sheffield beehive april 2012

SHEFFIELD BEEHIVE SHEFFIELD BEEHIVE April 2012 Page 1

Vol. 2, No. 4 A monthly newspaper for the people of Sheffield, Vermont April 2012

Investment Advisor Gerry Hunt gave a presentation on investment options for the wind farm money at the Sheffield Selectboard’s April 4 meeting. Hunt explained that his firm has been working with Coventry since 2006 to invest the monies it receives from the landfill. Ac-cording to Hunt, Coventry has accumu-lated close to $3 million.

He told Board members Audrey Hearne and Charlie Gilman that the town has several different options. “If you invested $125,000 a year, in twenty years that would accumulate about $4 million at 5 percent,” he said. “You could draw from that $200,000 a year potentially indefinitely.”

Hunt then explained three different investment options. The first option is an asset preservation strategy – under

this option the town would be saying, ‘Whatever money we put aside our only concern is we don’t want to lose it.’ Hunt said if that is the town’s strategy, then they should be putting the money in the bank or into government bonds. “It’s easy, it’s safe, but it’s not going to do much with the low interest environment we are in,” he said. “This is a very safe and prudent strategy.”

The second option is to get the money invested in some kind of allocation of mutual funds. “Typically when you’re in a fiduciary responsibility like the Se-lectboard or Town Treasurer, you’re go-ing to act conservatively,” Hunt said. “Equity funds – those funds that are in-vested in the stock market – are going to get some higher performance, but at a

(See Selectboard ponders, Page 8)

Attorney Clarke Atwell of the firm Gensburg, Atwell and Greaves in St. Johnsbury attended the April 4 Sheffield Selectboard meeting to discuss a new town Public Records Policy [Page 12].

Atwell said Town Clerk Kathy Newland contacted him to express inter-est in the creation of such a document for the Town Clerk’s office. “Sometimes public records requests can be disruptive to her day-to-day work, so she wanted a policy that helps her to respond in a fair way to everyone,” he said. “Basically it just outlines when requests need to be in writing and how she can charge for cop-ies and if she has to create a public re-

cord she can charge for that extra work. If there aren’t public records to satisfy the request, she can deny the request. If somebody is harassing or intimidating she can make them follow a slightly dif-ferent standard which gives a little more control over the process but still gets them access to public records.”

“If anyone doesn’t like what she is doing they can challenge that and appeal it to the Selectboard,” he added. He then advised Selectboard members Audrey Hearne and Charlie Gilman [Board Chairman Max Aldrich was not in atten-dance] that they will need to consider

(See Town Clerk, Page 10)

Town Clerk adopts Public Records Policy

Selectboard ponders investment options for Wind Farm monies

Flood Zone could impact future home sales

The Sheffield Planning Commission welcomed two new members at the April 18 meeting. Joining the Commission are Keith Ballek, who replaces Leslie Newland, and Linwood Gee who re-places the late Jack Simons. The follow-ing people were elected as officers: Gay Ellis, Chairman; Ed Jewell, Vice-Chairman; and Norma Williams, Secre-tary.

Ned Swanberg, Flood Hazard Map Modernization Program Coordinator in the Water Quality Division of the Ver-mont Department of Environmental Con-servation, gave a lengthy presentation and slide show on flood plains, the Na-tional Flood Insurance Program, and by-laws the community can adopt in order to get into the flood insurance program.

Planning Commissioner Tina Heck said she is working on the problem of getting the town’s incorrect flood plain maps updated and had spoken with Kerry O’Brien [District Manager, Cale-donia County Natural Resources Conser-vation District]. Heck thought it would be good for the Planning Commission to be involved in the process. “I know the people of Sheffield are strongly opposed to zoning,” she said. “They want to know where the flood zones are but don’t want zoning. It was my under-stand that we couldn’t get flood plain maps without being zoned, so I thought we needed to see if we can determine where the flood zones are without being zoned. I don’t know if that’s a possibil-ity.”

Swanberg said he often gives presen-tations to Planning Commissions and Selectboards that are talking about flood

(See Flood Zone, Page 16)

SHEFFIELD BEEHIVE April 2012

Gill G. Foley Gill G. Foley passed away Friday,

March 23, 2012, at his Concord home. He was 59.

He was born on Sept. 24, 1952, the son of Eugenie Martel Foley.

He was a member of the Faith Episco-pal Church in Merrimack NH.

He is survived by his spouse, Rick Hale whom he married on June 18, 2011, after being together for 17 years; his mother, Eugenie Martel of Sherbrooke, Quebec; his two children, Shelly Hale and partner Michael Patoine of Sheffield and Cory Hale and wife Heather of Northfield NH; four grandchildren, Zach, Brooklyn, Mackenzie and Marisa, all of Sheffield; two sisters, Joanne Slee-man and Debbie Foley both of Toronto, Ontario; and many friends and family, and his four furry kids Oscar, Maxine, Prince and Tucker.

Memorial contributions can be sent to Kingdom Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 462, St. Johnsbury VT 05819.

Condolences may be shared at www.saylesfh.com.

Obituaries Richard M. Norway, Sr. died unex-

pectedly on his 66th birthday, Wednes-day, April 11, at his St. Johnsbury home.

Richard was born in Brockton MA on April 11, 1946. He attended elementary school in Sheffield and was proud to have attained his GED later on in life.

Richard was a decorated and disabled Army veteran of the Vietnam war. He was employed for 27 years as a machin-ist at Vermont Tap and Die until the company relocated to North Carolina. It was then that his health began to fail him. He openly battled alcohol much of his life; his family was proud that, for the past 10 years, he has been completely sober. He was a member of the VFW Post #793.

Survivors include his longtime com-panion Shirley Cady of St. Johnsbury and her family who considered him 'Grampa'; a son, Richard Norway, Jr. and wife Denise of St. Johnsbury, Crystal Mandigo of St. Johnsbury; several grandchildren; his adoptive mother, Ione Norway of Sheffield; brothers and sis-ters: Milt (known as 'Babe'), Dena, Car-men, Russell, Kathy and Helen; and nieces and nephews. He was prede-ceased by a sister Elaine as well as his father Milton.

Burial was in the Stannard Cemetery. Condolences may be shared at www.

saylesfh.com.

Richard M. Norway, Sr.

An update on the reconstruction work at the 1829 Baptist Church was given at the Sheffield Historical Society’s April 14 meeting. It was reported that Ver-mont Fire Marshall Brad Charron says it is not mandated to have an ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] ramp; however, there are still plans to make the church accessible to everyone. The planning group has discussed putting in a portable ramp. The planning group con-sists of members of the Sheffield Baptist Society, Federal Church, Ladies’ Aid and the Sheffield Historical Society.

Discussion turned to this year’s Ver-mont Historical Society’s Expo to be held June 16 and 17 in Tunbridge. This year’s theme is the Civil War and Town House Museum curator Norma Williams is preparing a display on the six descen-dants of Alexander Berry who served in the war.

Selectboard to consider raises for town clerk and road crew

During their April 4 meeting, the Sheffield Selectboard voted to table until May 2 a discussion of raises for Road Foreman Max Aldrich, Road Assistant Dennis Newland and Town Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Newland. The discus-sion was tabled because Aldrich, who is also the Selectboard Chairman, was not present at the April meeting. Select-woman Audrey Hearne said the Board still needs some work, prep and planning time prior to the salary discussion. She also said the May discussion will be held in executive session because it will in-clude evaluations.

In other business, Hearne said bid re-quests had gone out to Casella and Myers for pick up of the top box and compactor at the Transfer Station. A joint meeting of the Sheffield and Whee-lock Selectboards will be held Tuesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the Wheelock Town Clerk’s office to open the bids and do employee evaluations.

Cheryl Chesley told the Board that the notice that appeared in the newspaper for Bulky Days was not consumer friendly and did not let people know what days Bulky Days will be held. She then provide a rewritten ad which she said makes that information clear.

Biff Mahoney told the Board that the Transfer Station is no longer consumer friendly. Selectman Charlie Gilman asked why and Mahoney replied, “Whoever this Jim Blackbeard person is, he’s a very unfriendly person to be there. I had a person approach me today and ask if we could do a petition – the person said he had six people who will sign it asking if Blackbeard can be removed.” Several people attending the meeting shook their heads in agreement and gave Mahoney the thumbs up sign.

Williams also reported on a grant workshop about grants.gov that she re-cently attended. Williams explained that only one person can register for an or-ganization. It was agreed by the other three people in attendance at the Histori-cal Society meeting to authorize Wil-liams to register for the Sheffield His-torical Society.

It was announced that the date of the Yard Sale has been changed to Saturday, May 19. The sale will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Town Hall. Items for the sale (no clothing) can be dropped off at Town Hall on Friday, May 18 from 1-4 p.m. Proceeds from the sale will be used to purchase paint for the Town House roof. For more information, call Suz-anne at 626-9609 after 5 p.m.

The next Historical Society meeting will be Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. in Town Hall.

Sheffield Historical Society

Oh, drop a tear here For poor Ezra Bean,

He had halitosis And no Listerine.


Few woody plants offer such value to landscapes and wildlife as do flowering crabapples with such variety in flowers and fruits and multi-season inter-est. These qualities make them one of the most popular small flowering trees. Just make sure in your selections to choose those resistant to dis-eases. Newer introductions are often the best bets.

In the spring, the showy blossoms make their appearance in mid- to late May before the lilacs bloom. Although actual time of bloom will vary from year to year, depending on temperature, a to-tal bloom period of up to four weeks can be expected. The bloom period of an in-dividual crabapple cultivar (cultivated variety) may vary from a few days to almost two weeks, depending on weather conditions.

Crabapple buds may be pink or red, and the open blossoms of the various crabapples may range from white to dark

purplish red, with many variations of pink and red in between. Most crabap-ples have single flowers; a few have semi-double or double blossoms but bear fewer fruit.

Some good choices with white flow-ers include Adirondack, Camelot, Cen-tennial, Dolgo, Donald Wyman, Guinevere, HarvestGold, Lancelot, Mol-ten Lava, Professor Sprenger, Red Swan, Sargent, Sugar Tyme, and Tina. Some good choices with pink flowers include Louisa, Robinson, and Strawberry Par-fait. For red flowers, consider Centu-rion, Prairifire, or Purple Prince.

Most crabapples have attractive green foliage with solid margins, except for the deeply cut leaves of Golden Raindrops.

Some have a distinct reddish or bronze leaf color for the first month or so of the growing season, while others retain the reddish coloration throughout the season as with Purple Prince. Some crabapple cultivars even have ornamental gold to yellow fall colors as with Calocarpa and Lancelot.

Crabapple fruits are two inches or less in diameter. Color ranges from bright red to purple and from bright yellow to orange, with intermediate shades and combinations. Fruits of some cultivars begin to color in August, while others do not reach their true color until September or October.

Fruits of some cultivars ripen and drop by the end of August, while others may still be present (“persistent”) in spring. If you don’t want a landscape littered with fruit in the fall, look for those with persistent fruit such as Donald Wyman, Professor Sprenger, Guinevere, Lancelot, Sugar Tyme, or Tina.

When choosing crabap-ples, consider not only your preference for flow-ers and fruits, also where they’ll be planted. Make sure the soil is well drained and doesn’t get waterlogged. They’ll flower and fruit best in full sun, but will tolerate a few hours of shade per day, only with fewer flow-ers (and so fewer fruits). If planted near a

walk, or close to where they’ll be viewed, consider ones with persistent red and small fruits, upright habit, or with fragrant flowers (such as Donald Wyman, Prairie Fire, or Sargent). If planted farther away, consider ones with larger and yellow fruits. White flowers and yellow fruits blend better with ever-greens, dark stone, or red brick build-ings. White flowers and red fruits blend nicely with lighter natural color back-grounds such as light brown and wood.

Flowering crabapple trees are gener-ally 15 to 20 feet tall. The Round Table Series with names such as Camelot, Guinevere, and Lancelot, reach about ten feet tall. Most crabapples are rounded or vase-shaped, but growth habit varies

widely from columnar such as with Adi-rondack to weeping as with Louisa or Red Swan.

About the only insect that might be a serious problem in some areas is the

Japanese Beetle. Cultivars that have shown high resistance to this include Centurion, HarvestGold, Louisa, and Prairie Fire. Diseases are a much greater problem on many crabapples than in-sects, particularly on older culti-vars. Many of the newer cultivars have been bred for resistance to the four main diseases, which are the same as you’ll encounter with regular apples – scab, fireblight, cedar apple rust, and powdery mildew. All the above cultivars have good to excellent disease resistance.

If diseases generally aren’t a problem in your area, or you can tolerate some leaf diseases, there are many more culti-var choices. Beware of cheap trees at chain stores, as often these have few if any roots, and may only recently have been potted (basically a “bare root” plant). Visit your local nursery or full-service garden store for proven local cul-tivars with good disease resistance and good roots.

Selecting Flowering Crabapples Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor, UVM


Editorial

Rewarded for withholding information Sheffield’s Town Clerk is implementing a new Public Re-

cords Policy [see Page 12] effective May 1 that has the poten-tial to affect every person in this town, and others. Release and inspection of records will now be at the whim of the Clerk. If she thinks you ask too many questions, is tired, doesn’t like your hairstyle – too bad, you’re punishment for requesting information you are legally entitled to can be a withhold of that information until she sees fit to respond.

Why does the Town Clerk need such a restrictive [and dis-ruptive to the requester] policy? According to her reasoning, the Clerk is being disrupted with requests for information. What does she have to do that is so pressing? The only way to find that out is a work log, an accounting of what she is doing each workday and the amount of time each task takes.

Why does the Clerk feel the need to implement such an extensive and restrictive policy? Is something being hidden from the public that this policy will assure whatever it is re-mains buried in the Clerk’s records?

Punishing the public by holding back public information has already gone too far in Sheffield. Even the most innocu-ous requests are being met with stony silence. Only through the kind intervention of Selectwoman Audrey Hearne was this editor able to obtain the name of the attorney who created the Public Records Policy. Hearne had to intervene because the Town Clerk would not reply to this editor’s initial request for information. When she finally did, this editor was told to pick up the information from the Clerk’s office. Since this editor refused to do so [based on a comment made by the Vermont Secretary of State about the questionable legality of such a requirement] the Town Clerk provided the information via a typed letter sent via postal mail. Wouldn’t it have been less costly and less time consuming for her to have simply emailed the information?

As for the policy itself, this newspaper had questions which were emailed to Attorney Clarke Atwell, the author of the policy. Those questions can be found on Page 10 as can Atwell’s response. Essentially he told this newspaper, and in effect you, Joe Citizen, that if you don’t like the policy, or have questions, hire a lawyer because he works for the town. Hmm, let’s see; you and I and a whole town of other people pay taxes so Attorney Atwell can get paid, yet he won’t answer our questions. Why? We as taxpayers are footing the bill for his services, thus in essence we are his cli-ents. And who authorized the hiring and paying of Attorney Atwell? The matter has not come before the Selectboard.

This Public Records Policy will be revisited, and hopefully discussed, by the Selectboard at their May 2 meeting. It may behoove the public to attend and ask what the Clerk is doing with her time that she is having difficulty fulfilling records requests. What will happen if you need property records for a court case, or to settle an estate, etc.? How long will you have to wait for the Clerk to provide copies of those records?

What about the news media whose responsibility it is to get copies of public information out to the public for public action in a timely manner? Newspapers, radio, television, and Internet blogs all work on tight reporting deadlines and if The Caledonian Record, the Barton Chronicle, Burlington television stations, VT Digger, Burlington Free Press, or

even the Sheffield Beehive need immediate or timely copies to meet publishing deadlines, what will happen? Is our Town Clerk justified in stonewalling for no substantial reason?

Also at the May 2 Selectboard meeting there will be dis-cussion and probably action on raises for Road Foreman Max Aldrich, Road Assistant Dennis Newland, and Town Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Newland.

None of these raises were included in the town’s budget for this year, nor was there any mention at the budget meet-ing that they would even be considered. Why not? Shouldn’t all of this have been discussed and added into the budget? Without that discussion it means that implementing these raises will automatically create a potential overrun in the budget approved at Town Meeting and we are less than half-way through the year.

Furthermore, Aldrich and Newland [and their spouses] are already costing the taxpayers almost $40,000 a year in health insurance premiums. In the case of the Town Clerk/Treasurer, combining her health insurance premiums and wages means Newland earned around $35,000 last year or about $32 per hour assuming she worked twenty-one hours per week – and this doesn’t include her Social Security and unemployment insurance which the Town is obligated to pay.

How many people in Sheffield earn $32 per hour for part-time work? Probably not many considering 64 percent of the students in our school system qualify for free and reduced lunch. How many of Sheffield’s working poor even have health insurance? In the real world the majority of people contribute to their health insurance plans.

Now it appears our Town Clerk will be allowed carte blanche to slap the public in the face by withholding public records until the spirit moves her. In the real world a person wouldn’t get rewarded with a raise for such behavior; they would more likely be shown to the door.

Concerned about how your money is being spent while the level of services you are receiving – services you are legally entitled to – are decreasing?

Go to the meeting – May 2 at 6 p.m. in the Clerk’s office.

A Monthly Plank House Publication Distributed Free via email to residents of Sheffield VT

4702 Vermont Route 122 ~ Sheffield, Vermont 05866 Email: [email protected] ~ 745-9215

Entire Contents Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved

In the Hive Editor Denise L. Foster Publisher Biff Mahoney Contributors Suzanne Bartlett Senator Joe Benning UVM Extension


Letters

We need to motivate parents to motivate their children To the Editor:

From reading the last issue of the Beehive, it seems as maybe Millers Run is one of those failing schools. I try to find a list of failing schools and every-one is so very evasive. So would some-one out there who knows, please cut through the chafe, tell us, yes or no, which schools in the area are failing. Keep in mind that even if we are found to do “adequate progress” as I always hear for an educator, that is not good enough as the USA ranks somewhere between 19 to 25th place in the world. Now we go out and hire expensive edu-cators to address the problem. The an-

swer seems to be throwing more money at the problem. What is missed here is that parents have to be involved, moti-vated to motivate their children. If they are falling behind, they have to work harder.

I went to a one room schoolhouse, one teacher, but yet we had graduates that went on to MIT. The poor are al-ways jealous of the rich, but you find out that the rich are motivated. Prescot Bush was a senator from Connecticut in my time. He didn’t let his son to grow up and goof off for sure. His son became president and his grandson became presi-dent. My brother and his wife didn’t let

their three children goof off. My brother now has two doctors and one lawyer in the family.

Now some, a very few, are gifted, and do well without much effort, but for the others it has to be hard work, study, study and more study. Children need to learn school is a serious life altering business. Failure here is failure in life. Laziness in school breeds laziness in later life. Who wants to hire a lazy per-son?

When I came home with a “C,” my parents said that was average, but to them, that was a failing grade. I came

(See Motivate, Page 20)

Opinion

What price are we willing to pay for this new policy? Sen. Joe Benning, Lyndonville

Recently I hiked up to the top of Lowell Ridge to see where twenty-one 400-foot wind towers will be placed. As I crested the mountain, I came face to face with an energy policy that is at war with itself. The environmental destruction taking place there pits those seeking to re-verse climate change against those who wish to preserve Ver-mont’s pristine natural re-sources. While that battle rages, the economic cost to Vermont has been pushed aside as irrele-vant.

Our new energy policy calls for a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. Targeting our entire energy spectrum (including transportation), it relies on in-state renewables to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. At the same time we’re eliminating Hydro-Quebec, nuclear power, fracked natural gas and less efficient biomass electricity as acceptable “renewables.” In-dustrial wind, currently the darling of the present administra-tion, has become the power that now drives our legislative pol-icy.

What price are we willing to pay for this new policy? Ver-mont currently does a better job than most states at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so self-imposed mandates are not even necessary. And to those who believe Vermont will “lead the way” in reversing climate change, any hope that Vermont alone can cause a worldwide domino effect to achieve this lofty goal should be carefully balanced against the very real environmental destruction taking place right now in the cher-ished natural solitude of the Northeast Kingdom.

And more wind farms are coming as corporate investors,

motivated by tax incentives and artificially inflated electric rates, seduce small towns with infusions of cash. Since wind is intermittent and has no storage capacity, our policy alone will require more wind farms and many miles of transmission lines to achieve our energy goal. If regulatory authorities fall short

insisting on decommissioning plans, our ridge lines will end up littered with 30-story rusting hulks when this technology be-comes obsolete. These new wind farms are encroaching on our wildlife corridors, destroying pristine mountain environments and radically changing the aes-thetics of our state. They pit citi-zens of towns against each other, and towns against towns in a given region. In the meantime, we in the Legislature have not been living up to the responsibility that comes with guarding Vermont’s

Constitution. Article 18 urges us to be moderate and frugal when enacting only such legislation as is necessary for the good government of this state.

At a time when Vermont already has more power than it can use, our new policy is not moderate, not frugal and certainly not necessary. We haven’t even taken the time to ask ourselves what these policy goals will mean to our economy in the ab-sence of similar goals in surrounding states. I cannot support the raping of a pristine environment in ex-change for intermittent power that has to be subsidized by both the taxpayer and the ratepayer. At a time when Vermont al-ready has an ample power supply, this is no energy plan, it is a blind obsession. It’s time for Vermonters of every political stripe to join together in defense of “These Green Hills and Sil-ver Waters.”

SITE PREPARATION FOR JUST ONE industrial tur-bine at the Lowell wind project. Steve Wright Photo


To the Editor: About 60 years ago my grandparents

left Sheffield because they feared their children were not getting the education they deserved. Eight years ago, my gram warned me not to move to Shef-field because the school was no good. I did not listen. About 30 years ago my mother and brother left Sheffield be-cause they were tortured and tormented because they lived their life differently than others thought they should. Eight years ago my mom warned me not to move to Sheffield because people were cruel. Again, I did not listen. Turns out I should have.

We bought our house in Sheffield because it was close to Matt’s family and was the only house we could afford at the time. When we moved in our son had just turned one and we felt Sheffield was a nice community to raise children. As we were unpacking our U-Haul a neighbor we had not met came over to help when he saw us struggling. That man, John Donovan, helped us see what a beautiful town Sheffield could be and we felt we had made the right choice.

We made friends with our neighbors and we were able to feel the sense of community that we moved to Sheffield for. That feeling lasted maybe two years. Matt and I started working at the King George School and the talk of the wind turbines came into town. As this talk started circulating the town the sense of community was lost. The feeling of pure evil began lurking around every corner. Bad things began happening all around. The right to voice your opinion did not come without a cost. As soon as we spoke up with our beliefs we became known as one of the troublemakers.

The fact that we did not want to sit back and be fed the lies from the ones in charge we were unable to be a part of the community that we had moved into town for in the first place. Ignorance is nice for a while, but you cannot live your en-tire life being told what to do, how to think, how to vote, etc., etc., etc. The true sense of community was still there with the neighbors and friends who also did not buy into the crap they were being

fed. Together, the real community mem-

bers made big changes and helped all who needed help regardless of what they believed or how they voted, or what they said. The Sheffield Food Pantry was born and so many lives have been changed by the work of so many selfless people. That is the community that I was proud to be a part of.

As my son entered school he had a pretty enjoyable pre-school year. There were a few issues, but nothing major. His next year in school was a different story. His life was made a living Hell and nothing was done to keep him safe. Imagine a 5-year-old dreading going to school because he cannot be kept safe. WOW!

His next school year was even worse. The physical assaults started happening more frequently. Towards the end of the year the boy who had been responsible for the assaults threatened to kill my 5-year-old daughter and break my son’s arm if he said anything. Needless to say my son was scared and refused to go back to school. A meeting with the prin-cipal was had and my son was PROM-ISED that he would be kept safe and that if he went to go back to school he, at 7-years-old, asked if he would be able to call us at any time that he felt unsafe -- the answer was ‘yes.’ The reality was that he was not allowed to call us.

We sent our 7-year-old son to school with the belief that he would be safe. Minutes after he arrived at school Matt received a call stating that the boy had harmed our son, but the boy was going to be sent home and our son would be safe. Matt asked if he could pick our son up, he was told he would be fine once the other boy left. Hours later, at the end of the school day, Matt went to find our son -- he was not in the hall waiting to be picked up and he was not in his class-room. Matt asked where he was and he was told he had gone to the principal’s office. Our son was terrified; he had to go to the bathroom but held it because he was too afraid to leave the room. He received a head injury at the hands of his attacker and what happened??? Our son,

the victim, was placed in a dark room with an ice pack and when he asked to call us he was told ‘NO.’ The boy who caused the injury was left in the class-room and allowed to go to gym (the only reason our son went to school that day). My son was left ALONE in a DARK room for HOURS. He was the one who was punished in more than one way. He is the one with PTSD because of what he went through at SCHOOL.

We called the police and reported the attack after we brought our son to the emergency room. A threat of a riot was placed on Facebook and two days later as our children were outside playing we heard threats that our fence was going to be used to start a bomb fire. Mere hours later we lost our home to a fire. Three fire investigators ruled that fire to not be suspicious. The evil had made its way to us yet again, this time helping free us from the depths of Hell that we had been living in for so long. There is always a silver lining to every cloud, sometimes you just have to get poured on before you see what is in store for you.

The town rallied together to help our family through the tough times and were very kind and thoughtful. When we had the choice to relocate it was a no-brainer. We could not pass up the gift that was given to us. Our children were given the chance to find a school where they could be safe everyday and not have to have butterflies in their bellies as we drove up 122. We miss many of the good friends and neighbors that we had but the ones who made our lives Hell outnumber those who we miss.

Greed. That is the route to all the evil that we witnessed in town. Integrity. A word that has been lost from the vocabu-lary of many, but one that is worth the fight to find. Stay strong. A lesson I have learned is always listen to your mother and grandmother, because their warnings came true; torment, torture and lack of education. My parting thought as I forever part ways with Sheffield: Read the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson -- that is the Sheffield I will re-member until my last breathe.

Jessica Brill

Letters

The Sheffield I will remember until my last breathe


At their April meeting the Millers Run School Board got a firsthand look at a new math program that is being piloted in the school. Mrs. Stahler’s 3rd grade students came in to demonstrate Rocket Math. School Principal Dusty Nelson explained the school is using the pro-gram in an effort to strengthen math skills. “This is a paper and pencil task as opposed to the other program we have put in place called Extra Math which is online,” he said.

Stahler said Millers Run’s 3rd graders are the only students in the district cur-rently using the program. “Rocket Math is just basic addition, subtraction, divi-sion, and multiplication with the goal of bringing them to automaticity,” she ex-plained. “Automaticity means you can solve the problem very quickly without a lot of thought about it. As you start do-ing the more complicated problems you either are focusing on the facts or the strategies and the operation. If you have the facts for automaticity the theory is you’ll be much better at those complex operations.”

She went on to explain that the first step in Rocket Math is to determine how fast students can write. To accomplish this, they take a one-minute written test where they are just copying numbers. “Because we started the program in January, they were pretty good writers,” she said. “The goals in our class ranged from 25 to 41. That means if your goal is 41, then in order to pass a one-minute Rocket Math test you will need to have 41 correct answers every day with no skipping answers.” Once the goals were established it was necessary to determine at what level each student would start. Stahler started the class with addition so some students started at the basic level of 1+2=3; 2+1=3 and so forth while other students started at higher levels with equations involving larger numbers.

Each day students partner up and dur-ing a one-minute period one student reads math equations and the other stu-dent provides the answer. The equations are based on the level previously deter-mined for each student. Students repeat the entire set of equations as many times as possible within the one-minute time-

frame and then they switch roles and equation sheets, depending on the level the students have reached. If a student hesitates or makes a mistake, the person who has the answer sheet will repeat the equation three times and say, “Go back three.”

Stahler explained that it is possible for the partners to have entirely different sets of equations based on their levels within the program. After the students complete the oral section of the program, which is done standing, they sit down and take a one-minute written test on the equations they just practiced. The writ-ten portion determines if they will ad-vance to the next level.

The class does the program every day and Stahler said if she forgets the stu-dents will remind her that they need to do the program. “This is extra math,” she noted. “The kids tend to get very bored with the computer math program because it is repetitive. They haven’t really gotten bored with this because they keep moving. We have a few peo-ple who flatlined, but we talked about that and today almost everyone passed. They keep each other going.”

“When you look at how we compare this with other programs or other things, the comparison for students is with what they did the previous day. They want to try to improve every day, so they’re competing with themselves.”

“They’re doing the bigger problems and understanding those strategies be-cause they’re really thinking about the strategies,” Stahler said.

Board member Jill Faulkner asked the students what they thought of the pro-gram. They said they really like the pro-gram and the test to see how well they do.

“This will give us an opportunity to see how this is working versus online stuff and if we find this working better, then we’ll see what we can do for stu-dents,” Nelson said.

“If I had started in the Fall they would have started with a lower goal,” Stahler explained. “The lowest goal you can have is 25 answers in one minute. If I had started at the beginning of the year we might have had lower goals and then

Millers Run School

Blasting off with Rocket Math every time you got more than your goal correct, you’re supposed to up the goal. I didn’t do that because some of them started with goals of 41 – that’s a lot to write in one minute. But in the Fall, if we start with the lower goals, I will im-plement that part of the program to keep raising the goal.”

“The idea behind giving kids the op-portunity to become automatic or fluent with facts is that once they’re fluent with that then we can work with students on the critical thinking skills,” Nelson added. “If they don’t really work well with the automaticity, when they get to the critical thinking they will be spend-ing more time thinking about how do I add, subtract, multiply, divide than they are about thinking how do I really solve this creatively.”

“It is interesting to see a whole class do it,” Stahler said. “They seldom have the same partners and even if they are at the same level, they are still gaining be-cause when they are calling out the equa-tions they are also looking at the an-swers.”

Nelson noted that the difference be-tween Rocket Math and Extra Math is that if a child has a computer at home the child can log on and work on the Extra Math at home and the teacher can see how they are progressing. Stahler said she has offered to send home the Rocket Math equations so students can practice with family members.

School Board member David Wilton commented that one of the drawbacks in our community is that Internet is not readily available and a lot of people have to opt for HughesNet [satellite] which is expensive and slow.

“In the scheme of education there are three things we really want to be con-cerned with students – we want to be concerned with their literacy because first and foremost that is the basis for learning. We also want to be concerned with their mathematics, and the third one is their so-c i a l / e m o t i o n a l growth. Those go hand-in-hand in the classroom.”


Volunteers Needed The Miller Run School & Community Garden is looking for volunteers of all ages to help plant, weed and

harvest vegetables this spring and summer. We will offer our vegetables to local seniors, as we have in the past, but the bulk of our produce will be given to the

Food Pantry to be used in the monthly Community Lunches which are open to everyone. If you would like to volunteer;

If you are a senior who would like to receive vegetables; If you would like to have a small plot of your own to grow for your family;

If you would like to donate horse, cow, goat manure; If you have any ideas to contribute;

If you would like to donate compost or compostable materials to the garden please call Bobbie Bristol at 626-8293 (and leave a message and phone number) or email [email protected].

(Continued from Page 1) higher risk. Bond funds will provide stability but they won’t get you the per-formance. The usual strategy we look for is to try to find that middle ground where you get some performance; will see some ups and downs.”

Coventry has invested about a quar-ter-million dollars into a mutual fund strategy – about 60 percent in bonds and 40 percent in stocks, according to Hunt. He said the town hasn’t lost any money. Also, some General Funds money and Cemetery Funds money are in a mutual fund type investment.

He explained that Coventry’s invest-ments are done through a variable annu-ity, which is a collection of investments with an insurance wrapper around it that provides certain guarantees. “What Cov-entry realized is if we can make those investments a little more aggressive, we have an insurance wrapper around it that provides a safety net – maybe we’re go-ing to come out ahead,” he said. Ac-cording to Hunt, Coventry has about two and a half million dollars invested in a variable annuity that says whatever money the town puts in is guaranteed to come back out. Furthermore, every five years, if it grows, the town can lock in the growth, and if they draw the money out gradually the insurance companies guarantees that even if the stock market plummets they will get back every penny they put in.

“I review the Coventry accounts twice a year to show them how they are doing and discuss any changes that should be made,” Hunt said. “They get reports automatically quarterly that show the status of the accounts.” He also ex-plained that there are different types of annuity products. Hunt said he had talked with an attorney from one of the

major companies and they guarantee a five percent growth stream for purposes of when the money is eventually drawn out. “When you draw out of it you can draw five percent per year indefinitely,” he added. “There are certain strings at-tached. This is a long-term investment – you cannot draw a million dollars to build/repair a bridge.”

Hearne said that the only thing that was definitively voted on and approved at Town Meeting was the tax relief piece. “My belief is there are still some unanswered questions since we don’t know the wind farm’s affect on the Grand List,” she said. “I know we don’t have an answer from the voters yet on how much they would like to invest and how much they would like to apply to some community things, so I think we’ve got some decisions with our com-munity to make before we can proceed with this.”

Hunt cautioned the town against al-lowing the monies to just accumulate in the bank. “There are other alternatives – most of them do have some strings at-tached or some fees in getting the money invested,” he said. “You are not in a bad position to sit there and be cautious, but don’t let it just be stagnant. It’s a tough decision because you are talking hun-dreds of thousand, millions of dollars, and a community of people who are watching everything you do.” Hearne replied that once the Board has some more of the answers to the concerns she previously expressed, then they can have Hunt come to give some specifics.

Biff Mahoney asked Hunt who re-quested he attend the meeting. Hunt re-plied that his company initiated the con-tact after talking with Coventry Repre-sentative Mike Marcott. Hunt said after speaking with Marcott he also talked

with Representative Sam Young and then contacted the town.

Mahoney wanted to know how Hunt gets paid. “I get paid based on commis-sions on the different investments we get placed,” Hunt replied. “The commission rate depends on what we’re doing. On mutual funds with the quantities of money we’re talking things are dis-counted but it can be anywhere from 2 or 3 percent up to 6 or 7 percent.

We get paid on actually placing in-vestments. When we talk about an annu-ity the insurance company is charging a fee for the insurance wrapper they are putting around the investment. From that fee they are paying me. They peel off their fee of about 2¼ percent from the interest in a graduated way.”

Linwood Gee asked the Selectboard to make sure the Planning Commission is invited to future meetings where such investments will be discussed. “I’m really disappointed they weren’t invited to this meeting, I really think we should be involved with this,” he said.

Ed Richardson asked about potential losses. He said, “Let’s say you put $100,000 into whatever the investment is, the interest will accumulate and you’ll get some sort of report showing the in-vestment went up. If in the following year it went back down would we use lose any of the principle?” Hunt replied, “Depends on what kind of vehicle we use. In a straight mutual fund the invest-ment can go up or down and in any given cycle you might see the value go down from one year to the next.”

“Under option number three it doesn’t drop, right?” asked Gilman. Hunt re-plied that there are some variations with the annuities, but they have options that lock in or ratchet the growth. “So it you

(See Selectboard ponders, Next Page)

Selectboard ponders investment options for Wind Farm monies


(Continued from Previous Page) put in say $300,000 on June 1, 2012 and if it goes up to $500,000, that value is going to get locked,” he explained. “If it drops back down to $300,000, that higher amount is still maintained. But if it’s locked in at $500,000 and has dropped back down to $300,000 and you say I want to take out all my money, you’ll be paid out the $300,000. But if you decide to start drawing it down gradually instead, then you will be able to draw five percent of $500,000 even though the actual value is only at $300,000.”

Richardson asked what is ratcheted. Hunt replied, “The annuity is the only one that has the guaranteed ratchet on it. You’re paying a fee for that – you’re paying about 2¼ percent for the insur-ance to say, ‘We’re going to cover you, even if the market drops.’ ”

“Is it different for a town than for an individual,” Richardson asked. Hunt responded that the difference is an indi-vidual can take all the risk they want whereas a town has a fiduciary responsi-bility for the taxpayers’ money, so there’s a legal obligation that the town be careful with that money.

Richardson also noted that some funds have dividends that are paid quarterly or annually. “What happens to that money – does it come to the town or is it reinvested?” he asked. Hunt said that is a choice the investor makes. “Typically on something like this where you are trying to build up that account over 20 years, it will just get plowed back in,” he said. “We’re not looking at this chunk of money for current income; we’re looking at it for future income.”

Denise Foster asked the Board if Hunt could be invited to speak at a town-wide meeting to explain all the options. Hearne replied that had also occurred to her but she felt the Board should hear from the investment representative the town is currently using as well as some others prior to holding a town-wide meeting. Gilman expressed concern about waiting another month before hearing from another investment repre-sentative. Hearne replied that she feels there are still decisions to be made. “We haven’t heard from the voters if they want to invest this year,” she said.

“Of course they want to,” Gilman re-plied. “What the hell are you supposed

to do with it? You can’t just let it sit there. We’re gonna invest it, period.” Hearne replied that the voters might choose to spend the money on some other things. “We’re going to invest it,” Gilman insisted. “You aren’t going to sit for a year with it just drawing one per-cent.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Hearne retorted. “We don’t have all the answers on the [wind farm] appraisal yet. I think it’s premature to make these decisions.” Gilman said, “As far as I’m concerned we’re going to invest it.” Hearne told Gilman that he is just one vote and he will have the opportunity to get that vote.

Town Clerk Kathy Newland said that Shelly Wright from Community Bank was going to come and talk to her and Auditor Sally Wood-Simons about in-vesting money. “We can bring Ned back, and if we need to have her here we’ll have her here.” Hearne suggested Wright attend the May Selectboard meeting. Newland asked how many in-vestments people the Board wants to talk to. “I think they are all going to tell you the same thing,” she said.

Foster asked if the Selectboard needs to have another Town Meeting and vote before they can decide to go with a long-term investment plan to which Gilman replied, “No, we can decide right here.”

Mahoney asked if the Board was thinking about limiting it to only one of the three options presented by Hunt. “Not necessarily,” Gilman replied, “I would say two different options.”

Selectboard ponders investment options Millers Run Honors Lists Millers Run School in Sheffield re-

cently announced students achieving honor roll for the third marking period of the 2011-2012 school year.

High Honors Grade 8: Autumn Lee Grade 6: Becky Lee Grade 5: Madison Duranleau

Honors Grade 8: Ethan Bernier, Lucas Currier, Bryanna Trottier and Bryana Williams Grade 7: Ethan Bergeron, Amelia Hill, Alyssa Leonard, and Natasha Rivard Grade 6: Hannah Baker, Brandon Brunell, Lily Currier, Emma Hudson, Mason Leonard, Jamie Powers, Alaura Rich, Shalbee Richard, and Jada Rose-mark Grade 5: Brooklyn Avery-Hale; Sabrina Batchelder, Devon Boardman, , Jasmine Hubbard, Rochelle Mathewson, Dareena Richard, Chelsea Sanville, and Lauren Bora.

Are Wind Turbines Impacting You?

People living near wind turbines have experienced the following problems:

• Excessive noise • Headaches • Impacts on pets/wildlife • Shadow flicker • Nausea • Change in rivers, streams, wells • Blinking lights • Dizziness • Disrupted sleep • Depression

Vermonters for a Clean Environment is collecting reports from Vermonters who are feeling impacts from large-scale wind development.

To fill out a confidential survey to report impacts from turbines, go to:

www.WindReporting.org

For more information about VCE, email [email protected] or call 802-446-2094

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Attorney Atwell, You recently created a Public Records

Policy for the Town of Sheffield. If pos-sible, can you please forward me a copy of the policy as revised since you stated at the Selectboard meeting that the pol-icy you brought needed some changes. As a public records requestor, I want to have a copy of the most up-to-date pol-icy for reference.

Also, I have some legal questions about the policy, which I’m hoping you can answer.

1) Under the section “Inspection of Public Records” item #1 states “If the record does not exist under the name given by the requestor or by any other name known to the Town Clerk …” Here is my question, if there is a docu-ment but the requestor doesn’t know the exact name but can describe the docu-ment, can the Clerk say he/she doesn’t know what the requestor wants and leave it as a non-fillable request?

I’m asking because recently I sought a document that is a section of the agree-ment Sheffield has with First Wind, but I did not have the name of the document. The Clerk said she didn’t know what document I wanted. After several days of my pressuring for the document she con-

tacted the attorney who had created the agreement and he knew immediately what document I wanted and furnished it. I was correct that this document is indeed a section of the legal agreement and should have been archived with the rest of the agreement in the Clerk’s of-fice.

Had I not been persistent, no one would have access to this document even though the document falls under state and federal public records laws. My con-cern is that it seems under this new pub-lic records policy the Clerk has no obli-gation to even look for such a document if the requestor does not know the exact name, nor does the Clerk have any obli-gation to contact the attorney or anyone else to request the document. Am I cor-rect about this? If so, what recourse does the public have?

2) The policy states, “In the following circumstances, the time limits described above may be extended up to ten busi-ness days from receipt of the request” and the later on it says “… the Town Clerk may request that a requestor seek-ing a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records narrow the scope of the public records request.”

My question is, how does this work in

the case of a lawsuit where attorneys may be requesting voluminous amounts of separate and distinct records? Does this policy mean the Clerk can deny those requests or insist the attorneys nar-row the scope? Is that legal?

3) Under the section “Copies of Pub-lic Records,” why is the Clerk given five days to make a photocopy? I can under-stand if the amount of material is volu-minous, however some people want just a few pages copied or may need the in-formation in a timely manner in order to settle a legal issue. Isn’t five days exces-sive?

It also states that “a copy of the actual cost charge and staff time rate schedule is attached.” I found no such attachment.

I know Town Clerks can charge for copies, but I do not understand how the Clerk can receive his/her regular hourly pay rate (i.e. staff time) from the Town and charge an additional hourly rate on top of that for doing work that person is obligated to do as a Town Clerk. Am I misunderstanding something here? Also, who gets the extra money? Does it go into the Town’s General Fund or the Clerk’s pocket?

4) Under “Protection of Public Re- (Continued on Next Page)

Questions to Attorney regarding Public Records Policy

(Continued from Page 1) that aspect of the policy. In explaining the Selectboard’s role, Atwell said, “If somebody felt she was wronging them or acting not in confor-mance with the policy or unfairly, then they can challenge that decision by filing a notice of appeal. You guys would re-view it and tell her if she’s right or wrong and if she’s wrong she’d have to do it the way you told her. Kathy can adopt this, but obviously if it is going to be appealed to the Selectboard, you need to be able to say yes or no that you are supporting this.”

“So, she can adopt it without our okay to do so, but the part for us to know what our role is in this if there’s an appeal?,” Hearne asked. “That’s right,” Atwell replied. Hearne then said she would like to read the document prior to respond-ing.

Atwell also told the Board that Jim Barlow, counsel at the Vermont League of Cities and Towns had reviewed the document and made some changes so

Atwell would be revising the document he had provided the Board. “There’s some additional language he wanted me to add in,” Atwell said.

Hearne asked Newland if she had made a decision about whether or not she would be adopting the policy. “Yes, I am adopting this,” Newland replied.

“We will take this document under advisement and review it and become familiar with our role,” Hearne said. She then asked Atwell to clarify his contact with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and if the policy is in compliance with the public record laws. Atwell re-plied that per the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, “when I change it I will be telling you that I think it’s in compliance with public records law. I would like to say it’s in compliance right now, but Barlow had some comments that he thinks improves it.”

Biff Mahoney asked if the policy will be on the May meeting agenda to which after some hesitation Hearne replied, “Yes, I would say if Kathy’s adopting it

that we do need to have it on the next meeting’s agenda, yes.” Cheryl Chesley asked if the policy will be posted in the Town Clerk’s office after it is approved. Atwell said, “Absolutely, yes.”

Gilman wondered if the document had to be or should be in The Caledonian Record. Atwell said he didn’t now for sure but would look into it. “I think that’s a good question,” he added.

Hearne said she didn’t think the entire 5-page policy would need to be put in the paper, but just a notice that it is avail-able for viewing in the Clerk’s office. “You probably just need to post it and give it out to anyone who asks,” Atwell said. “Of course, there is the ability to challenge the policy to the Selectboard if someone doesn’t agree with it.”

“On that basis maybe it should be in the paper,” Gilman said. Atwell said he would find out while Newland stated, “I think you should just put in the paper that it is available for inspection at the Clerk’s office and people can come and view it here.”

Town Clerk adopts Public Records Policy


(Continued from Previous Page) cords Requested for Inspection” it states, “In the event the Town Clerk or Assis-tant Town Clerk reasonably believes that a requestor has behaved in a harassing or intimidating manner to the Town Clerk or Assistant Town Clerk …”

There is no clarification on what har-assing or intimidating mean. I often re-quest information, and as in the example given above, if the Clerk had denied my request, a document that is indeed a pub-lic record would still be in the attorney’s office versus part of the agreement avail-able to the public. My requests, although persistent, are not intended to be harass-ing or intimidating; they are simply made in order to procure public informa-tion that under law I am entitled to.

The words harassing and intimidating are subjective and if either the Clerk or Assistant Clerk feel they are being har-assed or intimidated shouldn’t they call the police and lodge formal complaints? I’m very confused about this and would appreciate clarification.

5) This section also says “Requestors who disagree with a decision by the Town Clerk under this paragraph, may appeal the same to the Town Selectboard by filing a notice of appeal and written explanation …”

Since the Town Clerk is an office unto itself, can the Selectboard legally step in and settle differences of opinion?

If so, can you please provide me with the State Statute that covers this?

Also, the Sheffield Selectboard only meets once a month thus requestors could possibly be denied any informa-tion for a very long time under this pro-vision. Does this fall within what is al-lowable under State and Federal public records laws? How does this work with attorney who request information as part of a court case? Can information be de-nied the attorney and trial dates possibly conflicted due to this provision?

6) I sent this document to Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos and he replied that he questions the legality of the following statement: “… limit the requestor’s access to the public records (including land records) to appointment during a date and time that are mutually convenient for the requestor and the Town Clerk.” Condos’ concern is that since you have people who live out of state and request records, can they be denied those records simply because they cannot appear in person?

Is Condos correct and can the legality of this provision be challenged? Does this provision open up the Town to a fu-ture lawsuit?

7) Under the section, “Transmission of Public Records” it states “the Town Clerk is not legally obligated to transmit any public records by mail, facsimile, email, or any other means.” Again, that

means people are being required to go to the Clerk’s office during very limited office hours to acquire data and it goes right back to the legality issues brought up by Secretary Condos. And once again I must ask if this provision is opening the town up to a lawsuit?

8) Since there are no restrictions writ-ten into this document that Public Re-cords Request forms must be mailed or hand delivered to the Clerk’s office, does that mean people can email these re-quests in to the Clerk? It has long been established that email is considered a legal authorization and signatures are not required on emailed document.

Thank you for your time and for clearing up these questions.

ATWELL’s REPLY Mrs. Foster:

Kathy Newland asked me to send you the attached public records policy.

I understand Mrs. Newland, as Town Clerk, is adopting this policy and the Se-lectboard will be deliberating whether they should adopt it as well at their meet-ing on May 2 at 6 PM at the Town of-fices in Sheffield.

As town attorney, I will not be an-swering your legal questions, and you should hire an attorney if you need legal advice.

Questions to Attorney regarding Public Records Policy

Town of Sheffield Information

Town Clerk and Treasurer Kathy Newland [email protected]

Selectboard Max Aldrich, Chairman [email protected] Charles Gilman Audrey Hearn [email protected]

Town Clerk/ Treasurer’s Office Hours

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wednesday evenings 5 to 8p.m.

Location & Phone

37 Dane Road 626-8862

VET to VET Support Group Meets Every Thursday

6:30-7:30 pm In the Community Connections meeting room

between the Orthopaedic Fracture Clinic and Dan Wyand PT

55 Sherman Drive on NVRH Campus St Johnsbury, VT

Facilitated by Gary Osborn, a Vietnam Veteran

Veteran Liaison Officer Trained Vet to Vet Facilitator

Peer to peer support group Resource information

No charge


PURPOSE. The Vermont Public Records Act, 1 V.S.A. §§ 315-320, provides that the Town of Sheffield (“Town”) is required to provide access to public records for inspection and copying unless the records are exempt by law from pub-lic access. The Town is authorized under section 316(j) of the Public Records Act to adopt and enforce reasonable rules to prevent disruption of operations in responding to records requests, to preserve the security of public records, and to protect public records from damage. This policy is intended to provide for timely action on requests for public records without unreasonable interruption of operations and to protect the integrity of the Town’s public records. APPLICABILITY. A public record is defined as any writ-ten or recorded information, regardless of physical form or characteristic, which is produced or acquired in the course of Town business. Public records, regardless of format, are available for inspection and copying unless there is a specific statute exempting the record from public disclosure. Those records exempt from public inspection and copying are set out at 1 V.S.A. § 317(c). This policy applies only to requests for public records in the custody of the Sheffield Town Clerk (“Town Clerk”). Other public records may be in the custody of other officers or employees of the Town. In such cases where a public records request is made for a document that is not in the custody of the Town Clerk, the Town Clerk will promptly forward the request to the proper custodian and in-form the requestor who that custodian is. Except as stated otherwise in “Protection of Public Records”, below, this pol-icy does not apply to the Town’s land records, which are sub-ject to the Town of Sheffield Land Records Policy. PUBLIC RECORD REQUEST FORMS. It is not intended that every public record request require the requestor com-plete a form. However, when a request is made for a public record that is not readily accessible, may be exempt from public access, may not exist, or may result in charges for copying or staff time, the requestor will be required to com-plete a Public Records Request Form designated by the Town Clerk. Also, when a request is made for multiple documents, or when a requestor makes more than three public records requests in a calendar year, the requestor will be required to complete a Public Records Request Form. INSPECTION OF PUBLIC RECORDS. Upon receipt of a request to inspect a public record, the Town Clerk will pro-duce the record for inspection within three business days of receipt of the request, subject to the following:

1. If the record does not exist under the name given by the requestor or by any other name known to the Town Clerk, the Town Clerk will inform the requestor of this fact orally if the requestor is present, and in writing if

the requestor is not present. 2. If the Town Clerk considers the record to be exempt

from public access, the Town Clerk will inform the re-questor of this fact in writing. The Town Clerk will identify the record or portion of record withheld, the statutory basis for withholding the record, and a brief statement of the reasons and supporting facts for denial. The Town Clerk will also inform the requestor of the right to appeal this determination.

3. If the record is in active use or in storage and therefore not readily available at the time of the request, the Town Clerk will inform the requestor of this fact in writing and set a date and hour within one calendar week of the request when the record will be available for inspection.

For the purpose of this policy, a business day means a day that the Town Clerk's office is open to provide services. In the following circumstances, the time limits described above may be extended up to ten business days from receipt of the request:

1. The need to search for and collect requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the Town Clerk’s office;

2. The need to search for, collect, and appropriately exam-ine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct re-cords which are demanded in a single request;

3. The need for consultation with other Town officers or departments having a substantial interest in the determi-nation of the request; or

4. The need for consultation with the Town’s attorney. In responding to a request to inspect or copy a record, the Town Clerk will consult with the requestor in order to clarify the request or to obtain additional information that will assist the Town Clerk in responding to the request and in facilitat-ing production of the requested record for inspection or copy-ing. In the circumstances cited above, the Town Clerk may request that a requestor seeking a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records narrow the scope of the public records request. If the time limits described above must be extended, the Town Clerk will inform the requestor of such fact in writing, setting forth the reasons for the extension and specifying the date upon which the Town Clerk will respond to the request. The Town Clerk will not withhold any record in its entirety on the basis that it contains some exempt content if the record is otherwise subject to disclosure; instead, The Town Clerk will redact the information the Clerk considers to be exempt and produce the record accompanied by an explanation of the basis for denial of the redacted information. COPIES OF PUBLIC RECORDS. Upon receipt of a re-quest to make a copy of a public record, the Town Clerk will

Town of Sheffield, Vermont Office of the Town Clerk

Public Record Inspection, Copying and Transmission Policy


make and produce a copy within 5 business days, subject to the following:

1. Charges. Except where otherwise provided by law, the Town Clerk will charge and collect the following costs for making a copy of a public record: a. The actual cost charge for a copy of a public record

[as determined by the select board under 1 V.S.A. § 316(e) or the uniform schedule of charges estab-lished by the Secretary of State].

b. The cost of staff time associated with complying with a request for a copy of a public record when the time exceeds 30 minutes [as determined by the Shef-field select board under 1 V.S.A. § 316(e) or the uni-form schedule of charges established by the Secre-tary of State.].

A copy of the actual cost charge and staff time rate schedule is attached. Upon request, the Town Clerk will provide an estimate of the cost of making a copy of a public record prior to complying with the request. All charges for copies and staff time must be paid in full prior to delivery of the re-quested copy.

2. Standard formats. The Town Clerk will make a copy of a public record in the following standard format:

a. For any public record maintained by the Town Clerk in paper form, a paper copy of the record.

b. For any public record maintained in Town Clerk in electronic form, either a hard copy print out of the record or an electronic copy of the record in the for-mat in which the record is maintained, as directed by the requestor.

Any other format is non-standard and the Town Clerk is not required to comply with the request. If the Town Clerk agrees to provide a copy of a public record in a non-standard format (e.g., conversion of a paper public record to electronic format), the requestor will be charged the time involved in producing the record in a non-standard format when the time exceeds 30 minutes as such costs are determined by the Town select board under 1 V.S.A. § 316(e) or the uniform schedule of charges established by the Secretary of State. If the time limit set forth above must be extended, the Town Clerk will inform the requestor of such fact in writing, setting forth the reasons for the extension and specifying the date upon which the Town Clerk will produce the copy. PROTECTION OF PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTED FOR INSPECTION. In order that all public records in the custody of the Town Clerk may be protected from damage or loss, such records may only be inspected in locations in the Town Office designated by the Town Clerk. No public re-cord may be removed from a designated location, marked, altered, defaced, torn, damaged, destroyed, disassembled, or removed from its proper location or order. The Town Clerk or other staff person may be present during the inspection of a public record. No person shall be allowed to copy a public record using copying equipment other than that owned by the Town unless approved by the Town Clerk. Upon consideration of all relevant factors, including but not limited to: (a) the number of requests by the requestor within

the preceding 12 months; (b) the type of record or records sought; and (c) whether the requestor seeks an extremely bur-densome volume of records, then if the town clerk concludes that a public records request has been made solely for the purpose of harassment or intimidation of town officials or employees, the town clerk shall notify the requestor of this determination in writing, with the reasons therefore, and i) require all future requests for access to the public records (including land records) by the requestor to be made in writ-ing in advance; and/or ii) limit the requestor’s access to the public records (including land records) to appointment during a date and time that are mutually convenient for the requestor and Town Clerk, within 7 calendar days from receipt of each new request. Requestors who disagree with a decision by the Town Clerk under this paragraph, may appeal the same to the Town Selectboard by filing a notice of appeal and written explanation of the requestor’s objection with the Town Se-lectboard, with a copy to the Town Clerk, within 30 days of delivery of the “Notice.” A requestor may challenge a re-quirement by the Town Clerk pursuant to this paragraph, that has remained in place for more than a year by filing a written request for recission with the Town Selectboard and provid-ing a copy of the request to the Town Clerk. The Se-lectboard, upon receiving an appeal or request for recission shall duly warn a public hearing to be held within one month of receiving said appeal or request for recission. CREATION OF PUBLIC RECORDS. The Town Clerk is not legally obligated to create a public record that does not otherwise exist. If the Town Clerk agrees to create a public record that does not exist, the Town Clerk will charge the re-questor the cost associated with creating the record. Requests for creating a record must be made in writing and all charges must be paid prior to delivery of the record. Upon request, the Town Clerk will provide an estimate of the cost of creat-ing a public record prior to complying with the request. TRANSMISSION OF PUBLIC RECORDS. The Town Clerk is not legally obligated to transmit any public record by mail, facsimile, e-mail or any other means. If the Town Clerk agrees to transmit a public record, the Town Clerk will charge the requestor the costs associated with doing so. Re-quests for transmission of a record must be made in writing and all charges must be paid prior to delivery of the record. Upon request, the Town Clerk will provide an estimate of the cost of transmitting a public record prior to complying with the request. DENIAL OF A PUBLIC RECORD REQUEST. If the Town Clerk denies a public record request in whole or in part, the denial may be appealed to the Town select board. In accordance with 1 V.S.A. § 318(c)(1), the selectboard will make written determination on the appeal within five business days after receipt of the appeal.

Request for Public Records Copies Form On Next Page


April 2012

Town of Sheffield, Vermont

Request for Public Record Copies Date____________________ Dear Town Clerk: Pursuant to the Vermont Public Record Act, 1 V.S.A. § 315-320, I hereby request copies of the following public records:

a. _________________________________________________________________________________ b. _________________________________________________________________________________ c. _________________________________________________________________________________

I am addressing this request to you in the belief that you are the custodian of such documents. If you are not the custodian, please forward my request to the proper custodian of such documents and inform me of who that person is. I hereby agree to pay reasonable and customary costs for these photocopies. If the law does not allow me to have access to some of these records, please so inform me within two business days, as provided by law, and inform me of the specific exemption that applies to each record or portion of a record being withheld. If an otherwise public record has a portion that is exempt from disclosure, I request that you block out the exempt portion and release a copy of the rest of the document together with a notation of the specific exemption that applies to the portion withheld. If some or all of my request is denied, please tell me the title and name of the person responsible for the denial and, as the law requires, please inform me of the appeal procedures available to me and the name of the person to whom appeal may be made. If you have questions about this request, please call me at __________________ Signed, __________________________________________________

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Sell, Buy, Swap? Have something to sell?

Need to purchase an item? Have a product or service you

would like to swap? Put your free classified ad in the

Sheffield Beehive. Guidelines are as follows:

1) All items to be sold, purchased, or swapped must be legal in the State of Vermont. 2) Five line maximum for all ads. 3) Pictures will be accepted but there is no guarantee they will be included with your ad.

LEAVE ME ALONE I’M AN OWL


The April 10 School Board meeting opened with Vice-Chair Heather Batchelder reading a letter of resignation from Board Chairman Rob Duranleau who has moved to Colchester. Caledo-nia North Supervisory Union Superinten-dent of Schools Vicky Scheuffler told the Board they had 30 days in which to fill the position.

The Board asked to hear from the two Wheelock citizens who had expressed interest in sitting on the Board. Angie Ryan-Williams said her son is currently at Millers Run and she is interested in supporting the school any way she can. Ben Cookson said that he had previously been on the School Board but when his wife was hired as the school secretary he was advised to resign due to a conflict of interest. He added under Title 16 of Vermont Statutes it is not be a conflict of interest for him to be on the Board and that he would like the opportunity to continue the work he had started when he was on the Board.

Scheuffler advised the Board to look at their Conflict of Interest policy. She said the policy does not preclude a per-son from sitting on the Board because their spouse is employed at the school, however, the policy does say “It is the ethical and legal duty of all School Board members to avoid conflicts of in-terest as well as the appearance of con-flicts of interest.” She then read item number 6 of the policy which states, “A Board member will do nothing intended to leave the impression that his or her position on any issue can be influenced by anything other than a fair presentation of all sides of the question.”

“It’s really tough when you get into a spot about you’re talking about who does what else in the Town or who does what else in the school,” Scheuffler said. “I remember someone who realized that being a delinquent tax collector would conflict with her work on the School Board because some of the same people were involved and the Board of Ed gets money from taxes. I just advise you to really search your hearts and make sure don’t get yourselves into a position where there is the appearance of conflict that could impede the good work you all want to do. It is certainly not legally im-

peded for someone’s spouse to work here and the other part of the pair be on the Board.”

Cookson asked Scheuffler if she was suggesting that she would rather not have him on the Board to which Schuef-fler replied, “I have no vote here and I’m not recommending anything to the Board about who they choose. I’m just saying be careful that what your Board will be needing to deal with – no matter who’s on it – is an appearance of conflict.

School Board member Jill Faulkner agreed with Scheuffler, adding, “It’s tricky.”

Cookson remarked that under the stat-ute there is only a conflict if a Board member is an employee. “If anything comes up that involves a conflict of in-terest with my wife, I would just remove myself.”

Scheuffler told the Board that if they were ready to make the decision they could do; if not they could decide on a course of action and follow it but the po-sition would have to be filled in 30 days. The Board entered into executive session and upon returning to open session they unanimously voted Ryan-Williams to join the Board.

During public comment, parents Tammy Welch and Kelli Colgrove ex-pressed concern that Cookson had been told his position working with the 4th grade class would be over at the end of April.

Scheuffler explained that Cookson was hired as a temporary substitute in the 4th grade classroom until the school could go through the hiring process for an additional person. She added that Cookson knew it was temporary posi-tion. She explained that the school has hired the new person and they are trying to be very careful with the transition.

Colgrove said that she felt the chil-dren had excelled tremendously during the two months Cookson has been in the classroom and is worried that they will not “put forth the effort because they won’t have that person in the classroom who motivates them to work hard, en-courages them, makes them feel good, gives them some self confidence. They’re going into the 5th grade, that’s a huge transition and I think this is a big

mistake.” Scheuffler said she agreed with the

way the parents were characterizing the classroom, “but we can only hire li-censed people in their area of specialty for that classroom or any one of our classrooms. The individual we are talk-ing about doesn’t have that license and isn’t close to having that license yet so there really isn’t anything we can do about that particular individual.”

Faulkner asked if the position in ques-tion was the one they were hiring the new special ed teacher for. “Yes,” Scheuffler replied. “She’ll be working in the whole school, but there are a lot of needs in the 4th grade classroom.” Board member Diane Nijensohn wanted to know is Cookson had been working as a para educator. Scheuffler replied, “No, as a substitute behavior specialist but we could not hire him to fill the open posi-tion because he is not licensed for that.”

“Obviously Ben’s aware he needs this license,” Colgrove said. “If this is some-thing he’s willing to work for and obtain, can he maintain this position and work at this at the same time? I think he would do whatever to stay in the position he’s in.” Scheuffler replied that Cookson is aware of the licensing requirements and understands why he’s not qualified for the position.

Nijensohn said she didn’t know what the Board could do. She also noted that although the 4th grade students will ad-vance into the 5th grade; Cookson will not be moving along with them. “Right, but he would have gotten them prepared and ready for 5th grade,” Welch replied, “now they won’t be.”

“So you feel this change at the end of the year is crucial,” Faulkner said. “Absolutely,” Welch replied.

“I was wondering if Mr. Cookson can work with additional staff in order to help these children transition to accept the new staff person, Batchelder said. “Maybe it would make the transition smoother for the students.” Nijensohn wanted to know if Cookson was already being paid through the end of April.

“He’s a substitute being paid day-by-day,” Scheuffler replied. “I was respon-sible for finding him and it wasn’t bad

(See School Board, Page 27)

Millers Run

School Board seats Ryan-Williams


(Continued from Page 1) hazard regulations and bylaws for par-ticipation in the National Flood Insur-ance Program. He also explained it is difficult to get updated maps on demand, especially for towns that are not cur-rently in the National Flood Insurance Program.

According to Swanberg, FEMA started a nationwide effort to update the flood maps and bring them into the com-puter age because many of the maps go back to the late 70s and 80s. Only a few counties in Vermont have been com-pleted or are scheduled for map updating because the money to fund the updates is drying up. Caledonia County is not on the update schedule.

He then explained the functions and values of flood plains and the history of the National Flood Insurance Program. Swanberg said regular homeowners poli-cies do not cover flooding and only a few private insurers provide flood insur-ance policies, which are very expensive. In 1968 Congress created the National Flood Insurance Act, which provides insurance for people in flood zones. The intention is to transfer the cost of private property flood loss from the taxpayers as a whole to people who are in the flood plains so they can co-insure each other. Everyone who will likely sign up for the program already has a pre-existing con-dition in that they are already in the flood plain. The program provides flood plain property owners with financial aid after floods, including small floods that don’t warrant a federally declared disas-ter for the county or the State. Currently, if there is a federally declared disaster there is a limited amount of money avail-able to individuals and their households up to $30,200 and it’s hard to get that money. However, in towns covered un-der the Flood Insurance Program home-owners can get a payout if two or more properties have been affected. Those two properties can be your house and a town road – it does not have to be two structures.

He also said that the National Flood Disaster Protection Act requires that a property/structure in a flood hazard zone is given a federal loan or grant, or mort-gage is made on that property through a federally regulated and insured institu-tion, then the value of that loan, grant, or mortgage has to be insured, and that is

usually done through the National Flood Insurance Program.

“When we look at the maps, we’re talking about this special flood hazard area which is the legal area of jurisdic-tion for municipal bylaws as required to participate and access insurance,” he said. “In Sheffield it’s labeled on the map as Zone A. The maps we have here in Sheffield are general Agency of Transportation maps from way back when showing roads and some streams and rivers and the hazard zone that was based on the mapping that was done to get the program underway. Some maps are done with different levels of stan-dards. In Vermont we have Zone A data, which is approximate data.”

“If they had good topographic maps from the community, they used them,” he continued. “Otherwise, by default Vermont has USGS topographic maps with 20-foot contours – really, really rough maps about the landscape we’re in, so it’s hard to create a boundary for a flood hazard area. Sheffield has its own history, its own flooding experiences and at issue is what do we have to work from now. The basic thing we have as a legal document right now is an index map in-dicating a Zone A which is the extent of the flood hazard area along primarily Millers Run, right up through the village and not really much on the tributaries. It’s not to say those areas don’t flood but this is as far as they got sketching it out.”

Swanberg then explained that if a town is in a federally declared disaster area and there is federal support, it comes in the form of a 75/25 split. When damages such bridges and roads occur, the federal government will reim-burse a town 75 percent of the cost of repairs and there is a 25 percent non-federal match with the State picking up half of that. But if the community is in the National Flood Insurance Program the State will pick up slightly more.

He added that the maps don’t show worst case or probable maximum flood that the Army Corps of Engineers would map; they don’t show ice and debris jams; they don’t deal with the impact of infrastructure failure such as an under-sized culvert that backs up and a road blows out; nor do they deal with dy-namic adjustments of stream channels. According to Swanberg, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conserva-

tion is trying to figure out how to get a handle on stream changes. In the case of Millers Run there’s been a lot of work done using map resources and sending people out to measure the stream channel and the character of the sediments to get a picture of what’s going on along the channel. That information is available in the Millers Run River Corridor Plan [[online at https://anrnode.anr.state.vt.us/SGA/finalReports.aspx]. During the field work they walked the Run and tried to identify places where things were changing, how the meanders were be-having, where there were drastic changes happening, and what some of the drivers causing that were so Planning Commis-sions can use that data to create plans and to address those issues before there are problems.

“No insurance will cover all the ac-tual cost and damage caused by being displaced by a flood,” he added. “Communities can adopt regulations to avoid known hazards, reduce existing exposure by identifying culverts that need to be upsized, and improve emer-gency responses. You don’t want the site where you put displaced people, or your Fire Department, to be located in the flood zone.”

Swanberg explained that if Sheffield is interested in participating in the Na-tional Flood Insurance Program, there are model flood hazard regulations that will need to be adopted in order to qual-ify. He said the State has model bylaws and every community can adopt its own language, but it has to meet or exceed the standards of the insurance program. “The State standards basically say, yeah, we already have enough structures in the hazard zone, but we don’t want to put anymore there,” he explained.

“If you have a Town Plan you are able to adopt land use regulations in ac-cord with the Town Plan – that could include zoning,” he added. “Flood haz-ard area regulations can be adopted as free-standing bylaws or as zoning.”

Swanberg then explained the lengthy process requirements for inclusion in the National Flood Insurance Program. “It’s a pretty tricky process to get in,” he said. “Furthermore, for a community like Sheffield that has been suspended – that is not in the program, that had a map and chose not to participate – if any new

(Continued on Next Page)



(Continued from Previous Page) structures have gone into this hazard zone without due consideration and they are built in an unsafe way it could be complex. We have a number of towns trying to come into the program now and FEMA is very concerned they don’t in-herit a bunch of stuff that is putting them at risk. So, I don’t know how that’s go-ing to play out yet.”

Commissioner Linwood Gee noted that in order to get into the program a base flood elevation is needed. “If we don’t have a base flood elevation how do we set this up?” he asked. “There are no elevations on our map.”

“That’s very typical,” Swanberg re-plied. “Most towns have mixed areas with some detailed study of base flood elevations. However, many times these hazard flood areas – Zone A – are ap-proximates only with no base flood es-tablished. It’s very difficult.”

Gee also noted that even the scale on the map is not close to being right and asked how the town can get that cor-rected.

“It’s not easy to get it updated,” Swanberg said. “The community can pay for it. You would need to require higher-level topographic information – fly LIDAR [Light Detection And Ranging]. Gee asked if the State has been flown recently for LIDAR and elevations. Swanberg replied, “No.” He went on to explain that LIDAR is basically like sonar but done with lasers. “They fly aircraft and they’re shining a laser to the ground and when it comes back at the speed of light they know how far away the ground is,” he said. “They account for trees, houses, leaves, birds, etc. and then they erase everything down to the lowest point and say that is the ground surface.” Swanberg explained that maps created using LIDAR are much more accurate because the have only a two-foot contour versus the current State maps which have a 20-foot contour.

Gee asked if the town paid to get Sheffield flown if that information could be sent to Swanberg for use in getting the town into the Flood Insurance Pro-gram. “It would help,” Swanberg re-plied. “It’s one of the key pieces, but it’s not the only piece. You will also need engineering for the hydrology, which can be done fairly inexpensively, and the

hydraulics which is the engineering work that comes in to model the flow of liquid into the landscape.”

Gee: asked if FEMA would have to establish that. “They have very precise guidelines and specifications,” Swanberg said. “The town could use these specifi-cations and guidelines and hire a con-tractor to do it but it’s very expensive.”

“So what is the answer to join up if you can’t establish the base flood eleva-tion,” Gee asked. “Do we use the 8-feet on the bottom of the river that they say now?”

“The key thing is I find it almost im-possible in the case of a Zone A to know how to put in a house that’s safe,” Swan-berg replied. “That’s why you don’t want to have new houses showing up in an A Zone if you don’t have the ability to know what your risk is. If there are houses going in, it will be a big barrier to the community joining at any date. That’s in part why we say let’s not put new structures in there.”

He went on to explain that if you have a big A Zone and someone says, ‘I’m at the edge of this A zone and maybe the risk isn’t quite so extensive,’ then it is possible to submit detailed data to FEMA in the form of an application for a letter of map amendment. “That detailed information will not provide a new map, but a letter saying in this spot we recog-nize higher quality data that shows the edge is more like this and the structure is not in a flood hazard area and no flood insurance is required,” he said.

Commissioner Keith Ballek asked how many Vermont towns are in the same situation as Sheffield.

“Maybe 20,” Swanberg replied. “Most towns in the State participate in the National Flood Insurance Program.”

Selectboard Chairman Max Aldrich expressed concern that Sheffield has a sample ordinance that can be adopted which will restrict growth in the A Zone, but the A Zone is inaccurate. “My opin-ion is that we’re restricting people who don’t deserve to be restricted therefore diminishing their property values. Right?”

“I’ll tell you right now that when the study comes back it will be improved with topographical, hydrology, hydrau-lics, but I don’t think the boundary will be all that different from what you see now,” Swanberg replied. “Your map is a

sketchy map, it’s an approximate study, but I don’t think the flood hazards along Millers Run are going to disappear. They’re pretty extensive as they exist and it will change a little bit here and there but it’s probably not going to be startlingly less or more. It’s not going to be all that different from what you see, but it will be an improvement. If you pass a bylaw now, you can adopt regula-tions so as to participate in the program. The model basically says we don’t want to put new structures in there because we already have our hands full of them. The community could also say that in the fu-ture when we have base flood elevations and we feel comfortable that Millers Run will never change position or never flood, the town can change their bylaws and say go ahead and build. If you do it now and basically say build houses in the flood hazard area, I don’t think you will get a lot of buyers. Based upon the map, you’ve already got a lot of proper-ties in the flood hazard area.”

“If you take the map showing the flu-vial erosion hazard area along Millers Run and compare it to the FEMA map, the areas are not all that different,” he continued. “On the FEMA map you can see that there are already a lot structures identified in the hazard zone. What that means basically is that when those peo-ple go to sell their structure in a bad economy the only people they’ll sell it to are family members who don’t get a mortgage or drug dealers – people with pockets swollen with money because they don’t need a mortgage either. You probably want to have a structure on which people will have the ability to get a mortgage.”

“I don’t think you are listening,” Aldrich replied. “I’ve said we’ve gotten an awful lot of people, places, properties removed. Karl Jurentkuff [former National Flood Insurance Program Coordinator for the State of Vermont] penciled in a new line and we have Letters of Map Amendment stating they are not in the flood plain and they can get financing and they can be sold to somebody beside drug dealers and they’re in that map. That’s the point I’m trying to make – they should not be in that A Zone.”

Swanberg replied the only way to deal with properties in the A Zone is to

(See Flood Zone, Page 18)



(Continued from page 15) get the Letters of Map Amendment, which is a very onerous process, and without the Letter, property owners are stuck.

“Okay,” Aldrich said, “joining with FEMA is a good idea and being able to purchase flood insurance is wonderful. Can we have an ordinance that says whatever with regard to our A Zone but that if you have a Letter of Map Amend-ment proving you are not in the A Zone, you are not restricted by this ordinance?”

“Yes,” Swanberg replied, “the State model bylaw says that. If you have the official Map Amendment Letter from FEMA, you’re exempted from the flood insurance requirement because you’re not in a flood hazard area. As far as the National Flood Insurance Program goes, there’s no permit issue that they care about.”

Aldrich added that the town has a lot of letters from Karl that are no good be-cause they needed to go through a lot lengthier process.

Swanberg said property owners will need to go through the FEMA process in order to get out of the flood hazard area. “However, if Karl indicated he thought it was a high and dry site that is a good indication that person might want to pur-sue a Letters of Map Amendment.”

Commissioner Leslie Newland asked how many houses in Sheffield are in the flood plain. “I don’t think it’s more than 4 or 5,” he said. Swanberg replied that almost every building in the village has a point in the flood hazard area, but that point is not representative of the whole structure. For some structures only part of the building hangs into the flood haz-ard area and that building could be ga-rage or shed, but if any part is in, the whole thing is in. “Looking at the GIS map, it looks to me like over a dozen, perhaps,” he added.

Commissioner Ed Jewell was looking at the map and said, “ Pretty much the whole village and up 122, so probably a total of sixty.”

Chairman Ellis who was also looking at the map agreed, saying, “Sixty at least.”

“So those are all people who will have a crisis at point of sale unless they have a Letter of Map Amendment in hand or they have a buyer who has cash,” Swanberg noted.

Heck wondered about damage from the flooding last year.

Aldrich replied, “The town had about a quarter million dollars in damage. Also, water came into the Lacaillades basement at the south end of the village and because we are a non-participating town they couldn’t qualify and make a claim.”

Heck asked if the town received any reimbursement for the bridge replace-ment. Aldrich replied, “Yes, we got the FEMA 75 percent for everything we lost.”

Swanberg explained that if Sheffield had been a participant in the Flood Insur-ance Program, the State would have picked up a little bit more of the repair cost than the 12.5 percent reimbursement they are now making. “In communities that are enacting bylaws that say we won’t be adding new structures and new risk, the State will pick up slightly more of the cost.”

Aldrich noted that in the past, if a town adopted codes and standards they would be entitled to a 15 percent reim-bursement from the State but that has changed and the State is saying towns must have codes and standards and be a participant in the National Flood Insur-ance Program to qualify for the higher reimbursement amount. “We do want to be a participating town,” he said, “we just didn’t want to impose regulations against people who should not be regu-lated. I realize it is an extra 2½ percent to the town if we become a participating town so it seems maybe we have crossed that hurdle by being able to exempt the people who have Letters of Map Amend-ment.”

Ellis asked how many people have the letters and Town Clerk Kathy Newland said she had the folder and would look it up. Aldrich noted that Newland’s infor-mation may not be up-to-date. Newland found eight Letters of Map Amendment in her folder, which was on par with an earlier guesstimate Aldrich had made of ten Letters.

Swanberg said all the Letters of Map Amendment can be found online, posted at the Map Service Center for FEMA. The Beehive went to the website and found six Letters of Map Amendment on file. The site only lists Letters of Map Amendment that were issued from June 1, 1997 through March 31, 2012. The

parcels covered by Letters of Map Amendment are as follows: 3210 VT Rte 122, 2977 VT Rte 122, 3029 VT Rte 122, 3138 VT Rte 122, 3147 VT Rte 122; and one property with no street number – it just says VT Rte 122.

Swanberg also explained that if the flood maps get changed in the future one of the things FEMA looks at is these Let-ters and sometimes they say this one’s still good, this one’s not good. It de-pends on what the future map indicates and is based on the quality of the study at that time.

Dave Snedeker, Planning Manager of the Northeast Vermont Development Association said a lot of times the FEMA maps don’t show any structures, which makes it hard for communities to decide if they want to participate in the Insurance Program because they don’t know how many structures will be being affected. He then explained that his of-fice took the map that was developed using the fluvial flood plain data gar-nered from the Millers Run River Corri-dor Study and overlayed the affected properties onto it.

A copy of that map can be found on the next page.

In other business, Gee said he was thinking of something the Planning Commission can do for the town. He then suggested they explore solar for the Municipal Building and the Town Hall. “And my museum,” Williams added. She was referring to the Town House on Berry Hill.

Gee said he thought the town can get tax credits until 2016. Ellis wondered if any other town buildings in the area have solar. Commissioner Dick Ziobron said the Riverside School just finished a solar installation and that might be a place for Gee to start.

Jerry Benjamin asked how long it would take to offset the cost and Gee replied that was something that would need to be further investigated.

Gee then asked the Commission for permission for he and Ballek to gather additional information and present it at the July meeting.

“Yes,” Ellis replied. “I think it would be good for the town and any way we can save money. We’re into renew-ables – it’s on the cover of our Town Report. Maybe if we set a good example the school might think about it too.”



A report from Vermont Fire Marshall Brad Charron with regards to Town Hall capacities was discussed at the April 4 meeting of the Sheffield Selectboard. Town Clerk Kathy Newland said that per Charron’s report [See Page 21], the ca-pacity upstairs has been set at 150 people and the capacity downstairs has been set at 70 people.

Cheryl Chesley said she thought the downstairs capacity was more than that and expressed concern about the town’s chicken pie suppers.

Ed Richardson agreed, saying “It was always considered 75 downstairs – that’s what Carlene [Brill] told us and so when this came out and said 70, it was a sur-prise.”

Selectwoman Audrey Hearne ques-tioned whether that included servers. “I don’t know,” Richardson replied. “Seating capacity is 70 and you could consider the servers to be in the kitchen.”

Biff Mahoney asked how they figured the capacity upstairs and Richardson re-plied, “Square footage.” Mahoney then asked if Charron deducted for voting booths and tables.

Brent Newland said the State has a formula to determine capacity and they had to go through the same process with the new church.”

Mahoney again asked if Charron had considered the voting area. “There were 120 chairs set up at Town Meeting and people were standing in the aisles; now all of a sudden we have a capacity of 150 – something is wrong.

Hearne responded that at Town Meet-ing they had to use space for the polling area and the check-in and the check-out for voting which all took up a lot of space.

Newland said Charron took every-thing into account and she then pro-ceeded to read from the report. “He ac-counted for all the different things in there,” she concluded. “No he didn’t,” Mahoney replied. “He didn’t account for the voting booths.” Newland replied that according to Selectboard Chairman Max Aldrich, who was not at the Board meeting, Charron took the voting area into account. In an attempt to put an end to the conversation, Hearne remarked, “Well, he’s the Fire Marshall and his

final say is 150 so that’s what we have to go by. Do we have posters that state what the capacities are so we can get them posted?” Newland replied that the town had not yet received any posters.

Mahoney asked for clarification that if you have a Town Meeting with voting and you have 120 chairs, can you have 30 people standing around? “Sure,” Gil-man replied.

Mahoney then asked if there is any penalty if the capacity limits are vio-lated. Ed Richardson responded, “Yes, there are $20,000 penalties for both the the town and the organization using the Hall. If the town knows the organiza-tions knows the limitations and if they violate it, you’re responsible too.”

Hearne suggested the town get back to Charron for clarification about chicken pie supper. “We need to find out if the people working in the kitchen count,” she said. “I expect the servers count because they are in the dining area, but we don’t know about the workers who stay in the kitchen. If we have to count the workers, it’s really going to cut down on how many people can be seated at once.”

Richardson said he thought if at Town Meeting you take the folks who are on the floor and put them on stage it will increase the floor capacity. Chesley wanted to know if there was a reason the officers couldn’t be up on the stage and Richardson replied, “They have been in the past.”

Hearne said they can’t expect that everyone can climb up on the stage to vote when there is paper balloting. Chesley said the ballot box can be set on the stage where voters can reach it.

Mahoney said the town needs to make sure Assistant Town Clerk Ellie Dole has the information and gives it to anyone who is renting the building. Newland replied that Dole has the information. “We have to make sure that we adhere to this – including for food pantry, commu-nity lunches, and field day,” Hearne noted.

In other business, Richardson said he had been working on the butcher block in the kitchen and all that was left to was tighten it up, sand it, and put some oil on it. He also recommended the pilot light

on the stoves be kept turned off for safety reasons. “We came in there the other day and two of the pilots had blown out and you could smell gas,” he said. “It is a safety issue in terms of gas in the building. If the humidity causes some difficulties we’ll just have to fix them.”

Hearne wanted to know who instructs people who rent the Town Hall on how to light the pilot lights properly. “No one,” Richardson replied. “We want to have someone who knows how to light them do it. I, Gretchen [Fadden], or Ber-nard [Ash] will light them. I don’t mind doing it.

Selectboard

Fire Marshall sets safety capacity for Town Hall

Motivate (Continued from Page 5) home with a “B,” “How’s that,” I asked. “Better, but not good enough” they re-plied. “You need to get “As.”

What is needed is some sort of pro-gram to motivate parents to motivate their children. Too often we just throw more money at the problem with little results. Teachers and the school system can only do so much, and there never will be success unless there is motivation beginning with the parents. Parents who have done poorly in school can actually study the lessons their child brings home and self educate themselves and oversee what their children are doing.

As I said before, I try to find out where the failing schools are around here, but it seems everything is a big se-cret.

What we did in that little one room schoolhouse that I attended in Willing-ton, Connecticut – Moose Meadow School, twenty-five children, grades 1 through 7, one teacher – is take students who excelled and they would work with failing students to help and motivate them. Those students who excelled were called the teacher’s helpers and we had good results. This was back in 1947, mind you. Here we are in 2012 and stumbling along.

To sum it up: MOTIVATION and HARD WORK. Sometimes the words hard work are like hollering “Fire” in a crowded theater. Study, study and more study or live a life of poverty.

Ronald Pal


Ticks have become quite abundant in many parts of Vermont. While ticks are mostly a nuisance, some can carry patho-gens. Pathogens are microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses and parasites that cause illness. If a tick infected with a pathogen bites you, disease transmis-sion is possible, and you may become sick. Thirteen different tick species have been identified in Vermont, but only four are known to carry pathogens that cause disease in humans: ♦ The deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), also known as the black-legged tick, is re-sponsible for transmitting anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Lyme disease. These ticks acquire bacteria and parasitic protozoa by feed-ing on infected small ani-mals, then spread pathogens to other mammals while taking a blood meal. Both adult and young (nymph) black-legged ticks bite humans and can cause infection, but nymphs more frequently transmit disease since they are smaller, less noticeable, and often not removed promptly.

Symptoms of anaplasmosis, also known as Human Granulocytic Anaplas-mosis, include fever, severe headache, muscle aches, fatigue, chills and nausea. Severity of infection may be related, in part, to the immune status of the person infected. Cases of anaplasmosis have been reported in Vermont, mostly in the southern part of the state.

Babesiosis, unlike Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, is caused by the parasite Babesia microti. Symptoms of babesiosis can include fever, chills, nausea and muscle aches, although many people who become infected never actually feel sick. Although this organism is transmit-ted by the deer tick, locally-acquired in-fection has never been documented in Vermont.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacte-ria Borrelia burgdorferi and is the most commonly reported tickborne disease in the country. Sixty to 80 percent of cases are characterized by single or multiple erythema migrans lesions (bull’s eye rashes) and symptoms may also include arthritis, muscle weakness, numbness in

the face and/or limbs and heart prob-lems. The number of cases reported to the Vermont Health Department has steadily increased since 2005. Most cases occur in people who live in the southern half of the state, but Lyme dis-ease has been reported in all areas of

Vermont. ♦ The American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) is a tick species widely dis-tributed throughout the United States and commonly associated with the transmis-sion of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and some types of tularemia.

Dog ticks can be distinguished from deer ticks by their size (they are usually larger) by their physical appearance (they have different color schemes) and, unlike black-legged ticks, only adult dog ticks bite humans and spread diseases.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii. Although RMSF is rare in Vermont and other New England states, it can be a very serious illness if left untreated. Symptoms may include fever, chills, headache and muscle pain. In some cases, a rash appears on the soles of the feet and palms of the hands, which then spreads to the trunk and other areas on the body. So far, no cases with local exposure have been reported in Vermont, although cases have been re-ported in neighboring states.

Tularemia disease is caused by the highly infectious bacteria Francisella tularensis. Symptoms of infection ac-quired through the bite of an infected tick may include the appearance of an ulcer at the site of an insect bite and swelling of lymph glands near the bite. In addition to being spread through the

bite of an infected tick, tularemia can also be transmitted by deer fly bites, the ingestion of contaminated meat or water, skin contact with contaminated animals and inhalation of contaminated dust. Tu-laremia has been found in every state except Hawaii, and it has rarely been

reported in Vermont. ♦ The Lone Star tick (Ambylomma ameri-canum) lives primarily in the southeastern and south-central regions of the United States and has been identified as the vec-tor that spreads ehrlichio-sis. This species of tick is not commonly found in Vermont but it does reside in some areas in the Northeast. Both nymphal and adult ticks of this spe-

cies are associated with the transmission of diseases, such as ehrlichiosis and tula-remia.

Ehrlichiosis is a tickborne disease caused by at least three different species of Ehrlicha bacteria, of which E. chaf-feensis is most commonly associated with illness. Ehrlichiosis usually pro-duces mild to moderately severe illness, with high fever and headache. Symptoms typically become evident 1-2 weeks fol-lowing a tick bite. Unlike Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a rash is not a common sign of infection. ♦ The woodchuck tick (Ixodes cookei), sometimes called the groundhog tick, is similar to the black-legged tick. This tick can be found in states east of the Rocky Mountains, commonly throughout areas of New England and southeast Canada.

Primary hosts for the tick are rodents and medium sized mammals, especially groundhogs and skunks, but it is known to feed on a variety of animals including humans. This tick is known for its role in the spread of a disease known as Powas-san virus (POW).

Powassan virus is similar to a number of other mosquito-transmitted viral dis-eases, such as West Nile virus or Eastern equine encephalitis.

There have been more than 30 con-firmed case of POW virus in the United States since it’s emergence in 1958, with


Understanding and Protecting Against Tick-Borne Diseases


From the kitchen of EatingWell.com

Radish, Celery, and Snap Pea Salad Dressing:

¼ cup white wine vinegar 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard ¾ teaspoon salt

Salad:

1 bunch radishes, trimmed, halved, and thinly sliced 1 cup snap peas, trimmed and thinly sliced 1 cup thinly sliced celery 1 cup celery leaves (see Note) 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped ¾ cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese 12 leaves Boston lettuce

Whisk vinegar, oil, sugar, mustard, and salt in a large bowl. Add radishes, snap peas, celery, celery leaves, parsley, and cheese; toss to coat well. Divide lettuce leaves among 6 salad plates; top with the salad.

Make Ahead Tip: Combine dressing and all other ingredients except Boston lettuce and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Note: If you have celery growing in your own garden, you can harvest leaves from the plants as they mature into stalks. Or, at the supermarket, look for celery heads with plenty of leaves still attached. One large bunch of celery will yield about 1 cup of leaves.

(Continued from Previous Page) a Maine/Vermont outbreak in 2001 con-tributing to four of those cases. There have been no cases in Vermont since then, but Maine and New York have documented recent infections.

Tickborne illnesses are most fre-quently transmitted between early spring and late fall since ticks are most active during warm months. By taking preven-tive measures, such as wearing a mos-quito repellent, checking your body daily for ticks, and actively limiting exposure to ticks and tick habitats, you can de-crease your risk of infection.

DEET is an ingredient used to repel mosquitoes and ticks. DEET has been tested against a variety of biting insects and has been shown to be very effective. Be sure to carefully follow the directions on the label. A higher percentage of DEET in a repellent does not mean that your protection is better—just that it will last longer.

Do not use DEET on infants younger than two months old.

Do not use DEET in concentrations greater than 30 percent on children with-out first consulting your child's health care provider.

Adults should not use DEET in con-centrations greater than 30 percent.

Products containing DEET can be applied to clothing.

Picaridin is an ingredient used to re-pel mosquitoes.

Oil of lemon eucalyptus is a plant based repellent, also provides protection from mosquito bites.

IR3535 repels mosquitos and is de-rived from natural materials similar to oil of lemon eucalyptus.

Permethrin is an insecticide and insect repellent that can be used on clothing, shoes, bed nets, and camping gear. Per-methrin should never be applied to skin. Permethrin-treated clothing repels and kills ticks, mosquitoes, and other insects and retains this effect after laundering.

The length of protection for repellents varies with the amount of active ingredi-ent, air temperature, amount of physical activity and perspiration, water exposure, and other factors. Re-apply repellents according to label instructions.

When using repellents on children, be sure to carefully follow the directions on the label.

Cream, lotion, or stick formulas are best for applying to areas of exposed skin.

Do not use DEET on infants younger than two months old (mosquito netting can be used over infant carriers).

Do not use DEET in concentrations greater than 30 percent on children with-out first consulting your child's health care provider.

Apply repellent first to your own hands, then rub them on your child.

Apply sparingly to clothing and/or exposed areas of skin.

Do not apply repellent to skin under clothing.

Do not apply to a child’s face or hands, or to skin that is scratched or irri-tated.

Avoid children's eyes and mouth and use sparingly around the ears.

Do not apply repellent to children's hands (children tend to put their hands in their mouths).

Do not allow young children to apply insect repellent themselves; have an adult do it for them.

Wash skin where repellent was ap-plied when mosquito exposure has ended.

Keep repellents out of reach of chil-dren.

Vermont Dept. of Health

Understanding and Protecting Against Tick-Borne Diseases

Jest for Fun An optimist is a person who buys a

Ford and then joins an automobile club.


Hopefully you have done all your planning for the garden because May is the month to plant, even in the coldest parts of Vermont. Planting starts with preparation of the soil, including a soil test to determine the soil's pH or acidity level and its available nutrient level. Most vegetables and flowers prefer a soil pH of 6 to 7 and plenty of calcium and magnesium.

A soil test will provide you with fer-tilizer recommendations for the nutrients that should be mixed into the soil prior to planting.

You can obtain a soil testing kit from any University of Vermont (UVM) Ex-tension office and many feed and garden stores.

When to plant is an important consid-eration, unless you will be diligent about using frost protection, such as floating row covers or paper or cardboard caps. As a rule, in early May you can plant lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, root crops (carrots, turnips, beets, onions), cole crops (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broc-coli, cauliflower), early sweet corn, and some flowers such as gladiolus. Al-though potatoes can be planted now, de-laying planting may ward off disease problems like rhizoctonia (the dirt that won't wash off), which is common in cold, wet soils.

Summer flowering bulbs, including tuberous begonias and cannas can be planted in mid-May. Choose a well-drained and partially shaded area. Set the tubers in the ground so they are barely covered, placing them 18 to 24 inches apart to allow plenty of space for growth and air circulation.

Fertilize and water when the soil is dry, preferably in the morning or early afternoon to give the foliage time to dry before nightfall to reduce chance of dis-ease.

Wait until Memorial Day or later to put in warm-season transplants (peppers, eggplants, tomatoes), marigolds, and zin-nias or to sow squash, cucumbers, and other seeds that require warm soil to ger-minate.

Other activities for May: buy flowers

out quickly. Check apple, cherry, and other fruit

trees for nests of tent caterpillars. Blast low-lying nests with water to destroy them, or knock them to the ground and destroy them. A spray of Bt will kill emerging caterpillars but is not toxic to beneficial insects, birds, or humans.

If you want to move some spring-blooming bulbs to another spot, wait un-til the foliage has turned yellow, then carefully dig them up and let them dry in a shady spot for a few days. Store the bulbs in a cool, dry place for the summer until it's time to plant them in fall. Or you can replant them then and allow the foliage to continue to die back. This is needed for nutrients to go from the leaves back into the bulbs for the coming season.

Don’t have a place to plant them yet? Then you can “heel” them in, plant-ing in a shallow trench, or pot them for holding.

When you transplant annual flowers and veggies, don't try to loosen the root balls. With such a small root mass, a plant is easily set back if many roots are damaged. With only a summer in which to grow, these plants need to hit the ground running with no delays.

Before reseeding bare spots in the lawn, spread 1 to 2 inches of compost over the areas and firm it down. Then sow grass seed. Sprinkle a thin layer of compost on top of the seed, cover with straw and keep it moist. If you have pets, encircle the spots with stakes and tie string around them to deter pets.

Reduce the weeds in walkways in your garden by covering the soil with some type of mulch.

Some people like to use carpet scraps placed upside-down. Several sheets of moistened newspaper topped with hay or straw works very well, especially if you move your planting areas around a bit from year to year.

Try to avoid tilling to remove weeds because the process brings up weed seeds from deeper in the soil and ex-poses them to the light they need to grow.

for your mother on her day; set up a drip irrigation system for the hot gardening months to come; divide crowded peren-nials; put up hummingbird feeders in early May.

Be sure to harden off indoor-grown seedlings before setting them into the garden. Acclimate plants to outdoor conditions over the course of at least a week, and preferably two, by gradually increasing the amount of time you leave them outdoors. This includes both expo-sure to cooler temperatures and sunlight. Put them in the shade for a few days to adjust to the brighter sun out-doors. Plunging them directly from in-doors into the full sun often causes sun-burn – a rapid bleaching and dying of foliage.

If you've taken advantage of this early spring by already planting your container gardens, be sure to protect them from a spring frost by moving them indoors on chilly nights or covering them with a floating row cover.

If you haven’t planted containers yet, consider first adding a water-absorbing product (sold as this in garden stores) to the soil. You only need a little (follow label directions), with the result being you’ll need to water less often as plants grow. This kind of addition is especially useful in hanging baskets that tend to dry

May Gardening Tips Dr. Leonard Perry, UVM Extension Professor

Dr. Vern Grubinger, Extension Associate Professor, UVM Charlie Nardozzi, Horticulturist

Free Community

Dinner A free community dinner will

be held Thursday, May 3 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Millers Run School.

The dinner is a joint effort of Northeast Kingdom Faith In Ac-tion, Aramark Food Service, and the Lyndon Area Food Shelf.

Diners can enjoy their meal at the school or request a meal for take out. The dinner is open to all.


ACROSS

1 Employer 5 Protein sources 10 Top of the head 14 Location 15 Host 16 Wife and sister of Zeus 17 Stagger 18 German engraver Albrecht 19 Part of the eye 20 Tiny tree 22 Study of causes or origins 24 Distant 26 2001's talking computer 27 Empty space 30 Object 32 Microscope viewers 37 Manipulate 38 Picture puzzle 40 Green Gables dweller

41 Pippin 43 Bard's before 44 Cut of beef 45 Sleeveless garment 46 Deteriorate 48 Flowers precursor 49 Enmity 52 Delayed 53 Bro.'s sibling 54 Adult male 56 Bobcat 58 Light emitting substance 63 Feigned 67 Harp 68 Deflect 70 Ferment 71 Yemeni port city 72 Pl. of radius 73 Sports channel 74 Try out

75 Association (abbr.) 76 Siamese, Burmese, etc. DOWN 1 Wire projection 2 Sandwich cookie 3 Was looked at 4 Spicy sauce 5 Settle differences 6 Flightless bird 7 Land unit 8 Notched projections 9 Sequential 10 TV Dr. 11 Air (prefix) 12 Trigonometry (abbr.) 13 Facile 21 Ablaze 23 Bullfight cheer 25 Protest 27 Tropical fruit 28 Birch-like tree 29 Soda company 31 Wall picture 33 Seize 34 Stuck up people 35 Doldrums 36 Plant starters 39 Floral leaf 42 Long-term memory (abbr.) 44 Adolescents 47 Astringent 50 Referee 51 African desert 55 Types of stars 57 Small Mediterranean boat 58 Ground plot 59 Dr. Jekyll's partner 60 Mined metals 61 Delivered by post 62 Cincinnati baseball team 64 _____ Minor 65 Department (abbr.) 66 Has 69 Brazilian city’s nickname

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23

24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

37 38 39 40

41 42 43 44

45 46 47 48

49 50 51 52 53

54 55 56 57

58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66

67 68 69 70

71 72 73

74 75 76

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RedNEK Journal

Peanut butter has joined the ranks of sticker shock Biff Mahoney

YIKES! Seeing a hefty price of nearly $15 for

a large jar of peanut butter sent shock-waves through me. That’s almost double the cost of a year ago.

The price increase, I’ve read, is due to a shortage of peanuts that can be traced back to last year when peanut farmers saw dollar signs in their fields in the form of cotton, which was selling at re-cord-high prices, leading many farmers to plant sticky white fuzzy snowballs instead of peanuts.

Add in some unforeseen bad luck – disease and drought in the peanut crops – and we're short on peanuts. The current economy isn't helping, either, as con-sumer demand for peanut butter has in-creased over the past few years, thanks to the reasonably priced protein it pro-vides.

That’s too bad, because if America has a favorite food, whether for snacks or breakfast, peanut butter is king.

If ever it comes to pass whereby one has to select one liquid and one solid food upon which to subsist, my choice will be milk and peanut butter.

Milk speaks for itself – nothing is more satisfying. Milk is nutritious, fill-ing and the best stomach settler I know of; in my younger, wilder days, I found it to be a terrific cure for the aftereffects of a night on the town.

Without question peanut butter could easily become my staple of life. Toast with peanut butter and jelly or jam can’t be beat for breakfast.

For lunch a peanut butter and banana sandwich washed down with cold milk easily gets me through to supper. For dinner I prefer meat, potatoes and a vegeta-ble; however, if worse came to worst I can get by on peanut butter and something. For a late night snack nothing satisfies like crack-ers slathered with peanut butter washed down with a cold glass of milk.

One thing most adults do better than kids is to gouge out just enough peanut butter to spread over bread or toast, or crackers, but not so much that any excess

has to be slathered back into the mouth of the jar.

My father cringed whenever he en-countered the obvious remnants sraped against the inside rim of the peanut but-ter jar. Almost always the glob was imbedded with black specks of grated toast. Calling it unsightly, unnecessary and a possible health hazard, he viewed such antics disgusting, one that landed the culprit across his lap for a thorough paddling. “Eat whatever you take,” he admonished.

Seeing both my brother and older sis-ter endure the consequences, I was quick to figure out that returning used peanut butter to the jar meant a certain punish-ment I did not want to undergo. Fortu-nately I never met the wrath of a PB spanking. Witnessing those punishments resulted in my learning to take A moder-ate amount of peanut butter and apply it to the toast or bread, then go back for a little more until I had taken just enough peanut butter to do the job. Over the years I have come to recognize just how much to dig with the first pass; seldom do I have to go back for a second take.

Peanut butter came about in 1890 when an unknown St. Louis physician encouraged George A. Bayle Jr., owner of a food products company, to process

and package ground peanut paste as a nutritious protein substitute for people with poor teeth who couldn't chew meat. The physician had experimented by grinding peanuts in a hand-cranked meat grinder. Bayle mechanized the process and began selling peanut butter out of barrels for about 6¢ per pound.

Around the same time, Dr. John Har-vey Kellogg in Battle Creek, Michigan, began experimenting with peanut butter as a vegetarian source of protein for his patients. His brother, W.K. Kellogg, business manager of their sanitarium, the Western Health Reform Institute, opened Sanitas Nut Company, which supplied their peanut butter and other like foods to local grocery stores.

The Kelloggs’ 1895 patent for the "Process of Preparing Nut Meal" de-scribed "a pasty adhesive substance that is for convenience of distinction termed nut butter.” However, their peanut butter was not as tasty as peanut butter today because the peanuts were steamed, in-stead of roasted, prior to grinding. How-ever, the Kelloggs turned their attention to cereals, which eventually gained them worldwide recognition.

Joseph Lambert, a Kellogg employee, who had worked on developing food-processing equipment, began selling his

own hand-operated peanut butter grinders in 1896. The person most credited with introducing peanut butter to the world was C.H. Sumner during the 1904 St. Louis Universal Exposi-tion. After selling $705.11 of the treat at his concession stand, peanut butter was on its way to becoming an American favorite! Krema Products Company of Co-lumbus, Ohio began selling peanut butter in 1908 and remains the old-est peanut butter company in opera-tion. In 1922, Joseph L. Rosefield re-ceived the first patent for a shelf-stable peanut butter, which would stay fresh for up to a year because the oil didn't separate from the pea-nut butter. One of the first companies to adopt this new process was Swift & Company for its E.K. Pond peanut


Peanut Butter Trivia •Peanuts are not actually nuts at all! They

are legumes, like beans, peas and lentils. •Americans eat 3 pounds of peanut butter

per person every year. That's about 700 million pounds, or enough to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon!

•Peanuts may be a favorite food, but we've found many uses for their shells too! You might find peanut shells in kitty litter, wallboard, fireplace logs, pa-per, animal feed and sometimes as fuel for power plants!

•Two peanut farmers have been elected President of the United States: Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.

•One acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.


(Continued from Previous Page) butter – renamed Peter Pan in 1928. In 1932, Rosefield had a dispute with Peter Pan and the following year he began pro-ducing the Skippy label. Two years later he created the first crunchy style peanut butter by mixing in chopped peanuts just prior to canning.

In 1955 Procter & Gamble acquired W.T. Young Foods of Lexington, Ken-tucky, makers of Big Top Peanut Butter, changed the name to Jif in 1958 and now operate the world's largest peanut butter plant, daily churning out 250,000 jars.

Peanut butter today is remarkably like that of 100 years ago. By law it has to contain a minimum of 90% peanuts, no artificial sweeteners, colors or preserva-tives. Some brands add natural sweeten-ers and salt for taste, plus a stabilizer to sustain freshness and keep the oil from separating. "Old-fashioned" or "natural" peanut butter does not contain the stabi-lizer so the oil will separate and should be stirred back in before using. Peanut butter does not need to be refrigerated.

Like most foods, peanut butter con-tains some fat. Fortunately, 80% of the fat in peanut butter is unsaturated – good fat – which may actually help lower LDL-cholesterol – bad cholesterol – lev-els in your blood. Because peanut butter is so versatile, good tasting and nutri-tious, it is included in many medically-endorsed weight loss and diabetic diets.

One ounce of roasted peanuts pro-vides 10% of the daily value of folate, the naturally occurring form of the B vitamin folic acid, recommended for the reduction of birth defects and lowered heart disease risk. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich ups that to 18%.

Food historians do not know exactly when the peanut butter and jelly sand-wich was first prepared and there have been no advertisements or mentions of PB&J prior to the 1940s. It is known, however, that both peanut butter and jelly were on the U.S. Military ration menus in WWII and it has been sug-gested that the GIs added jelly to their peanut butter to make it more palatable. It must have been an instant hit because returning GIs made peanut butter and jelly sales soar in the U.S.

For flavor nothing beats a toasted peanut butter and bacon sandwich.

Peanut butter and banana sandwich, a favorite of Elvis Presley, is considered a delicacy by many.

(Continued from Page 15) that we brought him here. He knows he’s day-by-day and I talked to him and we talked about the transition and when the new person would start. It’s not Mr. Cookson in charge of that, not even me really; it’s your administration here at the local level and the team of teachers because we’re dealing with lots of spe-cial needs in the class and kids without special needs but personalities. Kids latch onto and like the adults in their school so we have that in mind, it’s ut-most in our mind. There’s nothing fur-ther in our minds beyond the needs of the kids. The employment of an individ-ual adult is not at the top of our list; it’s the needs of the kids at the top of our list. The new person has already started. If we were not committed to transition, Mr. Cookson could have already been asked to leave.”

“I think this is really powerful that we have two parents who feel this strongly,” Nijensohn said. “Is there any way we can keep him on?”

Scheuffler said the first consideration is whether or not they have the money to do that. She said the second considera-tion is the whole transition process and how the actual written legal documents – the IEPs [Individualized Education Plans] – will get implemented and the how the process of providing curriculum, instruction, and assessment to students will be carried out over the next 6-7 weeks. “It will be up to Dusty [Principal Nelson] and all of the staff together to say, ‘Yes, we can handle an additional person in the classroom,’ or ‘No, that additional person isn’t going to fit the bill,’” Scheuffler explained. “At some point you can get too many people. I’m not going to say there would be, I don’t know because I’m not in there, but those would be your considerations – the over-all impact to the staff and students and then financial.”

Nijensohn asked for clarification on the number of people who would be in the classroom if Cookson remained. “There would be three adults in the classroom,” Nelson said. Faulkner said that it was her understanding that the recently hired special education teacher would be serving all the students in the school who are on IEPs, but now it seems she will be located in that particu-lar classroom only.

“What we discussed was designing a program for these kids because we wanted to improve their scores,” Nelson said. “So, we designed a program where we talked about hiring a Special Educa-tor. The new Special Educator will also share the caseload of our current Special Educator, because it is huge. For this year we said we can hire the Special Educator and put her in that 4th grade classroom to work with those students for the rest of this year. Next year she will become half-time here, half-time at CNSU. During her time here she will be working with other students. But this year we wanted to focus on that one classroom.”

“But that classoom’s going to be 5th grade classroom next year, so aren’t they going to have the same needs?” Faulkner asked.

“Correct,” Nelson replied. “The kids have the same needs every year. There’s always the academic, the behavioral and the social. Our goal was to get them to a level where they can make that transition to 5th grade and having four different teachers instead of the one teacher in the one contained classroom. We wanted to give them more skills behaviorally, so-cial/emotionally and academically.”

Welch wanted to know why they would “change a good thing” if a child is getting an IEP score that has been higher in the last two months. Colgrove said, “I think we are so close it’s not going to be good. Even the kids are saying it’s go-ing to go right back to the way it was before he came. The kids are scared.”

Responding to Welch’s comment, Nelson replied, “I would suggest it’s a matter of work that has been done since September with the one constant they’ve had in that classroom all year.”

“I think it is the behavioral aspect that Ben can manage and control because they feed off of each other,” Colgrove noted. “Sarah is amazing but once they’re all out of control – it’s out of control.” Scheuffler suggested the Board continue the discussion in executive ses-sion. Upon returning to open session the Board made no further comment and took no action.

School Board seats Ryan-Williams


24

May 2012 Meetings & Events

MAY DAY 1

2

8:30AM-NOON

& 3-5PM

FOOD PANTRY

TOWN HALL

6PM

SELECTBOARD

MUNICIPAL BLDG.

OPEN TO ALL

3

4:30-6:30PM

FREE COMMUNITY

DINNER

MILLERS RUN SCHL

OPEN TO ALL

DNEW MOON 20

21

22

23

25

26

11AM-3PM

1847 TOWN

HOUSE MUSEUM

OPEN

27

E 28

MEMORIAL DAY

NO

SCHOOL

29

30

31

JUNE 1

2

11AM-3PM

1847 TOWN

HOUSE MUSEUM

OPEN

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

6

7

V-E DAY 8

6PM SCHOOL BRD

MILLERS RUN SCHL

7PM SHEFFIELD/

WHEELOCK

SELECTBOARDS

WHEELOCK TOWN

CLERK’S OFFICE

MTGS. OPEN TO ALL

9

1:30PM

HOME DEM MTG.

CALL 626-9416

FOR LOCATION

OPEN TO ALL

WOMEN OF SHEFFIELD

10

4

CINCO DE MAYO 5

A FULL FLOWER MOON

GREEN UP

VERMONT

MOTHER’S DAY 13

14

15

6:30PM

MILLERS RUN SCHL

COMMUNITY MTG

MTG. OPEN TO ALL

16

11AM-1PM

COMMUNITY

LUNCH

TOWN HALL

FREE AND OPEN TO ALL

17

C 12

10AM

SHEFFIELD

HISTORICAL

SOCIETY MTG.

TOWN HALL

11

18

1PM-4PM

DROP OFF

YARD SALE ITEMS

TOWN HALL

ARMED FORCES 19

DAY

8AM-2PM

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

YARD SALE

TOWN HALL

ITEMS OF INTEREST

School Lunch Price Increase The price for regular school lunch

will increase from $2 to $2.50 next year. The increase is due to reimbursements

the school receives from the free and reduced lunch program. Currently 64.2 percent of Millers Run students partici-pate in the free and reduced lunch.

Transfer Station Meeting A joint meeting of the Sheffield and

Wheelock Selectboards will be held Tuesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the Whee-lock Town Clerk’s office. The Boards will open the bids received for the com-pactor and top box pick-up and award a contract, and do employee evaluations.

Community-wide School Mtg Millers Run School Principal Dusty Nel-son invites all Sheffield and Wheelock residents to a meeting on May 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the school to discuss the school’s NECAP [New England Com-mon Assessment Program] results and the Adequate Yearly Progress report.

sheffield beehive april 2012

Documents

sheffield selectboard

town treasurer

sheffield beehive page

public records requests

people of sheffield

arent public records

town clerk kathy newland

sheffield selectboards