Williston Observer

Churchview Estates will be located on Old Stage Road

By Greg Elias
Observer staff

A subdivision that would offer relatively low-cost housing for seniors has received town approval.

The Williston Development Review Board last week unanimously approved the 17-unit project dubbed Churchview Estates. The development, designated for those 55 and older, will be located at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Old Stage Road in Williston Village.

The housing will include 14 duplexes and three single-family homes. Prices will start at less than $200,000 and go up to about $250,000, said Rene Thibault, who owns the land and will develop the project.

The prices are far below the median of almost $300,000 for newly constructed homes in Chittenden County. The units, however, will be smaller than most new homes built in recent years, ranging from 1,200 to 1,350 square feet.

Thibault said he has already received inquiries from homeowners who are thinking of downsizing as they approach retirement.

“They want something that is smaller and easier to maintain and clean,” he said. “I just wanted to keep (the units) smaller, which makes them more affordable, too.”

Thibault said the homes’ estimated prices are based on the current housing market and noted that additional permitting requirements could drive up costs. He still needs to obtain a state Act 250 land-use permit before construction can begin.

At its Sept. 26 meeting, the Development Review Board briefly debated the project before granting final approval. In addition to numerous standard conditions of approval, the board required some homes to be reoriented and some parts of the site to be left undisturbed. Not even mowing will be permitted in those areas.

The requirements are intended to protect an unnamed stream that flows through part of the 9-acre parcel, said D.K. Johnston, the town’s zoning administrator.

Planning staff also worked with the developer to reduce the parking lot’s size and to shorten the subdivision’s access road so stormwater runoff is minimized. Stormwater is a major source of pollution for lakes, rivers and streams.

Traffic was also a concern during the town’s review process. The state Agency of Transportation gives the intersection of U.S. 2 and Old Stage Road a failing grade during peak traffic hours.

But the agency will not allow an access road connecting Churchview Estates directly to U.S. 2 because it would be too close to the intersection. The development will instead be accessed via Old Stage Road.

A study done by Trudell Consulting Engineers in Williston, which is working with Thibault, found that the additional traffic generated by the development would increase the current 60 second peak-hour delay at the intersection by eight seconds.

The development will include a mix of housing styles designed to fit with the surrounding area. The duplexes will include both two-story “townhouse style” buildings and side-by-side flats, Thibault said. One of the single-family homes will be a cape; the others will be ranches.

Thibault is a masonry contractor by trade. He said Churchview Estates is the first sizable subdivision that he has developed.

Debra Bell, project manager for Trudell Consulting Engineers, said her firm is “aggressively putting permit applications together” with the goal of receiving Act 250 approval and other permits by winter. Thibault said he hopes to obtain the remaining permits in time to start construction when the weather warms.

“Hopefully it all works out well and we’ll build some units starting next spring,” he said.

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Accused workers fired from Williston facility

By Greg Elias
Observer staff

Workers at a Williston child care center sprayed water in the face of a 2-year-old child and spun the toddler on play equipment despite the child’s pleas to stop, a state investigation has found.

Kids & Fitness, a child care center at the Sports & Fitness Edge, was cited in August for “inappropriate guidance and discipline techniques,” according to documents obtained from the Child Development Division, the state agency that licenses child care facilities.

The documents did not specify how the child was mistreated. But Kim Keiser, deputy commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, Child Development Division, quoted from records compiled in the case in a written response to questions posed by the Observer.

“Interviews of staff members at the facility disclosed that two staff members had, on at least one occasion, sprayed water at the face of a 2-year-old child, and, on at least one occasion, the child was placed in an Exersaucer and spun after the child clearly indicated wanting to stop,” she quoted the records as saying. An Exersaucer is a device that young children can stand in while playing with toys.

Vermont child care regulations forbid “any form of corporal punishment such as, but not limited to: inflicting mental or emotional punishment such as humiliating, shaming, threatening, or frightening a child.”

Mike Feitelberg, president of Sports & Fitness Edge Inc., said the two employees accused in the case were fired. Feitelberg emphasized that Sports & Fitness Edge went beyond what the state required.

Following the investigation, the Child Care Division mandated that staff members accused of misconduct take a six-hour course and be kept under direct visual supervision.

“We concluded at that time that we would not tolerate conduct such as that,” Feitelberg said. “We took immediate corrective action, which included the termination of those two teachers.”

The child care center also provided staff training in “positive redirection methods” for disciplining children, he said.

Williston resident Kevin McDermott, who has two children, ages 3 and 5, at Kids & Fitness, said he was satisfied with how the child care facility handled the matter, which he felt was an isolated incident.

“We’re real happy with the place,” he said, noting that it has resources that other child care centers don’t offer, particularly the fitness club.

McDermott said he knows the parents of the child who was mistreated, but he declined to comment further on what he had heard about the case. “It’s a touchy subject – my kids are still going there,” he said.

Brigitte Ritchie, whose 6-year-old son attends a half-day session at Kids & Fitness, said her child is in a different program so she felt he was safe. But the incident, which she heard about from other parents, worries her.

“Does it concern me? Yes. It should worry all parents,” Ritchie said.

Some parents sought more information from the state. Three parents called the Child Development Division, looking for details on the case or reassurance the facility was safe, according to records obtained by the Observer. They were encouraged to contact Kids & Fitness staff for more information.

The Child Development Division, which is part of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, launched an investigation after receiving a complaint on Aug. 15 that a child had been mistreated, Keiser said. A state investigator visited the center on Aug. 18 and Aug. 21.

Citing privacy concerns, Feitelberg and Keiser would not identify the child who was improperly disciplined or the child’s parents. Nor would they disclose the sex of the child or the names of the employees accused in the case.

The Observer requested documents compiled during the investigation under the Vermont Public Records Act. Keiser indicated that the files would become public after the 30-day appeal period ended. The newspaper decided to hold the story until the records were available in order to provide a complete account of the violation.

The files released Sept. 22 were censored, with names blacked out and some documents withheld.

The division refused a second request for records that would verify the specific allegations. Christina Strobridge, director of the Child Development Division, said in a written reply to the request that the documents were exempt from disclosure.

The Child Development Division tries to protect child care providers against unwarranted complaints while encouraging the public to report concerns, Keiser wrote in response to a question about how the state balances privacy and the public’s right to know about a child care facility’s record. She said providers accused of a serious violation, as was the case at Kids & Fitness, are required to mail a copy of the site visit field form, which provides information about the allegations.

But the document, a copy of which the state provided to the Observer, said only that two staff members had used “inappropriate guidance and discipline techniques and “inappropriate methods of redirection.”

Kids & Fitness opened in 2001, Feitelberg said. About 20 employees work at the facility.

The state licenses Kids & Fitness as an early childhood program for children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. It is licensed to care for as many as 72 children.

In addition to the Williston facility, Sports & Fitness Edge Inc. owns other fitness clubs in Essex and South Burlington. Child care programs are also operated at those facilities, Feitelberg said.

The recent incident is not the first time the state has found problems at Kids & Fitness.

Last year, regulators discovered that a staff member had not taken a course required for her position, according to state records.

In 2004, Kids & Fitness was cited for failing to check phone messages every 15 minutes as rules mandate and for neglecting to supervise children walking to and from bathrooms, the records show.

Feitelberg said no parents have pulled their child out of the program, including those of the child who was improperly disciplined.

In fact, Feitelberg said his own child continues to attend Kids & Fitness. As a father, he said he is confident that his child is in good hands.

“We are saddened that such isolated incidents took place in our center,” he said in a written statement. “We feel we have responded in a swift and appropriate manner and the integrity of our center has been maintained. We remain a center that has built a reputation on trust and is filled with dedicated, caring staff.”

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Former Rep. emphasizes affordability

By Kim Howard
Observer staff

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of profiles of the four candidates running for Williston’s two open seats in the Vermont House of Representatives.

Mike Quaid is on board with Gov. Jim Douglas’ re-election platform.

Capping property taxes, allowing Vermonters to purchase out-of-state health insurance, and requiring voter approval of tax increases would be among Quaid’s top legislative priorities if elected, he said. Those priorities are a reflection of Douglas’ proposals to reign in taxes and control the cost of living, according to Quaid.

“The principal reason I’m running is that I believe a lot in what Jim Douglas is trying to accomplish in Vermont,” Quaid said. “Without some help in the Legislature, he can’t get his programs passed.”

Getting the Circumferential Highway finished is another top priority of Quaid’s if elected.

Quaid is one of four candidates running to represent Williston in the Vermont House of Representatives. Incumbents Jim McCullough and Mary Peterson, both Democrats, and Republican Deb Beckett also are running in the Nov. 7 election. The four will be vying for two seats.

Quaid, a Republican, represented Williston in the Vermont House for two terms, from 1999 to 2002. He lost his seat by 75 votes in November 2002, when Peterson and McCullough were first elected. Quaid made an unsuccessful bid for the Vermont Senate in 2004.

Taxes and school funding

If elected, Quaid said he will advocate that voters must approve any income, sales or property tax increases.

“The polls I’ve seen (say) that people would like the chance to vote on that, and I trust the wisdom of the voters when it comes to stuff like that,” Quaid said.

Quaid gave as an example a House proposal this spring to increase the state gasoline tax by four cents.

“I can’t believe they (House representatives) actually believed that a majority of people supported a gas tax increase,” Quaid said.

Quaid also supports the governor’s proposal to cap property tax increases at the rate of inflation unless 60 percent of town voters approve higher taxes to pay for school and town budgets.

Quaid said the high threshold required for approval does not mean the state is assuming control of local government decisions, even though few school budgets in Vermont are approved by such a wide margin.

“The state isn’t saying ‘you can’t do it,’” Quaid said. “They’re saying ‘we have to get a handle on this somehow, and nothing else has worked, so a hard cap is what we have left to try here.’ If something in a town is so important that they need it, there’s an escape valve there, the 60 percent approval threshold.”

Quaid said he is not a proponent of what he calls “wealth transfer” between towns, as in Vermont’s current education financing laws, though he could live with it if parents could send their children to any public or private school they chose. He does support more parental accountability in education funding, while making allowances for parents with fewer financial resources.

“You should have some responsibility to pay for your children,” Quaid said. “Right now everybody pays the same whether you have kids or not.”

Getting bills into law

Quaid acknowledges that despite his focus on taxes, he can’t take credit for any tax legislation that passed while in office.

“My two years in (the) Ways and Means (committee) I found extremely frustrating,” Quaid said. “We had a 7-4 Republican to Democrat committee and the majority of the time … I was usually on the losing side of 8-3 votes, which I find frustrating on a Republican-stacked committee.”

Nevertheless, Quaid points to legislation that he is proud of personally introducing and getting passed.

“Two things I got passed: Getting towns a density bonus for affordable housing,” he said earlier this year. “I also got a bill passed to allow the highway department to lease out state property for cell towers.” Though Quaid said he hasn’t yet seen it put into use, the law allows for greater cell coverage for Vermont, helpful not only for business but also in emergencies, he said.

Health care is not a right

Though Quaid supports much of the Douglas agenda, he said he would not be an automatic “yes man” for the governor if elected.

“I wasn’t too happy he signed that health care bill,” Quaid said, referring to Douglas’ support of health care reform this spring. “I don’t believe government has any business being involved in health care at all. … I wouldn’t have voted for it.”

Quaid said guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not the responsibility of state government.

“You can’t have a right to anything that has to be provided by somebody else because then you’re infringing on their rights,” Quaid said. “That’s the basic problem I have with government-sponsored health care in the first place.”

Socially conservative

Quaid is a social conservative according to his voting record and responses to political surveys.

During both of his House terms, Quaid co-sponsored bills forbidding two women or two men to marry. He also co-sponsored a resolution urging Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to prohibit destruction of the American flag.

Quaid’s responses to a 2004 Project Vote Smart survey also point to conservative values: He supports abortion only when the mother’s health is in danger; he supports abstinence-only sex education; and he supports implementing the death penalty in Vermont. Quaid said none of these are topics on which he plans to introduce legislation.

Quaid also said he would have opposed a bill this spring passed by the House and Senate, but vetoed by the governor, that included gender identity as a protected category in employment discrimination. Proponents of the bill have said it was the only time a sitting Vermont governor had opposed civil rights legislation.

“I fundamentally disagree with the whole raft of anti-discrimination legislation, except where it pertains to government,” Quaid said. “When we try to impose those regulations on the private sector, on private individuals, I believe we’re going outside the bounds of what a limited government should be doing.”

A question of character?

In January, Quaid was fired from the Williston Observer for plagiarism after a 13-month stint as a freelance columnist. Quaid had written a bi-weekly conservative column until a reader wrote to the Observer pointing to similarities between Quaid and Wall Street Journal columnist Stephen Moore.

Quaid admitted this week that it was plagiarism, but that he has no comments beyond a 300-word statement he wrote that ran in the Observer in January.

“ ‘I always tried to give editorial acknowledgment when I brought ideas of great thinkers into my columns,’” Quaid wrote in the statement. “ ‘I now realize that I should have been more direct and transparent, and given greater credit to the writers who inspired me.’”

In a criminal records check of political candidates in 2004, the Observer learned that Quaid was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 1999. A Chittenden County criminal court records check last month revealed no criminal convictions among the other House candidates.

“Agenda of affordability”

Quaid said he most wants Williston voters to know that he supports what the governor is calling an “agenda of affordability” and that he signed the taxpayer protection pledge promising to vote against tax increases.

Quaid said what he appreciates most about being a representative of Williston is the following: “It’s the opportunity to be involved in the major decisions that will influence the future of Vermont.”

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By Kim Howard
Observer staff

The Chittenden County Senate race recount completed Tuesday shows Dennis McMahon garnered 29 more votes than Williston resident Tim Palmer in last month’s Democratic primary.

Palmer had requested the recount after the vote tally revealed a 25-vote margin. In the original tally, Palmer earned 3,471 votes compared with McMahon’s 3,496, giving McMahon the last spot on the Democratic slate for Chittenden County representation in the Senate. Each major party is allowed six candidates on the ballot for November’s general election; eight Democrats ran for that office in the primary.

The tally after the recount was 3,506-3,477.

“It is beyond debate that by a very small margin I was not nominated to be a candidate in the general election,” Palmer wrote in an emailed statement. “I trust the results because of the diligent and hard work of the staff of Chittenden County Superior Court and the immense and honest efforts of dozens of voters … who generously gave of their time to count each ballot cast.”

After the recount was finished, McMahon said he was glad it took place.

“If he had won, I certainly would have supported him,” McMahon said. “Now we have to go on to November. It will be a good five-week campaign.”

The other Democratic candidates for senators representing Chittenden County are Jim Condos, Ed Flanagan, Ginny Lyons, Hinda Miller and Doug Racine. The Republican slate will include Agnes Clift, J. Dennis Delaney, Chuck Furtado, Robert Sims, Diane Snelling, and John Stewart. No Independent candidates filed.

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By Ben Moger-Williams
Observer staff

Most of the 25 people crammed into the Selectboard meeting Monday night left after learning the town had no new information regarding a proposed Chittenden Solid Waste District regional landfill off Redmond Road.

At the meeting, members of the recently formed landfill-opposition group, the Williston Neighborhood Coalition, requested a status report from the board. Town Manager Rick McGuire explained that the town had compiled a list of legal questions for town attorney Paul Gillies. The questions were based on those posed to the board at their Sept. 19 meeting, which was attended by about 200 residents.

McGuire pointed out that the questions were merely clarifying legal issues, and would not necessarily dictate what the board would eventually do.

Coalition President Steve Casale said he had faith in the board, and hoped that it would keep communicating with the public on the issue.

“I think it’s important that that bidirectional conduit of information continues,” Casale said.

On Wednesday, McGuire confirmed that the questions had been finalized and sent to Gillies. Some of the questions include:

“If the town cannot void the contract [with CSWD], but breached it anyway (somehow), what would the consequence be?”

“Does the host town agreement compel the Selectboard to support the landfill or limit their ability to speak out against the project?”

“What is the factual basis and legal consequence for the claim that the Town government should have been warning buyers of homes in the proximity to the proposed landfill?”

McGuire said he expected the answers to be available at the next Selectboard meeting Oct. 16, which might take place at the Williston Central School due to the high level of interest in the issue.

CHARTER CHANGES

Williston voters in November will be voting on proposed revisions to the Town Charter, one of which could eliminate official positions that have existed for nearly a century.

A proposed ballot item that was to be finalized by Friday eliminates the positions of Fence Viewer, Grand Juror, Town Agent, Trustee of Public Funds, Surveyor of Wood and Timber, and Weigher of Coal. The same item would also change the Cemetery Commission and the Old Brick Church Trustees from elected to appointed positions.

Town Clerk Deb Beckett voiced opposition to the proposal to change the elected positions to appointed ones, especially for the Cemetery Commission, which she said has existed since 1917.

“I have a real concern with one elected board voting to eliminate another elected board,” she said.

The proposed Charter changes would have to be first approved by voters before going to the state Legislature for approval.

The three-part ballot was expected to be finalized by the Selectboard by Friday, even though there is another public hearing on the changes Monday, Oct. 9. One item asks voters to authorize a local option tax for the town, in the event that the state law authorizing the tax is repealed or if the current 70 percent allocation of the tax revenue to the town is reduced. The other item would clarify language in the Charter and authorize the town to make employment agreements with the police and fire chiefs.

The proposed revisions were based on the research of a Charter Revision Task Force, which reported its findings to the board several months ago. Residents can attend the public hearing Monday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall to express their views or hear more about the changes.

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