Williston Observer

By Donna Barlow Casey and Justin Johnson

Last May, Vermont enacted legislation aimed at reducing the amount of solid waste the state sends to landfills while maximizing recycling and composting. The first of its kind in the country, Act 148 bans disposal of recyclables, yard waste and food residuals, and mandates the implementation of parallel recycling and composting programs statewide. This will enable us to significantly reduce the growth of our landfills, and enhance soil fertility through the application of compost.

In Vermont, approximately 160,000 tons of food waste is generated annually and only an estimated 20 percent is currently composted. Wasted food means wasted money for Vermont businesses and households, and unintended impacts to the environment through production, storage and transportation of food, and ultimate disposal of the waste in landfills.

Historically, the waste management system in Vermont has been driven by consumer convenience and large-scale operations. Food scraps have been mixed with garbage and carted to landfills, where their inherent value to replenish our soils is not only wasted but contributes to environmental degradation through emissions of greenhouse gases that are not captured at our operating landfills. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, up to 20 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, and landfills account for the single largest human-made source of methane in the earth’s atmosphere.

Vermont is in a unique position to lead the nation in diverting 100 percent of our food waste from landfills by 2020—reducing our ecological impacts and investing in our local agriculture movement. Act 148’s requirement to remove food from the waste stream begins in 2014 for large generators and will be required for all generators in 2020. Solid waste haulers and facilities will be required to offer collection services for those materials. This phased-in approach offers a window of time in which critical information about the process can be reviewed by local elected officials, businesses, non-profits, entrepreneurs, farmers and consumers.

Fortunately, we have a solid infrastructure in place for the redirection of safe, wholesome excess food or leftovers; it occurs through churches, food shelves and pantries. Local partnerships between generators (such as grocers, schools and food processors) and farmers also prevent unwanted food from going to waste. Additionally, a number of commercial and on-farm compost operations across the state, plus community and backyard composting, also have a foothold. This infrastructure forms a base upon which to build and expand a thriving food and nutrient redistribution system in our state. This can encompass the social, environmental and economic impacts related to collecting food residuals of all types and redirecting them in keeping with the hierarchy established in the legislation of reducing at the source, feeding hungry people, feeding animals and seeking industrial and compost uses before disposal.

With ongoing analysis, inclusive communication, and continued vigilance, we can reduce waste and use waste that is generated to rejuvenate our soils for increased food production, an improved environment and a healthier world.

Justin Johnson is the Deputy Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. Donna Barlow Casey is the Director of Vermont Technical College’s Center for Sustainable Practice.

Old Brick Church concert Friday

A cappella group Maple Jam will present a holiday choral program at the Old Brick Church on Dec. 21 at 7 p.m., the latest concert in the Brick Church Music Series.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, with a $2 discount for seniors and children. Children under 6 are free. Tickets are available at the town clerk’s office.

CVU to host family formal

Champlain Valley Union High School business ethics class’s fourth annual family formal is set for Jan. 26 in the school cafeteria from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade—though older and younger students are welcome—can bring an adult or their families to the dance.

Tickets are $15 per adult, $5 per child or a maximum of $40 for a family of four or more. The class’s goal is to raise $7,500, which will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

For more information or to order tickets, email [email protected]

By Luke Baynes

Observer staff

The Williston School Board reviewed 23 decision packets at its Dec. 13 budget meeting—all of which would have the effect, if implemented, of increasing the school district’s baseline budget, which is already projected to increase 4.18 percent in fiscal year 2014.

The baseline budget, an apples to apples figure which represents the amount needed to maintain the current fiscal year’s level of academic services, is estimated to be $17,317,451—a $695,583 increase over the school district’s current operating budget. The 4.18 percent increase, according to Chittenden South Supervisory Union Chief Operations Officer Bob Mason, is primarily due to a 15 percent hike in health care costs and an aggregated 3 percent raise in salaries.

Last year, Williston voters approved a 1.95 percent WSD budget increase.

The decision packets included a $75,000 proposal for a science coordinator, whose duties would involve implementing a plan to improve the Williston School District’s lackluster scores on the 2012 New England Common Assessment Program science assessments.

Another pair of packets included proposals for two intervention instructors for students struggling in math and literacy in kindergarten through fourth grade—each of which carried an $80,000 price tag.

The most expensive item was a $165,500 request to establish a one-to-one iPad-to-student ratio for fifth- and sixth-graders, who would retain the devices for the remainder of their middle school lives. If implemented in the fiscal year 2014 budget, it would carry forward into the fiscal year 2015 budget for incoming fifth- and eighth-graders, meaning that the measure would ensure that students in grades 5-8 would receive iPad-related instruction in perpetuity—unless subsequently amended by a future iteration of the WSD board.

“It’s a tool. And it’s a very, very powerful tool,” Williston District Principal Walter Nardelli said of the instructional value of the Apple iPad. “Our students really need to have this ability … and they need to be very flexible with technology. It has to be second nature with them, and the earlier we can start, the better off they’re going to be. There’s no question about that.”

The board was in general agreement about the benefits of the proposed decision packets, but its enthusiasm was tempered by Mason’s calculations that even a 4.18 baseline budget increase would result in a 9.59 percent homestead tax rate increase for Willistonians.

The projected homestead tax increase is based on Vermont Tax Commissioner Mary Peterson’s Nov. 30 letter to Vermont Senate and House leaders, which suggested that plummeting statewide student population numbers could lead to a 5-cent increase to the state education base tax rate. Mason’s figures are based on the assumption that legislators will follow Gov. Peter Shumlin’s recommendation that the statewide property tax rate not exceed the rate of inflation and increase by only 3 cents, in the hope that school districts across the state will curb expenditures.

Jeanne Jensen, one of Williston’s four representatives on the Champlain Valley Union High School board, made a cameo appearance at the WSD meeting. She reported that the CVU baseline budget is projected to increase approximately 4.3 percent. Like its primary and middle school counterparts, Jensen said the CVU board is having difficulty reconciling desired education expenditures with the increased burden on taxpayers.

“This is the most divided board for CVU that I’ve seen in 10 years,” Jensen said.

Williston School Board Chairwoman Holly Rouelle requested that Mason and Nardelli, for comparison purposes, put together a potential budget that would increase Willistonians’ homestead tax rate by only 8 percent, instead of the current projected rate of 9.59 percent. However, she warned that such a budget cut could be a rude awakening for parents accustomed to the current level of education services.

“If we did go that low, it would seriously impact what a student’s education would look like in Williston for next year,” Rouelle said.

The next Williston School District budget meeting is scheduled for Jan. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in the dining room of Williston Central School.

Students in a Sawmill Studio class in Essex Junction focus on their work. Sawmill Studio is set to bring a beginning woodworking class to Williston kids in grades 2 through 6 in January. (Observer photo by Stephanie Choate)

Observer staff

Williston’s old schoolhouse on the town green will soon be filled with work benches, flying sawdust and the whirring of handsaws.

Sawmill Studio—a mobile education company that teaches woodworking to kids in grades 2 through 6—is set to bring a beginning woodworking class to Williston in January through the Williston Parks and Recreation Department.

“The kids just jump right in, they love it,” said Sachi Hergesheimer, who runs the program with friend Stuart Cheney. “I’m always amazed at how quickly they know how to use everything. After the first project, they’ve got it.”

Cheney and Hergesheimer started Sawmill Studio four years ago, after discovering a mutual love of woodworking while both working at IBM.

The classes are intended as an enrichment program.

“They’re really learning life-long skills,” Cheney said. “If they ever own a house or live in an apartment or own a piece of furniture, these are the kinds of tools they’re going to need.”

Hergesheimer added that the classes are a good alternative to video games and television, as well as consumerism.

“To just be able to sit down and make something on your own I think is pretty powerful,” she said. “There isn’t a lot of this hands-on learning anymore.”

Each student builds a birdhouse to introduce them to the tools and techniques. Once the birdhouse is finished, students can choose from a variety of projects, from lunch boxes to back scratchers.

Cheney assured any potentially worried parents that Sawmill Studio doesn’t use any power tools.

“All the projects are really designed for kids of this age,” he said. “Everything is handpicked or hand built by us to make it work for them, for their safety and for their convenience and for their enjoyment.”

Hergesheimer said she loves watching kids’ faces light up when they finish a craft.

“It’s awesome when the kid finishes a project and they are just so proud and amazed at what they have made,” she said. “That’s always the best moment, when someone has a big smile on their face and says ‘look at what I made.’”

The class is set to begin Jan. 15 and will run for five weeks. It is scheduled for Tuesdays from 3 – 4:30 p.m. at the Old Schoolhouse on the green by Williston Central School. The class costs $85, and all materials are provided. To sign up, visit the Parks and Recreation section of www.willistonvt.govoffice3.com.

By Luke Baynes

Observer staff

If your New Year’s resolution is to get more exercise, you have exactly four days to slack off before it’s time to get on the stick.

On Jan. 5, the “Healthy Challenge,” a 5-kilometer snowshoe (weather permitting) or fun walk will be held at Catamount Outdoor Family Center from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. A joint venture between Catamount, the town of Williston, Vermont Senior Games and the Center for Aging at the University of Vermont, the event will serve as the kickoff for “Williston Moves,” a yearlong fitness challenge that will follow a template established by the Vermont Senior Games’ Move for Well-Being program.

“Williston is only as healthy as its people,” said Catamount co-owner Jim McCullough. “This effort is to make sure our Williston residents have an opportunity to improve their health and wellness.”

McCullough noted that there will be no registration fee for the Healthy Challenge and snowshoes will be available for rental at a reduced rate of $6.50.

Unlike the Vermont Senior Games program, which is limited to people 50 or older, the Williston Moves program is for all ages and fitness levels. A strictly honor system-based program, participants are asked to pledge to one of four levels: copper, bronze, silver or gold—which entail respective commitments of 75, 150, 225 or 360 minutes of exercise per week.

Gary Eley, chairman of the Vermont Senior Games’ Move for Well-Being program, said the initiative is geared toward getting people off the couch, be it as simple as taking an evening stroll around the neighborhood.

“People over 50 can get really sedentary and not moving much, just watching TV and not doing much with their bodies,” Eley said. “If people can get out and just do 30 minutes a day of walking, it can make a tremendous difference in their health and a tremendous difference in our health care costs.”

Eley said he expects a website to be operational by Jan. 1 that will allow participants to track their progress. In the meantime, Eley said, registration forms and hard copy progress logs can be obtained by calling or emailing him at 373-3188 or [email protected] Forms will also be available at the Catamount event on Jan. 5.

McCullough said there will likely be an awards ceremony at the end of the year for participants who complete the 12-month program.

“They will be eligible for awards, but, of course, the real award is feeling better and a new life paradigm,” McCullough said.

Williston Moves is the first in a series of townwide initiatives that will lead up to Williston’s 250th anniversary celebration on June 7.

Williston Town Clerk Deb Beckett said other tentative plans include a community pot luck dinner prior to Town Meeting on March 4. She said the dinner will likely feature a mock debate that will use historical records to recreate a specific town meeting from centuries past.

Other plans include a 24-hour photo project on June 7 that will utilize a fleet of photographers to capture a day in the life of Williston. The celebration will likely conclude with a group photo shoot at Williston Community Park on June 8 for any and all Williston residents who wish to attend.