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
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Contents:
Reminders and Updates:
- Important Calais Web Links
- Community Quote of the Week
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Subject: Sept Public Meetings in Calais
Calais Public Meetings September 2008
Tuesday, Sept 2
Planning Commission, 7pm at Elementary School
Conservation Commission, 7pm at Town Office
U32 School Board, 6pm at U32 High School
Saturday, Sept 6
Recycle & trash, 9-12, Moscow Woods Rd, East Calais
Monday, Sept 8
Selectboard, 7pm at Town Hall
Tuesday, Sept 9
PRIMARY ELECTION, polls open 10am 7pm, Town Hall. Absentee ballots
available from Town Clerk until Monday, Sept. 8 at 5pm. Call 456-8720 or stop
by the town office at 3120 Pekin Brook Road.
Development Review Board, 7:30pm, Town Hall
Saturday, Sept 13
Recycle & trash, 9-12, Moscow Woods Rd, East Calais
Tuesday, Sept 16
Elementary School Board, 6:15pm at Elementary School
Planning Commission, 7pm at Elementary School
Wednesday, Sept 17
U32 School Board, 6pm at U32 High School
Saturday, Sept 20
Recycle & trash, 9-12, Moscow Woods Rd, E. Calais
Wednesday, Sept 24
Historic Preservation Commission, 7pm, Town Office
Saturday, Sept 27
Recycle & trash, 9-12, Moscow Woods Rd, E. Calais
Monday, Sept 29
Selectboard, 7pm at Town Hall
Tuesday, Sept 30
Development Review Board, 7:30pm, Town Hall
Contacts:
Selectboard: Eva Morse, Town Clerk, 456-8720
DRB: Dot Naylor, Zoning Administrator, 223-5345
Planning Commission: Jack Russell, Chair, 229-1908
U32: 229-0321 x5127
Historic Preservation Commission: David Schutz, 229-6861
Central Vt Solid Waste District: Liz Helrich, 229-9383
Calendar Updates/Corrections: Donna Fitch, 223-1658
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Subject: Annual Corn Roast at Robinson Sawmill in Kents Corner
Annual Corn Roast at Robinson Sawmill in Kents Corner, Calais. Sunday,
Sept.7, 5pm. If it rains, it will be at the Maple Corner Community Center. Corn
and hotdogs available. Please bring a pot-luck dish and your own plate and utensils.
Think sun!
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Subject: Justice of the Peace Election
Don Singleton Jr. (current road crew foreman) plans to run as an Independant
for Justice of the Peace again for a two year term 2009-2010. Support from
the community is appreciated.
- Singleton Family
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Subject: Horse stall and winter turn out available in E. Calais
Horse stall and winter turn out available in E. Calais. Call Diane @ 456-9842
- Diane Dexter
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 7:01 AM
Subject: My Notes & Occasional Comments: Calais
Selectboard meeting, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008, by Peter Harvey
My Notes & Occasional Comments: Calais Selectboard meeting,
Monday, Aug. 25, 08, members present (clockwise): Paul Hannan and John Brabant,
Anne Winchester, Denise Wheeler, and Cy Lamberton. Rose Pelchuck, the Board's
paid meeting secretary, took the official minutes. There were 11 people in the
audience tonight: Kathy DeWolfe, Cynthia Johnson, John Audy Jr, Diane Brown, Larry
Brown, Dot Naylor, Joe Murray, Janet Ancel, David Pike, Jim Hogue, and myself.
In contrast to the previous easy, light meeting, tonight's meeting had a very
full agenda. Paul kept it going at a good pace, then I was surprised to see most
of the Selectboard members staying and visiting after the meeting.
MINUTES: The Board approved the minutes of July 28th without any changes, 4-0-1,
with Anne abstaining. The Board then approved the minutes of Aug. 11 with only
one more clarification 3-0-2, with Paul & John abstaining because they had
not been at that meeting.
VOTING MACHINE: 45 minuets. The Board heard a presentation and concerns from two
residents about the potential future use of an electronic tabulator for elections.
Kathy DeWolfe, who is a Calais resident, is the Director of Elections & Campaign
Finance at the Secretary of State's Office, told the Board that they are encouraging
towns with more than 750 voters to use Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold)
optical scan machines serviced under contract by LHS Associates. She said Vermont
towns have been using this machine and service contractor since 1994. In 1999,
62 towns (half the Vermont electorate) used this machine. The 2006 state wide
recount for the contested State Auditors office demonstrated the accuracy of the
tabulator which was shown to be significantly more accurate than hand counting.
All the New England states, except R.I., now use these machines. Nationwide, this
is the most often used machine.
People would still use paper ballots that would be retained for 22 months.
If a recount is requested, Vermont law requires a hand count of the voter marked
ballots. Now that the state no longer prints the old style large "bed sheet ballots,"
ballots for both "hand count towns" and "tabulator towns", will be the same size:
8.5" X 11" or 8.5" X 14", depending on the number of candidates on the ballot.
After filling in ovals next to the candidates names or questions with a pencil
or ink (blue or black), each voter would feed the paper ballot into the tabulator.
The actual machine is only the size of a large brief case, but it sits on top
of ballot box about 2 ft. square and 3 ft. high, kitchen counter height. All the
paper ballots are collected and saved below the machine and at the end of the
voting day, it prints out a paper tape that lists the total number of voters,
each candidate's name or question and the vote count, much the way the grocery
store receipts print out the item and the cost. The election officials would then
report the results on handwritten Official Return of Votes as they do now. At
the end of the voting day the results would be known in a matter of minutes rather
than the hours that it currently takes 11 to 20 people in pairs to count the votes
by hand. Calais would only need one machine.
Calais currently budgets $3,000 a year (page 29 in the Red Book) to pay voting
officials during the day and citizens to count the ballots for 3 or 4 hours after
the poles close. The new machine would be free from the state, but the town
would be required to pay a yearly maintenance contract ($175/yr) and cost of configuring
the memory card for each election ($800 to $1,000). Kathy told the Board that
if problems with the machine arise during election day, the contractor is obliged
to arrive within the hour to resolve the problem. In the mean time, votes would
be held and fed into the machine when repaired. All ballots are printed by the
state.
I asked Kathy about the learning curve for voters. She said "there has been no
push back from voters in other communities." Fire Chief John Audy, who lives in
E. Montpelier, told the Board that E. Montpelier uses it and he finds it "very
user friendly."
Sighting the 2004 elections, studies about voting machine fraud in Ohio and other
states, Cynthia Johnson & Jim Hogue expressed their concerns about the potential
for voter fraud by tampering with the machines. Kathy told the Board that Vermont
uses the machines differently that the states that caused the concerns during
the national election 4 years ago. The Vermont machines are not electronically
connected with modems. Each town would report its results manually.
Each town would keep all the original ballots, as it now does, and a tally tape
produced by the machine. Jim told the Board that he has talked with Kathy about
this at length and has determined that "there are no central tabulators. Its not
worth hacking into small towns," he said. But he is still concerned about starting
something that could expand into what he fears could be easily manipulated.
By state law, the Calais voters would need to hold a town wide vote to change
the way we vote. Paul told the room that discussion would continue at the next
meeting. Kathy said she would continue to answer questions and explain the process,
but would not argue about voting machine fraud issues in other states which have
different laws, different rules and different machines.
my comments: While writing about this, I googled "voting machines" vermont LHS
Diebold and got almost 1,600 hits, some supporting, but many very suspicious of
the system.
EMFD AMBULANCE SERVICE: Larry Brown went over the numbers and potential savings
in response time and money in having our own full time ambulance service. The
fire department is working with Washington Electric Coop to locate the ambulance
in a rebuilt heated section of the garage that currently houses 3 fire trucks
on land that would be donated by WEC at the intersection of Rts. 2
& 14, currently owned by WEC. It would be staffed full time. He told the Board
that the income generated from the ambulance service could be returned to the
towns or used to help pay for a new fire station. He asked the Selectboard to
meet jointly with the E. Montpelier Selectboard to discuss the topic.
Larry handed out a "Historical Overview" of the East Montpelier Fire Department
and a 9 page "Proposal for Ambulance Service" including a business plan. "About
75% of EMFD calls are EMS (Emergency Medical Service) calls. Last year, "usually
at least 2 certified EMTs arrive at the call scene 10 to 15 minutes before the
contracted Barre Town Ambulance service because the contractor is so far away."
The Barre Town Ambulance cost Calais & E. Montpelier towns $107,882 for the
2008-9 fiscal year contract. Additionally, each transported patient is charged,
through insurance, about $500.
The EMFD would hire 1 full time staff EMT/Administrator and staff the Ambulance
with paid "volunteer" EMFD members 24/7. It would need to buy a ambulance. They
are asking the two towns for startup money, $101,447. The EMFD anticipates revenues
from insurance providers @ $95,760.
Larry told the Board that in addition to cutting response times in half, this
service would keep the large amount of money in town that we are now spending
out of town.
PEKIN BROOK RD CLOSED FOR BRIDGE REPAIRS, Friday Aug. 29th to Tues, September
9th: Paul announced that that the bridge near the intersection of Pekin Brook
Rd. and George Rd. would be closed for repairs as voted on at Town Meeting (Article
11) The fix, a concrete slab poured over the existing bridge, is meant to last
until the state help can replace the bridge.
CURB CUTS:
David Pike was granted a curb cut at 40 Pekin Brook Rd. with the provision that
he cut and maintain the brush for sight distance (5 to 0). He asked the Selectboard
to have the brush cut for sight distance on the northwest side of the intersection
where Pekin Brook comes into Rt. 14 for the same reason, but the Board said that
is a Vermont state highway and they do not have jurisdiction.
Tisbert Access & Right of Way permit application: The Zoning Administrator
is still awaiting signed application.
WEC/Murray pole location permit re-authorization: The permit had expired. The
Board voted 5-0 to reissue the permit.
LOCAL HELP WITH WINTER FUEL BILLS: Our State Representative, Janet Ancel, asked
to speak with the Board about what Calais might do to help its citizens. She said,
"I don't know what the answers are, but it needs to be talked about." John Audy
added that he is worried about more house fires resulting from increased use of
wood stoves this winter. I asked about the state Weatherization Program. Janet
said there are not enough technicians or money in that program to do what is necessary.
Paul will continue the discussion at the next meeting.
My comments: I know from talking around town that its not uncommon for houses
in Calais to burn 1,000 to 1,500 gallons of oil or more. Just pouring more
oil on the fire seems like blowing in the wind. As a community, we can't afford
to not do something about that, both from the perspective of resources and money.
But money seems to be the breaking point that catches our attention.
EMFD INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT: The Board voted 5 - 0 to sign the Interlocal Agreement
with the East Montpelier Selectboard and the Fire Department. The Interlocal Agreement
idea originated with the first discussions of building a new fire station, to
formally define who owned what and what services were expected. I do not have
a copy of the signed agreement, but it should be posted on the official Calais
web site soon.
Fire Chief John Audy told the Board that the EMFD is selling (for $1) an
old pumper truck with a plastic tank to Calais to be used for spreading liquid
chloride on the roads in the summer to keep dust down. Liquid chloride is more
efficient and has less environmental impact than solid. It doesn't bounce off
the road and works faster. The old fire truck has been recently replaced.
911 DISPATCH SERVICE CONTRACTS: John reported that the Aug. 18th meeting of Central
Vermont towns about costs and contracts for service was "excited," "lively," and
disorganized, with at least one person walking out on it. Solutions seem ellusive
at this stage. John Audy said he has been following the e-mails and "It's not
over yet!" The next meeting is Sept. 15. John and Cy will attend it representing
Calais. John Audy will attend representing the EMFD.
BRIEF UPDATES:
Curtis Pond Dam: John didn't have any new news
Batten Road bill: John told the Board that he had been contacted by Knight Engineering
who told him that they had not yet been paid by Steve Duke and they are ready
to go to collections. The town had directed Steve Duke to hire Knight Engineering
to give a second opinion about the engineering of Batten Road for a development
that he and Jeff Sayers proposed.
DRB monitoring: Anne or Denise will attend the Sept. 9th DRB Public Hearing.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Private Paving of Class 3 TH 64: Paul said that the very short section of Town
Highway leading to the former Patrick Henry house has recently been re-paved without
the permission of the Selectboard. All private work on town roads must be approved
by the Selectboard. Paul will contact the present owner, Pat Malone, of Barre
about the problem.
Washed sediment from roadway: John Fowler, of Mirror Lake Rd. wrote a letter to
Paul about sediment washing into #10 Pond. Cy will look into it.
VOTER REGISTRATION PUBLIC NOTICE: Wed, Sept. 3rd 3 to 5 PM, is the last
chance to register to vote in the Sept. Primary elections. Absentee ballots are
available at the Town Clerk's Office until 5 PM, Sept. 8, the day before the Primary
Elections.
The Board adjourned at 9:20. 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,
Sept. 8, 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.
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 9:50 AM
Subject: Frigidaire Upright Freezer for Sale
* 8.7 cubic feet
* 51"H x 24"W x 27"D
* 3 shelves plus bottom
* About 6 years old -- used it until a year ago -- we moved to a house that
came with a bigger freezer -- we don't need two
* Frigidaire model # FFU09K0AW1
* I can email pictures if requested or call and stop by to take a
look at it.
* $125
Mark Cioffi
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 8:57 PM
Subject: Maple Corner Waterfront house for sale by Owner
Maple Corner Waterfront house for sale by Owner
Main house is an 1820's restored farmhouse.
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. Within easy walking distance is the curtis pond swim lessons, Kent
Tavern Museum and historic Robinson Sawmill.
We are searching for a unique family to be part of a warm family oriented
community that is becoming rare these days. Maple Corner is unlike most places.
A true neighborhood.
The village is centered around an active Community Center with performances,
dinners and dances
and active kids programs. And 86 acre and mile long Curtis Pond is a summer
favorite with swimming, boating and camping on the island. Winter time skating,
pond hockey and ice fishing.
Just a small village, yet with year round festivals and parades including:
Foliage festival, Mardi Gras, Fourth of July, milestone birthday celebrations
and spontaneous cookouts - to name just a few.
So, the new family joining us, would want to be part of an ongoing dynamic
neighborhood, enjoy kids (many scattered around the village), shared evenings
with the neighbors by the pond and a general openness to be part of this wonderful
community.
Available for sale for $335,000.
Photos and info cmiller@vtlink.net 802.223.0184
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008
Subject: online discussions
I am at the Maple Corner Store probably about 3 times a day, and find it
interesting to keep track of what my neighbors are discussing. More and more
it seems to be about raising, and storing and buying and using local food.
Lots of gardening talk. I myself am doing more gardening than I have in the
past 10 or 15 years, recntly bought a second freezer, and have also started
a big raspberry patch from which will be selling rasperries 2 years from now.
I have started a category on the Calais.us discussion board for online postings
about gardening here, and would love to hear about other people's recent experiences
with gardening in Calais, and in particular, about problems with deer damage.
Gardens:
http://www.forum.calais.us/viewtopic.php?p=228#228
I am also continuing to work on my Plant Photos project at www.plant.photos.net
. Recent additions, besides photos and plant desriptions, is the addition
of categorizing the plants into edible, medicinal, poisonous, etc. In the
edible plant categories, I am adding some recipies, most recently my apple
pie recipe.
Apple Pie:
Please feel free and welcome to contribute to both these discussion/projects,
or to email me here at the newsletter with local discussion ideas.
- Steve Gallagher
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Subject: Worcester Historical Society Annual Mtg.
SEPT. 11, 2008 - Worcester Historical Society Annual Mtg.
Potluck Supper 6 pm, followed by Don Wiedenmayer sharing photos that he
took as an official photographer during WWII. Drinks and dinnerware provided.
Free & open to the public. *** Special attraction: the Return of the restored
Outhouse to its original location behind the Village School *** Location:
The Worcester Village School (Calais Rd. across from Doty Elem. School). More
info. 229-9468.
- Elizabeth Hunt Schwartz,
Worcester Historical Society
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Subject: Calais area Playgroup
Calais area Playgroup
WHO- children ages birth-6 with their caregiver
WHAT- free play, story, music & snack
WHERE- Calais Elementary School Gym
WHEN - Fridays 9:30-11:00 am --- starting Friday
9/12/08
Playgroup is free and follows the school calendar.
For more info contact Sue Cioffi 223-8443
suefcioffi@pshift.com
Sponsored by the Washington Central Success by
Six Program and funded by Building Bright Futures.
Important Calais Web Links:
Community Quote of the Week:
“Tell the truth, but tell it slant.” - Emily Dickinson
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
----------------------------------------
You can contact me about this newsletter by just replying to this e-mail. It
is sent out about 3 times per month, so if you are sending a time critical message
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recieved a newsletter, the next one may not get sent for 2 weeks. You can subscribe
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-----Steve Gallagher ------
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