Landmark overdue for renovation

Bleak house: The St. George Schoolhouse, which has sat dormant since 1965, is set to be moved from its present location on the side of Vermont 2A to a plot adjacent to the St. George Town Offices. An extensive renovation process will accompany the move. (Observer photo by Luke Baynes)

By Luke Baynes

Observer staff

Somewhere, Jean Ankeney is smiling right now.

Ankeney, a longtime Vermont state senator from St. George, expressed a wish at the 2005 St. George Town Meeting, shortly before passing away at age 83: save the Little Red Schoolhouse.

Her wish is about to come to posthumous fruition.

On Aug. 1, the permits will go into effect to allow the relocation of the St. George Schoolhouse from a small, weeded-over plot on the side of Vermont 2A to a place of prominence adjacent to the St. George Town Offices.

“We’re trying to create a village center, so moving the schoolhouse will be an anchor for that,” said Lisa Beliveau, a member of both the St. George Selectboard and Planning Commission.

The one-room schoolhouse was constructed in 1852 and served the children of St. George until 1965.

A cursory glance from a car window to the side of Vermont 2A today will show that the schoolhouse has seen far better days.

Its red paint is chipped and fading, its roof looks ready to collapse with the next sizeable snowfall.

Part of its current state of disrepair is intentional. In anticipation of the upcoming move, an addition to the original one-room structure has been removed, as have the front steps and the brick chimney. The expansive windows, which provided light for students to read and write by in the days before the electric light bulb, have been boarded with plywood.

But Ginger Isham, whose familial connection to the schoolhouse spans generations, said the building will be painstakingly reconstructed to its former state following the move.

According to Isham, the relocation of the schoolhouse will cost approximately $30,000. She said the St. George Historic and Conservation Trust—a nonprofit organization formed in 2008 to oversee the schoolhouse relocation and renovation—has about $61,000 in its bank account, with another $32,500 or so pledged as contributions.

Lori Ring, president of the St. George Historic and Conservation Trust, said that in addition to serving as a historical museum, the schoolhouse will be made available for both public and private functions, including weddings, graduation parties, movie nights and town meetings.

“We don’t have a building that’s capable of hosting a town meeting. This will give us a building for that sort of thing,” Ring said.

The date for the Little Red Schoolhouse’s big move hasn’t been finalized, although Ring said she expects it will be sometime in August.

“We’re trying to complete the goal that (Ankeney) set for the town,” Ring said.

It appears that they’re well on their way.

Williston resident receives unanimous approval from Burlington City Council

By Luke Baynes

Observer staff

It’s official: Eileen Blackwood is the new Burlington city attorney.

On July 16, a week after Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger named Blackwood, a Williston resident, as his choice for city attorney, the City Council made it official.

In a July 8 memorandum to council members, Weinberger cited Blackwood’s “extensive experience,” adding that she has “excellent skills as a listener and communicator” and a “long-standing, extensive record of service to her community.”

Blackwood, who received her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School, has been a partner in the Hinesburg law firm Kohn Rath Blackwood & Danon LLP since 2009, when she and Beth Danon merged their Burlington practice with Roger Kohn and David Rath’s Hinesburg-based business.

A member of the Vermont Bar Association since 1987, Blackwood served as its president from Sept. 2009 to Sept. 2010.

Blackwood’s Williston ties run deep.

As a member of the Williston Planning Commission from 1990-2002, she had a front row seat for the largest population surge in the town’s history.

In July 2000, Blackwood made the front page of the Williston Whistle when she and her partner of 13 years, Lynn Goyette, became one of the first gay or lesbian couples in the nation to join in civil union, in a ceremony officiated by Justice of the Peace and Whistle co-founder Louise Ransom.

Blackwood’s appointment comes after Weinberger withdrew his nomination of Burlington-based attorney Ian Carleton, following controversy over Carleton’s close friendship with the mayor and his demand for a higher salary than prescribed by the city’s stepped pay system.

Prior to receiving unanimous confirmation by the City Council at its July 16 meeting, Blackwood offered her take on the position held by Ken Schatz since 2007.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity. Ken Schatz will leave some tough shoes to fill, but I’m very excited about the opportunity to serve the city,” Blackwood told the council.

Weinberger’s memo states that Blackwood intends to begin her work as Burlington city attorney in either the last week of August or the first week of September. It also notes that she intends to abide by the residency requirements of the job and move to Burlington.

Blackwood is the first woman to serve as Burlington city attorney.

By Luke Baynes

Observer staff

A skeleton crew that barely met the quorum requirement of the Williston Development Review Board approved a request by the NETS Institute for Church Planting to add two stories of office and conference space over an existing garage.

NETS, a controlled corporation of Christ Memorial Church, is located at 999 Essex Road (Vermont 2A) in the Residential Zoning District.

Office spaces are normally not allowed in the RZD. But as Williston Senior Planner Matt Boulanger explained to the DRB at its Tuesday meeting, state law dictates that church-controlled entities enjoy a partial exemption from town zoning regulations.

“This is a zoning district where there are no commercial uses typically allowed,” Boulanger said. “One of the exemptions to that comes to us from state law, and it’s for things like churches. So under state law, you cannot limit where a church can go in your town through zoning. However, churches do need to adhere to all of the other customary, normal requirements of the zoning bylaw.”

Among the conditions of approval suggested by Boulanger in his staff notes were to dissolve a property line that currently separates the church from the garage and to slightly reconfigure the driveway.

The public hearing on the NETS proposal lasted a mere 13 minutes.

Boulanger told the Observer on Wednesday that the DRB’s deliberative executive session was also brief.

“The project was approved with no changes to staff’s proposed conditions,” Boulanger said.

The Vermont Department of Health is warning Vermonters to heed the recall of Cargill Meat Solutions fresh ground beef products sold in Hannaford grocery stores statewide. These products have been linked to a multi-state outbreak of salmonella, including 10 cases in Vermont.

Cargill recalled nearly 30,000 pounds of ground beef dating back to May 25, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). A total of 33 cases of Salmonella were reported in the six New England states and Virginia.

Anyone who has ground beef subject to the recall in their refrigerator or freezer should throw it out.

Symptoms of foodborne illness caused by salmonella include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections for people with weakened immune systems or other underlying health conditions.

Anyone with questions about the recall can call the Cargill Ground Beef Recall Information Center at (888) 812-1646 or visit www.fsis.usda.gov/

Visit www.healthvermont.gov for health and food safety information

Local blood donors recognized

Two Williston residents recently received gallon pins from the American Red Cross. Melinda Petter has donated seven gallons and Bill Wiegner has donated 59 gallons.

Dress down and save lives on July 31

Companies all across Vermont will dress down on Tuesday, July 31 to fight back against cancer, a disease that will affect one in every three women and one in every two men in their lifetime. The American Cancer Society is inviting all Vermont businesses and their employees to take action to save lives by joining Vermont’s third annual Relay For Life Dress Down Day.

By donating $5 to the American Cancer Society, employees earn the chance to dress down at work for one day or wear purple—the color of Relay, an annual overnight signature event of the American Cancer Society—to remember or honor a loved one who has been touched by cancer.

For information about registering your worksite for Relay For Life Dress Down Day on July 31, contact Tanya Walker at your local American Cancer Society at [email protected] or 802-872-6314.

Call to artists

Artists’ Mediums in Williston is seeking additions to its Hot & Cold Exhibit, running Aug. 1 to Oct. 31. Is your artwork about the Sahara or the Sub-Arctic? Is it fiery or frigid? Bright warm colors or cool? The exhibit is looking for these opposites, so bring in your best interpretations.
All 2-D and 3-D media accepted with paperwork now through the beginning of August. Stop in or visit, www.artistsmediums.blogspot.com/p/1.html.

Sports nominees sought

The Vermont Sports Hall of Fame is seeking nominations for its inaugural class of outstanding Green Mountain athletes and sports contributors. The deadline for public nominations is Aug. 1.

The first class of athletes and contributors will be announced in early September.

To make a nomination, download the nomination form at http://vermontsportshall.com/.