see the Mikado at Unadilla. Several of our Calais youngsters, Ruby Smith, Phoebe Cook, Ester Nemethy, Isla Bristol and Olivia Dexter are playing the roles of the school girls. The girls have worked very hard since mid-April under the supervision of Naomi Flanders and would love to see familiar faces in the audience. Next performances: July: 12th, 17th, 19th, 22nd, 25th, 27th, 29th and in August: 3rd, 6th and 9th Submitted by proud momma Dexter
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Subject: Any small cabins available?
I have a friend looking for a small year-round cabin rental with the following specs: electricity, running water, fast internet connection (not dial-up) – okay I know how tough that is in Maple Corner but it’s always worth asking, insulated/easy to heat – Wood stove OK, inexpensive – i.e. less than $500, not more than 25 minutes from Montpelier, quiet/private, allows a cat (a well-behaved cat), garden spot a bonus, small OK. Please call Anne at 229 – 1639 with any leads.
Thanks, Anne E. Connor
Vermont Families are Needed to Host Guests from Belarus
From July 31 – August 19, 2008, Project Harmony will be hosting nine professionals from the Republic of Belarus who are participating in a Community Connections program sponsored by USAID and administered by World Learning. These visitors will be exploring ways VT organizations, state agencies and schools integrate people with disabilities into society.
Project Harmony is urgently seeking willing families in Washington and Chittenden Counties to host one or more participants for all or part of the 18 days during which they are in Vermont. Two participants are walking impaired, one is a wheelchair user and one is visually impaired. Five participants do not have a disability. Host families will provide a comfortable and clean place to sleep, breakfast and dinner, minimal transportation to centralized pick-up and drop-off locations, and some weekend activities. Importantly, the program will offer Belarusians an experience of life in the United States and afford Vermonters an opportunity to establish new relationships while learning about the culture and history of this fascinating country. SUMMER IS A SPECIAL TIME OF THE YEAR FOR THIS DELEGATION TO EXPERIENCE VERMONT. WE ARE STILL IN NEED OF HOST FAMILIES FOR MOST OF THE PARTICIPANTS. PLEASE CONSIDER SHARING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY WITH THESE SPECIAL GUESTS.
For more information about this program, or if you are able to host, please contact Carol Chamberlin (802) 496-4545 (x105) or email at carol@projectharmony.org or Renee Berrian (802) 496-4545 (x106) or via email at renee@projectharmony.org as soon as possible. THANK YOU!
Project Harmony is an international nonprofit organization based in Waitsfield, Vermont. Additional information about Project Harmony and the Community Connections Program is available at size=3>www.projectharmony.org
Hi Steve,
at the last potluck we decided to set up a ride share system
where people in maple corner write all down the times they are driving somewhere
on google calendar. i'm working on setting it up, and was hoping to post a link
to the calendar on the maplecorner website, along with a quick
explanation/article.
rachel Pelham
Ed. Note.: I don't have the link to this yet, but it seems like a great idea. Please write in to the Newsletter if you have ideas or comments about this. - Steve G
4 Bedroom, 1 + 1/2 bath, large sunny living and dining room with beautiful wide board floors, central brick fireplace, kitchen open to main room with lots of counter space and all appliances including 1906 Glenwood 6 burner cookstove. 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1 bedroom / office down. Entire house has new and upgraded plumbing, wiring, windows, insulation and fixtures. OHW boiler. Beautiful bright front porch overlooking village. Also attached 1 - 2 car garage and large interior wood storage room. Entire property has shared use of 3 acres centerally located in Maple Corner Village. Large open lawn with mature maples, established flower gardens, lilacs, landscaped stone wall terraces, and a massive tilled vegatable garden space. 130 ft of waterfront on Curtis Pond with cedar dock for swimming and boating. Pondside cookout and gathering area with terraced lawn, native stone cookout grill and firepit. Also, shared use of the infamous landmark Blue Barn. Turn of the century, 42x 60 ft, 3 story post and beam barn which features heated available workshop / artist studio space, ample storage areas, 1,600 sq. ft. dancehall with raised performance stage. Within a stones throw is the fabulous Maple Corner Store which has more than you need and The Maple Corner Community Center. Within easy walking distance is the curtis pond swim lessons, Kent Tavern Museum and historic Robinson Sawmill.Details call Chris 802-223-0184
Maple Corner Music Festival - BARNSTOCK 08 - Saturday July 26th 3:00 til dark Downtown Maple Corner Free Live Music and swimming all day with Potluck Dinner at 6 pm. Everyone welcome - Bring Friends - Spend the day.
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008
Subject: RV Site with a southern
exposure
"We have a large graveled RV Site with a southern exposure. Available by the day, week or month. Nice view.
Water and Electric. Near several lakes. Will fit Up to 50 ft camper/motorhome. $32/day,$185/week,$600/month. No Smoking. Pets considered. Call Jon 802.456.8165.
1005 County rd at cranberry meadow
Staying cool?We are out doing shows in NH for a few more days and hope to get home next week.
Jon Sairs
1005 County Rd
East Calais VT 05650
1-802-456-8165
My Notes and Occasional Comments: Calais Selectboard
meeting, Monday, July 14, 08, members present (clockwise: Paul Hannan (chair),
Anne Winchester, John Brabant, Denise Wheeler, and Cy Lamberton. Rose
Pelchuck, the Board's paid meeting secretary, took the official minutes. There
were 8 people in the audience tonight: Jack Russell, Marion Gray, Dot Naylor,
David Schutz, Ty Rolland, Toby Talbot, Steve Freihofner, and myself.
I
arrived 11 minutes late and the meeting was already in full swing. The minutes
of the last meeting had already been approved and Jack Russell was already
presenting before the Board. It was a fast paced, busy evening. Upon inquiring
of Rose, I learned that the minutes of June 30 had been passed with minor
corrections.
PLANNING COMMISSION: Jack Russell, chair of the Planning
Commission, reported to the Board what the Planning Commission had learned
during their public hearings this past winter and what the Planning Commission
work goals are for the next several years. The Central VT Regional Planning
Commission has told the Calais Planning Commission that the amendments it has
made each year for the last half dozen years do not count as the mandatory five
year cycle rewrites. This unexpected decision is now forcing the Calais Planning
Commission to set aside re-writing the Calais Zoning Regulations that they had
planned on doing this year, to first rewrite the now ruled out of date Town
Plan.
Jack then went on to present a draft of what the Zoning Board
wants to work on based on what they learned during their public
presentation/hearings this past winter. Although the town plan needs to be
rewritten every 5 years, he said that the Board wants to envision the next 30
years as it rewrites this town plan and assign specific groups to be responsible
for the goals in the plan. Responsibilities for meeting goals have been assigned
in past town plans, but not enforced by the Selectboard, the body that endorses
the town plan. Jack told the Board that he found that many of the public that
attended these winter meetings want to be more involved in determining how the
town works, but don't know how to. Jack sees this as an opportunity. He talked
about forming individual Village Committees to guide the Planning
Commission.
Jack went on to say, "We have a housing crisis!" "There is a
real urgency. I'm getting phone calls from residents." "The average house in
Calais cost more than $220,000. John Brabant interjected that he had run the
numbers and building will cost more. A buyer would need an income of $77,000 and
a down payment of $14,000. Rents range from $800 to $1,400. "That's not
affordable!" The goal is to make real changes in the Zoning Regs at the 2010
Spring Town Meeting.
Jack told the Board that current Calais Zoning
allows for potentially building 1,252 new houses and that Calais' projected fair
share (by the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission) is 300 new houses
over 20 years.
EAST MONTPELIER FIRE DEPT. INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT &
AMBULANCE SERVICE: Ty Rolland and Toby Talbot appeared before the Board with
their proposed agreement, which has been going back and forth between the three
parties (EMFD, E. Montpelier Selectboard, and Calais Selectboard for a few
months). The Calais Board took issue with a new clause about the fire department
wanting to review all Act 250 permits to make sure that they are up to the fire
department's standards: road width, strong enough bridges to hold fire engines,
and large enough turn around room at the end of the driveways & access
roads. Zoning Administrator Dot Naylor told the Board that the clause is not
necessary because the DRB already routinely takes that access into
consideration, but suggested that the FD give the DRB a list of what they need.
The Board told the fire department that it should work with the DRB and the
Planning Commission on this point. For his part, to the frustration of the Board
members, Ty stubbornly insisted that the Board include the new clause in the
agreement.
Paul moved the discussion onto the second topic. Ty told the
Board that the FD is looking into including ambulance service in the proposal
for the new FD building to help offset costs of building a new fire station and
provide speedier service than is currently provided by the Barre Town Ambulance
service. He told the Board that the two towns currently pay more than $110,000
annually for the service and that residents are charged an additional $400 to
$1,000 for each ambulance call. Over 5 or 10 years that is a lot of money that
would help defray the costs of the new building. When asked if it would cost us
less if the FD provided that service, Ty didn't promise anything, but said, "Our
goal is that after time we could reduce costs. Plainfield is interested in
talking with us too."
Ty also told the Board that the FD has begun
talking with the Washington Electric Coop about the feasibility of building the
new station on the land across from the WEC office, where they currently house a
few engines in an unheated garage. He also told the Board that the FD has
recently purchased a 1994 Heavy Rescue Truck from Essex for $52,000 that would
have cost $200,000 new.
In closing Ty told the Board that the discussion
about the 911 dispatch service that Cy & John attended a meeting about, is
still really in the preliminary stages and that there is no clear indication of
where it will go. The Board insisted that as the Selectboard Budget pays that
bill, it wants to continue to be involved in that ongoing discussion. An
unresolved obstacle that was not resolved in the meeting that John &
Cy attended last month was who had a say in what was
decided.
WOODBURY FIRE DEPARTMENT CONTRACT: Steve Freihofner appeared
before the Board with the same contract as last year, except for the price,
$11,391. That is the amount in the Selectboard budget approved at Town Meeting
(page 29 in the Red Book). That is $1,419 less than last year. The Board
approved the contract 5 - 0. By contract, the Woodbury Fire Department goes to
all fires, but not all accidents.
KENTS CORNER DESIGN REVIEW GUIDE: David
Schutz (new chair of the Historic Preservation Commission) and I appeared before
the Board. I had given copies of the Guide approved by the Planning Commission
to the Board at the last meeting for them to read for tonight's meeting.
Anne asked if the DRB had reviewed the Guidelines. I answered that they had not.
A discussion ensued about the legal weight of the guidelines. It was decided
that the guidelines are just that, guidelines for review of permit
applications. John wanted to include a paragraph clarifying that at the
beginning of the spiral bound booklet. Paul asked him to write it up and present
it at the next meeting.
CURB CUT: Edward Kentish had applied for a permit
to move their driveway access on the east side of the West County Rd. about ½ a
mile north of Robinson Cemetery Rd. The Board granted the permit 5-0 with the
usual conditions: less than 5% grade on the first 20 foot, a culvert, and
clearing brush for better vision. On the recommendation of Road Commission Don
Singleton Jr., the Board is allowing Edward to reuse the culvert from his
existing driveway.
HIGHWAY BUDGET FINAL FIGURES: Paul reported that the
Highway Budget finished this recent fiscal year, ending June 30, 08, in the
black, by $46.65. But that was because they had deferred payment of a $5,100
insurance bill to this current fiscal year. Board members also expressed concern
that fuel costs are now expected to rise faster than they had planned on in
January when they approved the current budget adopted at Town Meeting 4 months
ago.
TOWN WEB SITE DOMAIN NAME: Every year the Board votes to write out a
check for Rose to pay the fee to retain the site name. The Board voted $125
5-0.
SET TOWN TAX RATE FOR TOWN TAXES: The Board voted 5-0 to set
the rate at $.478/$1000 of assessed value (a $100,000 house would pay
.00478 X $100,000 = $478.00) based on the amount of money voted on at Town
Meeting that needed to be raised (page 33).
VARIOUS BRIEF
UPDATES:
Curtis Pond Dam: John reported that he and dam engineer Morris
Root had canoed Curtis Pond with Allen Quackenbush and an assistant July 1 to
assess the situation of putting a coffer dam across the narrows just east of the
swim area to drain the small portion of the pond between that coffer dam and the
old stone & earth dam for rebuilding it. The rest of the pond would be
lowered 2 feet during that time.
Batten Road Engineering Second Opinion:
John reported that he had talked with Steve Duke who told him that he will pay
the bill when Jeff's Sayers estate is settled.
DRB Monitory report:
Denise reported that she had attended the recent DRB hearing in Anne's
place.
Lisa Levangie curb cut on Bayne Comolli Rd. Paul said that the
curb cut is constructed where the Board had told them to construct it, but they
can improve it by clearing brush and trees out of the line of sight. Cy had
looked at the site with Road Commissioner Don Singleton after the last meeting.
John will contact Don to follow through on the matter.
Moscow Woods/Ledge
Rd. power right-of-way: Anne meet with Palmer Martin of Fairpoint. They located
the underground cable and found that the telephone cable crosses the road twice.
It can be pulled up next to Joseph Fortin's mailbox and spliced into to take it
up to his house. No new poles will be needed. There are no maps of cable
location. The cable is very close to the road in some places and could have been
dug up when the road crew ditched the roadway. There was some brainstorming
about how to keep track of where cables are buried. The board voted 5-0 to grant
a revised application granting such.
Fothergill Appeal: Jeff Fothergill
is appealing an Environmental Court about Chris Miller's DRB property
subdivision permit to the State Supreme Court. Zoning Administrator Dot Naylor
reported that the Town is "keeping its nose in to see what is
happening."
TOWN EMPLOYEES VACATION TIME & HOLIDAYS: Although the
Board had approved these at the last meeting, the Board voted 5-0 to sign the
specifics tonight.
POISON IVY UPDATE: After I reported poison ivy on the
propane tanks and in the grass around the Town Hall, Bill Davis told me about
poison ivy growing on the shoreline at #10 Pond.
The Board adjourned at
9:28 The Board will be meeting at the Calais Town Hall for the summer. The next
scheduled meeting of the Board will be 7:00 PM, Monday, July 28, 2008. Agendas
are posted at the Calais Town Clerk's Office, the 3 stores in town, and the East
Calais Post Office. Only items posted on the agenda are voted on at any meeting.
Those wishing to bring items before the Board should contact Chairman Paul
Hannan at 223-5528. Agenda items for the next meeting need to be received by 6
PM, the Wednesday before that meeting.
Water Quality Testing at the Town Beach- Curtis Pond
Water quality testing at the town beach on Curtis Pond has commenced for the 2008 season.
The first test was taken on 24 June and the results are very good.
The test performed by the state laboratory in Waterbury showed 9 mpn/100ml of ecoli in the water sample.
This is well below the Vermont state standard of 77 mpn/100ml or less. Happy swimming!
Update: I don't have this officially, but was told last weekend that after the big thundersorm the ecoli count went to over 100 and swim lessons were canceled. There was no sign at the store, nor at the swim area, and lots of people were still swimming. If this rumor is true, then I think there should be a better and quicker way to get the info out, if only a few signs in strategic places. - Steve G
Reminders and Updates:
August 24 - Collections Night: share what you collect. Bring an item or your whole collection if you wish.
Important Calais Web Links:
See listings at www.maplecorner.net - Please send me any suggestions you might have to add to this list.
Monthly Listings of the Calais Public Meetings and Events can be found here: http://www.calaisvermont.gov/index.asp?Type=B_EV&SEC={2A53D6E6-B7CD-4587-996F-91554BB73907}
Official Selectboard Meeting Minutes are posted on the Town of Calais Website here: http://www.calaisvermont.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={09BA9114-60DA-4B2D-AA71-9BB0F4FBBE4F}
Calais Online Discussion Board - http://www.forum.calais.us/
Community Quote of the Week:
"Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance, and poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music." - Ezra Pound
This e-mail newsletter is open to submissions from the public, as long as they are noncommercial, and appropriate to the community. Please remember that it depends on you, the subscribers, to let people know what is going on in town. Have you written something you want to share with the community? Do you know of an upcoming event in our area? Contact me by just replying to this email, or call me, Steve Gallagher, at 802-223-0505, though the actual notice has to be emailed to me. You can get an idea of what has been posted in the past by reading the archives at: http://www.songseek.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi?f=list&l=maplecor
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-----Steve Gallagher ------
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