Aviation exec named new Killington manager

Rutland Herald

By Lola Duffort

Staff Writer | March 31,2016

 

KILLINGTON — A former airport executive will take over in Killington beginning April 18.

The Select Board voted unanimously during a special meeting Tuesday to hire Deborah H. Schwartz as Killington’s next town manager, said Dick Horner, who has held the post on an interim basis since former manager Seth Webb stepped down in December.

The town has been searching for a new leader since October, shortly after Webb announced his departure. The town reported collecting 60 applications for the post.

A native of Indiana, Schwartz comes to the town from Arkansas, where she currently runs her own aviation consulting firm, Strategic Aviation Solutions. From 1994 to 2007, Schwartz was executive director at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Ark., a municipally-owned airport in Arkansas, according to her LinkedIn profile. For a year and half between 2013 and 2015, she also served as director of aviation services for MorphoTrustUSA, a supplier of background checks for airport personnel. She began her career as assistant airport manager at the William P. Hobby airport in Houston, Texas.

Schwartz is planning to relocate to Killington, Horner said.

Her salary begins at $92,000, according to Horner, and her contract runs through June 30, 2019 — the end of that fiscal year.

A Killington press release touts her “extensive background in municipal management” and states that Schwartz was “directly involved in multiple successful economic development initiatives through public and civic activities in all the communities in which she has lived and worked.” The release notes her “civic leadership” earned recognition as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary International, an award granted to persons who donate $1,000 to the international service club, according to the Rotary website.

Schwartz has a bachelor’s degree in government from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, according to a news release, and a master’s degree in public management from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in Texas.

Schwartz was not available for comment, but was quoted in the Killington statement saying she was “very excited to be joining forces with the area’s residents and businesses in support of current initiatives, and serving as an agent for continued progress as we work together to move Killington forward.”

lola.duffort@rutlandherald.com

Killington hires town manager

March 30,2016

 

KILLINGTON — A woman with an extensive aviation background is the new town manager.

Deborah Schwartz will replace Seth Webb, who left late last year, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the town.

Schwartz has been airport director of the Worcester, Mass., Regional Airport, executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Ark., and director of aviation services for a company that does background checks for airport personnel.

She also ran a consulting firm, Strategic Aviation Solutions

Comment: I guess she'll have the town "flying high". Curious to see how her experience running airports translates into running a resort town.
Vito 

Summit Lodge in Killington sells for $1.4M

Rutland Herald

By BRUCE EDWARDS

Correspondent | March 28,2016

 

Albert J. Marro / Staff File Photo New owners of the Summit Lodge in Killington plan to raise their daughter in Vermont along with two Saint Bernards to carry on tradition. This hay sculpture was built in 2013.

 

KILLINGTON — One of the town’s oldest resort hotels has been sold to a Florida couple for $1.4 million.

Emmett and Laura O’Dwyer of Fort Lauderdale purchased the 45-room Summit Lodge on Killington Road earlier this month from Bill Bauer.

“We’ve been looking for about two years now, upstate New York, New Hampshire (and) Vermont for somewhere to relocate,” O’Dwyer said.

He said they were looking “for a nice environment” where they could raise Orlaith, their 2-year-old daughter.

“Killington, Vermont is a great place to raise a child and grow up and a great place for us to be as well,” he said.

O’Dwyer, a native of Ireland, is no stranger to the hospitality industry.

“I’ve run and owned hotels and restaurants and also run and owned a project management company,” he said.

O’Dwyer’s experience includes both owning and running hotels primarily in London but also Ireland.

The Summit Lodge was one of the first hotels built after the Killington Ski Area opened in 1958.

The 16,305-square-foot building sits on 8.36 acres and includes dining and banquet rooms with seating for 180, tennis courts, outdoor swimming pool and parking for 60 cars.

Ray Ault, a commercial Realtor who brokered the sale, said the Summit Lodge has a profitable track record, which is the exception.

According to the prospectus, the property has grossed between $850,000 and $1.1 million a year for the last 10 years.

The local market for hotels and restaurants remains soft, however.

“Overall, the Rutland-Killington market has not been good to hospitality businesses in terms of resales,” said Ault, who owns Ault Commercial Realty. “They’ve been great buys — a low sale price is a great opportunity for buyers — but they are also more cautious when they buy.”

The weak market is evidenced by several properties along Route 4 leading to Killington that remain vacant while others have changed hands at foreclosure auctions, Ault said.

“The Summit is one of the few that is healthy and sells on the basis of both the value of the hard assets and the cash flow value of the business,” he said.

Ault added that the hospitality industry is not favored by many lenders, especially when it comes to a closed restaurant.

O’Dwyer said one of the first items on his to-do list is a technology upgrade, with VTel putting in fiber optic lines which will improve the hotel’s Internet and WiFi connections. Efficiency Vermont has also been involved, helping with making the property more energy efficient.

O’Dwyer also said there will be some routine cosmetic improvements.

Most of the hotel staff will be staying on, including Bill Miller, who was promoted to general manager.

“A lot of the team that’s here has been here such a long time they know the routine,” O’Dwyer said.

He said both the Vermont Economic Development Authority and VSECU helped with financing.

Bauer, who owned the hotel for nearly 40 years, will stay on during the transition into the summer.

A fixture of the Summit Lodge over the years has been the dogs — Bauer’s two Saint Bernards.

O’Dwyer said by the time he’s up here on a full-time basis next winter his plan is to carry on the Summit Lodge tradition with two Saint Bernards of his own.

New ANR sewage regulations anger local officials

Rutland Herald

By Lola Duffort
STAFF WRITER | March 17,2016

 

Proposed regulations put forward by the state to help stop the flow of raw sewage into waterways could kill the local economy and make water quality worse, local officials are arguing.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources is updating its rules to meet the standards of the federal Clean Water Act, and including language that could in certain circumstances prohibit new hookups to combined sewer and storm water treatment systems. Heavy rainfall can overwhelm combined systems, and municipalities will often turn to dumping sewage into nearby waterways to keep it from flooding streets and properties.

But for Rutland City Public Works Commissioner Jeffrey Wennberg, the proposed ANR rules establish “an expectation for compliance that can’t be complied with” and “a punishment that essentially shuts down the entire region.”

Rutland City is one of 16 municipalities in the state that operates such a combined system, although that does not include those towns piping into those systems. In the Rutland area, for example, parts of Killington, Mendon, Rutland Town and Clarendon are connected to the city’s system. Several of those towns are considering or have already signed on to resolutions in opposition to the new rules.

Draft language for the new rules include the following passage:

“If there are documented, recurrent instances of sewage backups or discharges of raw sewage onto the ground surface, the municipality shall, upon receipt of written notification from the Agency, prohibit further connections within the service area of the backup that would increase the frequency or volume of the surcharges/backups.”

While the new rules don’t explicitly say that combined systems must decouple and treat storm water and sewage separately or else end all new inputs into the system, Wennberg argues that’s how he interprets the end result.

“The main thing is, the other sections in the proposed rule imply — they don’t actually say it … It implies that the only way to successfully comply is to separate 100 percent of combined sewers,” he said.

According to his estimates, the cost of such a project in Rutland City would be in the environs of $125 to $150 million dollars.

The city simply can’t raise that much money, Wennberg said.

“The notion that they could prohibit Mrs. Jones on South Street from adding a bathroom to her house because the city of Rutland doesn’t have $150 million to solve their problem is ludicrous. And this is the basis of our concern,” he said.

Aside from the fact that the project is a financial non-starter for the city, it wouldn’t necessarily help water quality either, he argued. Because combined systems subject storm water to much more thorough treatment than systems that treat sewage and storm water separately, water quality is often better served in a combined system, he said.

“The benefits, from the standpoint of protecting water quality, of having all of that storm water run through a very large treatment plant, far, far, far outweigh the environmental harm or risk associated with occasional and relatively brief overflows during heavy rain,” he said.

Also, Wennberg said, the city resents new mandates coming down from the state at the very same time that state aid to mitigate overflow projects is being slashed.

Rutland recently completed a $5.2 million project to separate the sewer and storm water system across 50 acres in its northwest neighborhood.

The city qualified to have 25 percent of the project covered by a state CSO grant program, Wennberg said, but when the agency put CSO grants to Rutland and St. Johnsbury into the budget last year, they were cut by the governor’s office. After pleading with legislators, the city recouped $78,000 — a far cry from the $1.3 million it expected to receive.

“On the one hand, the agency is proposing draconian and completely unworkable costs and prohibitions on communities like Rutland, and on the other hand the governor and the Legislature are refusing to fund even those programs that they’ve had in place since 1993,” Wennberg said. “They’re ripping the money away to support this at the same time as they’re doubling down on the requirements.”

Also, Wennberg noted that a new bill under consideration this session, H.610, essentially cuts the program altogether.

But Julia Butzler, an environmental analyst with the agency’s Department of Environmental Conservation said the state is no way interested in a blanket moratorium on development in municipalities still connected to combined systems.

The agency doesn’t expect municipalities to completely solve the problem before new hookups are considered — but they need to make sure the situation is getting better and not worse.

“We want to work the municipalities as much as possible. That said, we do not feel that we can permit that municipalities are allowed to make the situation… the volume, the frequency, or the duration of (combined sewer overflow) events worse. And that is where that language has come from,” she said, noting that the language could be revised further.

And while separating out systems entirely might be the best option for some towns, she said, it might not for others. She couldn’t say what Rutland would need to do to meet standards.

“We understand that CSOs are a site-specific problem. So every single outfall is going to have its own set of characteristics and challenges and costs associated with it … And so we have tried to craft the rules to allow for a lot of flexibility for the municipality and how they approach CSO abatement,” Butzler said. Other mitigating projects could include expanding the capacity of treatment plants — which Rutland has done — or installing catch basins.

Butzler said she wouldn’t dispute Wennberg’s estimates about the cost of separating out sewage and storm water in the system. Such projects are “outrageously expensive” and a “challenge logistically.”

“However, we are required, we are bound by the Clean Water Act to meet the water quality standards put forth, which requires that these CSOs are abated,” she said.

She said Wennberg’s argument that water quality could significantly be lessened by a separated system was “debatable,” and it ignored the public health aspect.

“The pollutant load in storm water is not as significant as the public health risk factor that the combined sewer creates (when there is an overflow),” she said.

The date for public comment on the new rule closes March 31. More information is available at https://secure.vermont.gov/SOS/rules/display.php?r=364

Chamber of Commerce closes in Manchester

Rutland Herald

By Patrick McArdle

Staff WRITER | March 19,2016

 

Patrick McArdle / Staff file photo The Manchester and the Mountains Regional Chamber of Commerce has shut down its operations in Manchester. The Visitor Center will close at the end of business on Sunday.

MANCHESTER — The Manchester and the Mountains Regional Chamber of Commerce shut down Friday, closing its operations as a chamber and the welcome center in Manchester’s downtown.

In addition to Manchester, the chamber served Arlington, Danby, Dorset, Jamaica, Landgrove, Londonderry, Pawlet, Peru, Rupert, Sandgate, Shaftsbury, Sunderland, Wallingford, Weston and Winhall.

A letter emailed to chamber members on Friday said the decision was made after “painful deliberations” in response to financial pressures the chamber had been under for years.

Berta Maginnis, executive director of the chamber, said Friday the welcome center would be closed after Sunday.

“This is the end of the chamber as you now know the Manchester chamber,” she said.

Maginnis, who said there was one other full-time employee beside herself and a bookkeeper who worked for the chamber, said the decision to shut down was made at various board meetings from the last week.

Town Manager John O’Keefe said the town had been informed about the decision and had been asked to place the issue on its meeting agenda for Tuesday. O’Keefe said there would be discussion at the meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, about the future of the chamber, its welcome center and events such as the car show, which the chamber had hosted.

In its letter to members, the chamber board of directors said the organization had seen declining membership after the economic downturn in 2009.

The chamber’s income dropped in 2014 as well when the state began Vermont Health Connect and the chamber was no longer a source for health insurance for its members.

Last month, Maginnis said chamber officials and its members spent 14 months looking at ways to make the chamber more relevant to its members and the community.

Working with Hildene, a nonprofit tourist attraction and historic site in town, the chamber board decided to create a partnership between the public, through the residents of the towns it served, and the private businesses that were chamber members.

The new organization, which would have been called the Partnership, was expected to get off to a big start through public funding requested at town meeting. The largest request, $25,000, was made to Manchester, the largest population and business center for the chamber.

However, the vote failed by what Maginnis called the “fatal five votes,’’ 626-631.

The letter to members called Manchester “the single town most crucial to our ability to move forward.” The unsuccessful vote there was a blow because the town meeting vote had been intended to “signal to our private investors that everybody was in ...” the letter added.

While chamber officials had considered the possibility of a reconsideration vote, they ultimately decided it was too late.

“We cannot overcome this loss of momentum and confidence of buy-in by all,” the letter said.

Maginnis said she thought it was a responsible business decision for the chamber to close down.

“When we lost the Partnership vote, what I call the ‘five fatal votes in Manchester,’ that precluded us from going out for some rather important private sector funding. If I had had in hand $60,000 from the town meeting votes, I could have said to a large company, ‘I have $60,000 right here. I need your $10,000. I’ve got $10,000 here’ and built a war chest or real money that would have catapulted our ability to get into economic development in a big way and get into destination marketing,” she said.

Maginnis said the chamber’s leaders were concerned about what would happen to their resources if they pursued a reconsideration vote and lost.

“You can’t in good conscience be billing for dues when you know you’re not going to be there. This way, we can fulfill our financial obligations within the community and leave on a good note,” she said.

Maginnis said there were expectations that some members would continue some events. For instance, she said some of the members who are automobile aficionados would likely keep the car show alive, at least for this year. The car show is scheduled for June 11 and 12.

Maginnis, who said she plans to stay in the Manchester area, said she would remain positive.

“Something good will come from this for the town, for the region. What that is, I don’t know, but I think we have to get behind whatever it is that comes forth. This town is poised, this region is poised. Unfortunately, both sides didn’t meet in the middle on this one and that happens,” she said.

The chamber’s welcome center is on Bonnet Street and is owned by Manchester businessman Bill Drunsic. A call to Drunsic asking about the future use of the site was not returned.

Comment: Well, at least they have democracy in Manchester. Maybe we should have a vote here.
Vito

Town Meeting Over, Killington Board Gets Down To Business

Vermont Standard

By Curt Peterson

Standard Correspondent

Killington — After reelecting Patty McGrath board chairman, Killington selectmen reviewed their monthly general funds report. Interim Town Manager Richard Horner remarked, “Everything seems to be tracking according to plan, except this one item.”

Horner was referring to the budget expense line item for “Legal Services,” which has climbed to $4,121 as the result of a suit filed by resident and Town Moderator M. B. Neisner against the select board in late December 2015.

Suing “on behalf of all taxpayers in the Town of Killington,” Neisner complained that former Town Manager Seth Webb was unqualified and overpaid, and should have been terminated by the selectmen. Various misdeeds by Webb are alleged.

Further complaints included financial fraud by the select board, entering into a disadvantageous employment relationship between the town’s Economic Development Commission and the Killington Pico Area Association, financial misdoings involving the Killington sewer line, failure to maintain roads, and filing “a false and fraudulent complaint” against Neisner.

Regarding Neisner’s own property, the suit claims a subcontractor acting for the board misinstalled a culvert causing erosion, and raised the pavement bordering the property, leaving chunks of asphalt on the lawn. The suit claims the property is devalued by an unspecified amount as a result.

The suit was moved to federal court jurisdiction because Neisner claimed the Town refused to provide “requested material” unless Neisner paid “thousands of dollars” in production costs, thereby violating both state and federal constitutions.

The Select Board has taken the stand that Neisner’s suit is with- out merit. McGrath said Neisner requested an unreasonable number of documents. The board asked that he be more specific, but he refused.

McGrath also said the board had offered to meet with Neisner’s engineer at the culvert installation site to explore remedies, but that Neisner failed to set up the appointment. Selectman Chris Bianchi said the Town’s attorney filed a Motion to Dismiss because the suit lacks specific claims and any evidence.

Selectman Ken Lee congratulated the voters in town, saying that almost 480 submitted ballots.

“That’s close to 50 percent of our eligible voters,” he said. “And I think it’s a direct result of going to the Australian ballot system.” He cited resistance by some residents when voting was changed from voice vote in an open Town Meeting format. “There’s something to be said for voice votes, but the Australian ballots make it possible for people who can’t get to Town Meeting to cast their votes.”

Road Foreman Chet Hagenbarth made a presentation asking for Select Board approval of applications for four grants with matching funds, totaling more than $480,000, and allowing the town to complete some of the projects sooner by as much as two years. Hagenbarth explained there is no guaranty that Killington will get any of the grants, but that he needed the board’s approval to submit the applications. The board gave him the approval by unanimous motion.

Lee cited several complaints last winter from residents who said their lawns were covered with salt and sand when the snow melted in the spring. Hagenbarth said while the road crew had used more sand this year than last, the salt use had been diminished a lot, so the problem shouldn’t be so bad. He said some of the sand was carried by plowed snow, which was so deep last year that the crew had to push it onto people’s lawns to clear the roads. But a lot of it is deposited after snowmelt by road sweeping.

“I’m trying an experiment this year that should help,” Hagenbarth said. “We’re going to try to salvage as much of the sand as we can before sweeping.”

Hagenbarth also requested board approval to send out a request for proposals regarding a construction manager for reconstruction and reshingling of the library roof. Voters approved $200,000 for the project on Town Meeting. The road foreman said they had not been able to find a roofing contractor who was interested in providing design and supervision required for the project, so the alternative is to hire a construction manager who will do the designing and hire contractors who will perform the actual work.

“It means we’ll get professional input and assume the least amount of liability and risk,” Hagenbarth said.

Ski season was mediocre as best

Rutland Herald

By BRUCE EDWARDS

 

A year ago, Vermont’s resorts were on their way to the best ski season on record — 4.67 million skier visits.

This year it’s quite another story.

A dearth of natural snow combined with too many unseasonably warm days and nights, making snowmaking difficult or impossible, has meant fewer skiers hitting the slopes of the state’s 20 resorts.

Looking out his office window last week, Killington Resort spokesman Michael Joseph said rain was coming down and the forecast for the coming week wasn’t encouraging with temperatures well above average.

On Sunday, Killington, the state’s largest ski area, had 65 of 155 trails open. Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow reported 65 of 121 trails open.

Although the state’s skier visit totals won’t be released until June, there’s no question business will be down from the 2014-15 ski season.

“It certainly won’t be like last year, which was a record year,” Joseph said.

He said the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period was disappointing but business did pick up for the Martin Luther King holiday in January and Presidents’ Week in February.

And the season would be a whole lot worse if not for the investment Killington made over the years in its snowmaking operation.

“What we’re seeing here, though, is a low snowfall season that we haven’t seen in a long, long time,” Joseph said, “but I think more than ever this year has shown the incredible difference the snowmaking fire power has made across the state.”

Parker Riehle, president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association, said the season in some ways harkens back to the 2006-2007 and 2011-2012 “that were relatively slow going.”

For the state’s 20 ski areas, the season got off to a very slow start with only 12 percent of statewide terrain open by the start of the Christmas-New Year’s holiday.

Like Joseph, Riehle emphasized the critical difference the enhanced, energy-efficient snowmaking technology has made across the state, allowing resorts to make snow in adverse weather conditions to “match wits with Mother Nature.”

“The (skiing) conditions are actually pretty good but it’s obviously very difficult to get people excited about skiing and riding when the constant drumbeat of the season has been very little or no snowstorms throughout the year,” Riehle said.

Of the three holidays, Presidents’ Week was the strongest holiday and not far off from last year, he said.

“Christmas and New Year’s was very disappointing and MLK was OK but obviously it’s a much shorter holiday period just being a longer weekend,” he said.

Killington has stopped its snow guns for the season with the exception of spot work when temperatures permit.

The resort hopes to keep at least its expert Super Star trail open into April and May.

The Skyeship base area and the Sunrise triple lift are already closed for the season.

Pico Mountain, Killington’s sister resort, has curtailed operations and is now open only on Saturday and Sunday for the rest of the season.

Two other resorts, Magic Mountain in Londonderry and Mad River Glen in Waitsfield are open only on weekends.

Unlike a year ago, resorts had to rely more heavily on snowmaking this season and continue to make snow later into the season than usual.

“We pumped 30 percent more water this year than we typically do, mostly because the warmer temps and lower natural snowfall required us to do so,” said John Bleh, a spokesman for Sugarbush Resort in Warren.

Bleh said the “toughest part” of the season for snowmaking was the warm spell leading into the Christmas holiday week.

“We only had a handful of trails open at that point because of small snowmaking windows,” he said.

To put the season in perspective, Bleh said this was the worst season in terms of snowfall since the 1979-80 season. However, Sugarbush was able to recover to the point where it had 100 percent of its terrain open several times this year.

The bottom line: Bleh said skier visits are down around 25 percent with overall revenues off 15 percent.

He said the 2015-16 year will be a “far worse year financially that the past three.”

Sugarbush plans to stay open as late into April as possible.

Business has been a mixed bag in and around the Ludlow area, home to Okemo Mountain Resort.

Marji Graf of the Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce said while midweek was slow, business on weekends picked up quite a bit.

“The restaurants did great on the weekends,” said Graf, the chamber’s CEO. “Midweek business was slow everywhere.”

She said when skiers weren’t skiing they found other things to do like shopping. A prime example is Vermont Country Store, which Graf said had its best year ever.

Like restaurants, she said lodging establishments enjoyed a good weekend business but midweek was down.

“No one is ever going to make up for our lack of business Christmas-New Year’s and February break,” she said. “First of all you can’t compare it to last year because last year was a banner year for everyone.”

In northern Vermont, Jay Peak had 100 percent of its trails open until late last week. But like other resorts the weather proved to be a drag on business.

“The wild weather ride has caused the lift ticket business to be off about 12 percent against last winter,” resort spokesman JJ Toland said in an email.

Jay Peak has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in lodging and amenities, including a water park and hockey arena, to keep skiers busy when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

“The waterpark has acted as a kind of firewall against the destination visitor cancelling during the holiday periods and we’ve hosted a number of 16-team hockey tournaments this winter,” Toland said, “which is turn boosted lodging and F&B (food and beverage) revenues during a time when we could have been off pace due to weather.”

Toland said revenues at Jay are off 6 percent from a year ago. But he said the resort hopes to close that gap this month with an influx of holiday skiers from Quebec and Ontario.

“If we can get Mother Nature to be just a bit more polite, we might just finish the winter flat to last year. And that would be a win,” he said.

Faced with a far more difficult season are the Nordic ski areas. As of Sunday, only four of the state’s 30 cross-country areas remained open, according to the VSAA website.

When skiers and snowboarders hit the slopes, their spending has a ripple effect on ski shops, hotels, restaurants and convenience stores. In turn, that benefits the state’s tax coffers.

Riehle said while business is off from last season, sales tax and rooms and meals tax revenues “have held up better than expected.”

Insight into KPAA's mission and complaints about "Killington's blogger"

From: Christopher Karr <chrisk@karrgroup.net>

Date: 03/02/2016 10:12 AM (GMT-05:00)

To: Tao Smith <tsmith@killingtonmountainschool.org>

Cc: Howard Smith <howard@snowmobilevermont.com>, Howard Smith <howard@vermontsushi.com>, ttaylor@killington.com, Vincent Chiarella <boss@bossofficeworks.com>, Mike Solimano <msolimano@killington.com>, Phil Black <lookoutvt@gmail.com>, Howard Karass <hkarass@karrpd.com>, Kyle Kershner <kyle@killingtonpicorealty.com>, Nancy Koch <nancypkoch@gmail.com>, "<mountainmeadowsvt@hotmail.com>" <mountainmeadowsvt@hotmail.com>, Jason Mikula <jason@mountaintimes.info>, Sasha Parise <sashap@karrgroup.net>, "<phatitalianvt@aol.com>" <phatitalianvt@aol.com>, "<christine@basinski.com>" <christine@basinski.com>, Beth Weinberg <beth@bethweinberg.com>, Chris Bianchi <bianchijc@gmail.com>, Howard Karass <hkarass@karrcomm.com>, amy@killingtonpico.org

Subject: Re: How Important This Election Is

Howard’s letter was spot on to the issues at hand.  Some brief history for those who may or may not care.  In 2012 at the invitation of the resort, the chamber hired Carl Ribaudo of Strategic Marketing Group from Salt Lake City to advise the chamber on our future.  Beyond struggling with our relationship with the Resort (the headed by Nyberg), we were looking at pathways to remove or replace the options tax.  The tax, at the time, was very divisive in our relationship with the resort.  (Understandable)  Mr. Ribaudo’s background was in creating organizations that were responsible for marketing regions and creating advocacy for businesses in a  community.

The report is still available, but one of the underlying recommendations  was for the “chamber” to become more of an advocacy group, and stand up for issues that were important to the membership as a whole.  Howard’s letter was to the point.  Why would we ever support a candidate that is not supportive of the business community?  Unless I am missing something, The Butternut is the only business in town that is not part of our organization.  Does that not tell us something?  

I am not sure how Howard’s letter got in the hands of   “Killington’s Blogger”, but the cheap shots thrown at him are without merit. First, the 1% option tax is raised by the businesses of the town.  The original intent of the tax was designed to market and develop our resort area.  Not to pay debt on a golf course that competes with our largest contributor, Killington Resort.  The small stipend that currently helps support the welcome center at the gateway to Killington is a fraction of the dollars raised every year.  In terms of the attack of Howard’s residency, all I can honestly say is we are fortunate to have him as President of the KPAA.  It was Howard’s vision that a group of us came together to purchase Bill’s Country Store, hold for a period of time, and eventually sell the KPAA at no gain.  While the plan has taken longer than anticipated, it is a good plan that members of Bill’s LLC are committed to completing.  The business and the community as a whole should be appreciative of his vision.

I can only hope that his letter influenced a few people to get out and vote for the continued future of the KPAA.

Christopher Karr
chrisk@karrgroup.net

The Pickle Barrel
JAX Food & Games

The Foundry
Killington, Vermont  05751

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment:

So this email just confirms the primary function of the KPAA is lobbying. In effect its primary target is the Town of Killlington and by extension, the taxpayers. They hired the consultant Ribaudo who, when sitting in Bill's Country Store parking lot across from the 10 foot Killington sign, didn't know where he was. What does that tell you?

And what does he tell them to do instead of increasing their business by stimulating demand through their own efforts - he tells them to become a lobbying organization. And that's what they've become and seem to be successful at it as they have convinced the town and apparently the taxpayers to subsidize them. 

As far as "the cheap shots thrown at him (Howard Smith)... by "Killington's Blogger" are without merit" , notice how there are no specifics as to what those "cheap shots" are. You know why - because there weren't any.

He goes on to say,  "In terms of the attack of Howard’s residency," which is the best he can come up with of so called "cheap shots" it's a statement of fact and I will again state, "WHY ARE WE SUBSIDIZING A PRIVATE ENTITY??? WHY IS THE PRESIDENT OF THIS ENTITY, A NON-RESIDENT, TRYING TO DICTATE THE DIRECTION OF OUR TOWN??

In reality, other than the fact that Howard Smith, Chris Karr, and perhaps the Executive Board and members of the KPAA condone lobbying for and accepting subsidies from the taxpayers for a private organization, I applaud their efforts at trying to create demand for their businesses - that's what they should be doing. And if they going to lobby and influence town politics they should do it in public so everyone knows exactly where they stand.

 

The town government is also complicit in this scheme - I can't for the life of me understand how town fathers can get away with funding a private organization, one of whose main functions is to lobby the town, so they can keep lobbying the town for more of the town's resources. It's a vicious circle ! The foxes are in the hen house and the roosters are letting them in. 

I guess this isn't without precedent, as the town has also awarded hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in contracts to people who sue the town and thwart the progress of ski village, the  biggest proposed economic development project the town has seen since the advent of the ski resort. And that in in the middle of all these supposed economic development efforts. 

Vito 

Whose 1% is it anyway?

In the wake of the recent election it has come to my attention that a certain prominent member of the community has made some proprietary statements to the Killington Pico Areas Association (KPAA) concerning the One Percent Options tax (One Percent) .  He states the tax is raised by the businesses and infers because the original article voted on dedicated the proceeds to “economic development” that somehow the town owes it to the KPAA, its members, and the business community.  Further he states we should not be paying off the Green Mountain National Golf Course (GMNGC) debt with that money.

First and foremost the town voted to put the One Percent into the General Fund because of the enormous real estate tax burden the GMNGC debt would have put onto property owners. At the time we had somewhere in the vicinity of two and a half million dollars in short term debt on the town’s books which was incurred to pay off past GMNGC bond payments, never mind the 3 million or so still outstanding on the bond. Secondly, the town refinanced the short term debt incurring close to another million dollars in fees and interest. And, finally, GMNGC was the result of the so called Economic Recovery Act of 1996, an effort at economic development to help that same business community. It was supposed to be a self financed program.  Well that did not happen and it fell into the taxpayers lap as the town guaranteed the bond!  So now we are paying off an economic development project with economic development money which is the way it should be..

So for a prominent member of the business community, who has profited from whatever stimulus GMNGC provided to our local economy, to say that we should not be paying of the GMNGC debt with money supposedly dedicated to economic development is misguided at best and disingenuous at worst.

Here’s a quote from an email sent to what looks to be KPAA executive committee members,  “ First the 1% tax is raised by the businesses of the town. The original intent of the tax was designed to market and develop our resort area.  Not to pay debt on a golf course that competes with our largest contributor, Killington Resort.”

The businesses do not “raise” this money – they collect it from their patrons under the force of law. 

Vito Rasenas

Howard Smith's "Follow up on my Friday letter to Board members"

From: Howard Smith <thebluehole@shoreham.net>

Date: 03/01/2016 12:33 PM (GMT-05:00)

To: ttaylor@killington.com, boss@bossofficeworks.com, msolimano@killington.com, chrisk@karrgroup.net, lookoutvt@gmail.com, hkarass@karrpd.com, kyle@killingtonpicorealty.com, nancypkoch@gmail.com, mountainmeadowsvt@hotmail.com, jason@mountaintimes.info, sashap@karrgroup.net, phatitalianvt@aol.com, tsmith@killingtonmountainschool.org, christine@basinski.com, beth@bethweinberg.com, Vermont Sushi <howard@vermontsushi.com>, bianchi Chris <bianchijc@gmail.com>

Subject: Follow up on my Friday letter to Board members

 Dear Board Members 

After reading Vito’s Blog, It has come to my attention that my email to you was disseminated outside the organization, and while there is no expectation of privacy regarding emails, it was disheartening to realize that at least one member here has a position that is not supportive of the work that the KPAA does for the community. Although I would have appreciated this board member speaking to the board directly about their concerns so we could discuss it together, I stand by my letter. As President of the KPAA, I should be and am passionate about the work we do. It is no secret that a candidate for the Killington select board is vehemently opposed to our organization and the work we have accomplished. We need to be just as committed to safeguarding it as they are bent on destroying it. KPAA is comprised of volunteers both in the town community, Killington Resort and the business community. It was developed with the sole purpose of improving our local economy by working together on projects and not duplicating expenses, NOT lining the pockets of its members, which is the unspoken tact taken by people who support this candidate. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to the community to correct any misinformation and untruths about who we are and what we do. The fact is that the KPAA has had a positive impact on the town of Killington and to reverse what has been accomplished would be a travesty. We hired a Consultant to come to our Town 5 years ago and we have followed his advice on establishing the KPAA as other resort towns such as Vail and Lake Tahoe had successfully done. Other resort towns in Vermont now speak about following our lead. Again we should be proud of our accomplishments and not hide from them by being too politically correct. I would like the board member who decided to pass this email on to get in touch with me and I would gladly accept their resignation if they do not support our actions and accomplishments.  

Howard Smith 802 236 7900

thebluehole@shoreham.net

Comment: There is nothing unspoken about about me stating that the KPAA is lining the pockets of a few businessmen. I stated that outright in my comments when I posted the original email Howard is referring to. While there is a little hyperbole there, the KPAA is an organization dedicated to improving the local economy which translates into more profit for businesses. Whose businesses profit the most is certainly debatable but not that KPAA promotes the profitability of them.

 I'm not sure if it was the KPAA or its prior iteration the Killington Chamber, who hired the "Consultant" whose advice Howard is touting but my clearest memory is that he wrote, while sitting in Bill's Country Store's parking lot across from the 10 foot "Killington" sign he did not know where he was.

Howard's desire to out the transgressor who he deems to be part of his organization smacks of gestapo tactics in running his organization. Why does he think it's one of his own? Like he says, "there is no expectation of privacy."

I'm glad Howard is standing by his statements - that's as it should be - he is standing up for what he thinks is best for his organization. I in turn respond because I don't think supporting his organization with direct subsidies is best for the town of Killington. But Howard should be making these statements in a public forum, not trying to hide them, so everyone knows where he and the KPAA stand.

The businesses comprising the KPAA should be financing the organization. We've had enough quixotic economic development schemes in this town i.e. the golf course, which have plunged the town into deep debt. 

We have significant upcoming financial needs in the town, library roof, new fire station, pool replacement, golf course irrigation system, not to mention the regular road maintenance and reconstruction. The town needs to maintain its assets and the KPAA needs to finance itself.

 I applaud Howard's and the KPAA's efforts to improve their member's profitability, I just don't agree with publicly financing a private organization when the town has limited resources to meet other needs.

Vito 

Debellis to serve 18 months in fatal crash

Rutland Herald

By Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli

 

After nearly nine hours of testimony, waiting and heart-wrenching statements, Michael Debellis was sentenced Thursday in Rutland criminal court to serve two to 10 years, with 18 months behind bars, for leaving the scene of a fatal crash in 2013.

After leaving the Pickle Barrel club in Killington at 1:20 a.m., Dec. 8, 2013, Debellis got behind the wheel of his girlfriend's mother's Volkswagon Jetta and turned north onto Killington Road.

Although Debellis said he never saw him, he struck Kyle Wilson of New Hampshire, who had also been at the Pickle Barrel and was walking along the road to meet friends at their hotel, Vermont State Police said.

Wilson rolled down the embankment, where friends found him dead the next morning.

In a split sentence, Debellis, 29, will serve 18 months in prison and the remainder of his sentence on probation, Judge Cortland Corsones said Thursday evening. His sentence began immediately as deputy sheriffs took Debellis' belt and personal belongings and escorted him from the court room just before 6 p.m.

Corsones detailed at length the many factors he considered in making this decision, including the statements from Wilson's family and Debellis.

“It is important to me to hear from all and it affects the sentencing here today,” Corsones said, referring to statements by Wilson's family and Debellis. “Mr. Debellis was involved in an accident with Kyle Wilson and did not stop to investigate and did not report it till 12 hours later ... Mr. Debellis abandoned Kyle Wilson on the side of the road.”

Debellis, who lived in Killington at the time of the crash, pleaded innocent in Rutland criminal court on Dec. 9, 2013, and after posting his $25,000 bail and obtaining the court's permission to leave the state, he moved to his parent's home in Long Island, N.Y.

On Oct. 21, 2015, Debellis pleaded guilty to the charge.

In court Thursday, the prosecution called several witnesses, including two men — Nathan Skerritt of Kingston, Mass., and Jeffrey Sevigny of San Diego — who were staying at Debellis' home in Killington on the weekend of the crash.

Both men testified in the morning portion of the hearing that Debellis was drinking heavily the evening before the crash, that he left to buy drugs and returned to snort the party drug “Molly,” a pure form of Ecstasy.

The men also testified that later that night at the Pickle Barrel, Debellis was very intoxicated and they offered to drive him home, but he refused.

In the afternoon, David Wright and Debellis' girlfriend Emily Tredtin testified that Debellis had not been drinking and that he does not do drugs.

Nonetheless, in his sentencing remarks Corsones said the testimony of Skerritt and Sevigny was credible, despite inconsistencies in their stories.

“The court finds the core of their testimony to be credible ... that Mr. Debellis was intoxicated and that he ingested Molly,” the judge said.

Corsones did say, however, that the sentencing could only relate to the charge of leaving the scene of the fatal crash.

“He is not charged with causing his death, he is charged with leaving the scene with a fatality,” he said. “The court can only sentence for the crime (for which) he is convicted.”

Police said, “The energy of the collision forced Wilson onto the car hood and passenger side windshield directly in front of Emily (Tredtin).”

When Tredtin testified Thursday, she said that when she saw the crash, she screamed and covered her eyes. She said Debellis thought they hit an animal, and he slowed but didn't see anything. Tredtin said that when they got to their Killington home, she told Debellis they may have hit a person.

“It was either a butt or a bear,” she said.

But they did not return to the crash or call for help.

According to testimony from several witnesses, the Volkswagen was severely damaged.

“The windshield was caved in,” said Skerritt.

Debellis' father, Frank Debellis, testified that later that morning Debellis called him, worried about where to get the windshield fixed on a Sunday.

“He said an animal hit the windshield,” he said.

“Nothing he said to you indicated he hit a person?” Assistant Attorney General Ultan Doyle asked.

“No,” Frank Debellis said.

Wilson's fiancée, Desiree Bourassa, shared the impact of his loss.

“I was supposed to be Kyle's wife and mother of his children ... The ripple effect of this loss, because of Michael Debellis' choices, will haunt us forever,” she told the court.

“Michael Debellis didn't just take Kyle's life, he ripped my entire future from me,” Bourassa said. “He took my future husband, my future children. He took away grandchildren that Kyle's parents will never get to hold.”

And Wilson's mother, Stacey McIntyre, said the family will grieve forever, because they will love him forever.

“Your honor, I respectfully request that you now hold Michael Debellis accountable for his actions and impose the maximum penalty as prescribed by the laws of Vermont,” McIntyre said.

Before his sentence, Debellis turned to Wilson's family, his face reddened, his eyes welled with tears, and apologized.

“I never meant to hurt him,” he said. “You have been on my mind for over two years. Never an hour or a day goes by that I don't think of this ... Every night I light a candle and pray that someday you may find it to forgive me.”

Defense attorney Mark Furlan asked that Debellis be given probation.

In a presentencing report by the Vermont Department of Corrections, Debellis was found to be at a low risk of re-offending, but because of the nature or his crime the department could not support a probation-only sentence.

And Doyle asked the court to sentence Debellis to serve two to 10 years.

“I find he is remorseful and this will undoubtedly affect the rest of his life,” Corsones said. “ He is at a low risk to re-offend ... this behavior cannot be tolerated. If you are involved in accident you must act in the greater good.”

On her way out of court, Wilson's mother said the sentence did not matter: “It will not bring back my son.”

Killington Elects Patty McGrath Over Jim Haff

Vermont Standard

By Curt Peterson

Standard Correspondent

Killington — At 7:45 p.m. on Town Meeting Day, just 45 minutes after the polls in Town Hall closed, Treasurer Lucrecia Wonsor announced that Killington had filed its final voting returns for the 2016 town and presidential primary elections. Nine people, including all three selectmen and the treasurer, were involved in double-checking the voter list, sorting and counting ballots, culling out ones that evoked questions, and checking the computerized tallies. Selectman Chris Bianchi looked up from his ballot-sorting worktable and said, “This is just like Groundhog Day — you wake up and realize you’ve got two more years on the select board.”

Wonsor announced that a record number of voters had turned out for the election. “Four hundred eighty,” she said. “That’s a record for us.”

Selectman Ken Lee estimated that 50 percent of eligible voters had participated. Wonsor said only 263 had voted in the presidential primary. Bernie Sanders had carried the town among the Democrats.

Voters elected N. B. Neisner as Town Moderator and Town Agent, Lucretia Wonsor as Treasurer, Walter Findeisen as a Lister, Red Glaze as Grand Juror, Nancy Koch as Public Funds Trustee, Paul Holmes as a Cemetery Commissioner, and Sally Koch and Beth Weinberg-Sarandria as Library Trustees. The only contested position was that of Patty McGrath’s select board seat, sought by Jim Haff. McGrath held on to her post 264 votes to 208.

Article 2 in the warnings proposed setting four dates during the year for real estate tax payments instead of two, the stated purpose being to make the burden easier for taxpayers to manage. At the Feb. 29 informational meeting McGrath had answered a resident’s concern about this change requiring the town to incur interest costs by borrowing more in tax-anticipation loans.

“In the long run,” she said, “this will actually reduce the pressure to borrow against short-term revenue expectations.”

The voters overwhelmingly approved the four-payment proposal 373 votes to 63.

The town budget of $4,155,339, described in Article 3, was approved 292 votes to 139, which might have surprised attendees of the informational meeting the previous evening. Resident had questioned applying “estimated surpluses” to the subsequent year’s revenue figures, and how the meals and rooms tax revenue might fall short of projections due to a “bad snow year.” Several questions were raised regarding the finances of Green Mountain National Golf Club, which belongs to the town. In addition, Amy Morrison’s status as a shared employee of the town’s and Killington Pico Area Association came under discussion again, residents wanting to know if the arrangement wasn’t favoring Killington Resort at the expense of the taxpayers, which McGrath assured was not the case.

The 2015-2016 budget total was $6,282,554, and covered 18 months instead of 12 to bring the year-end to June 30. The pro rata monthly expenses were $349,031. During a twelve-month year the total would be $4,188,369, or two-thirds of the 18-month figure. The proposed town budget for 2016-2017, up for approval at Town Meeting on March 1, is $4,155,339, less than that for a like period in the previous budget.

The municipal tax rate for 20152016 was also based on an eighteenmonth budget at 46 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Twothirds would have been 31 cents. The estimated town rate for 20162017 is 33 cents, or an increase of 2 cents. For a home assessed at $200,000 this will mean a tax increase of about $49 per year.

When the Shelburne Town Library was constructed in 1999, some design errors were made, construction errors, and bad choices of roofing materials. As a result, the library suffers roof leaks, serious heat loss and difficulty maintaining a comfortable interior temperature. Article 4 asked voters to approve borrowing $200,000 to reconstruct and properly insulate the library roof.

Library Trustee Diane Rosenbloom gave a detailed presentation at the informational meeting in which she said the defective shingles used on the roof were subject of a class action suit, but the attorneys wanted claimants to prepay fees in order to participate, which the trustees had been advised was not a good deal. And, she added, trying to recover damages from the original contractors would be problematic because of the time lapse and because some of them have gone out of business.

“This reconstruction is in the Capital Plan,” Rosenbloom said.

McGrath said investment in the new roof would not raise taxes. On Election Day the new roof proposal passed 321 votes to 115.

Voters also approved Article 5, which authorized “expenditure of $400 to fund the non-profit Child First Advocacy Center, which supports the discovery, intervention, treatment and prevention of child abuse.” The vote count was 264 to 203.

Killington School District’s proposed budget also passed. The total budgeted expenditures are $1,682,707, providing $15,577 per equalized pupil, 9.5 percent less than last year.

Selectman and candidate for re-election Patty McGrath answers a question at a town information meeting. Curt Peterson Photo

McGrath bests Haff for Killington Select Board seat

Rutland Herald

By Lola Duffort
STAFF WRITER | March 02,2016

Robert Layman / Staff Photo Beverly Anderson checks in Bernard Krasnoff signs in at the Killington Town Office Tuesday afternoon.

KILLINGTON — Patty McGrath will serve another three years on the town Select Board.

“I feel very good about winning. I’m glad I got support from the town. And I look forward with moving forward with all the differing things on our plate,” she said by phone Tuesday night.

She bested challenger Jim Haff, a former selectman, by just 61 votes, according to results reported by Town Clerk Lucrecia Wonsor about an hour after the polls had closed Tuesday. McGrath received 264 votes, while Haff won just 203 of the ballots cast.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Haff said he wasn’t bitter about losing.

“I got out of it what I wanted to say,” he said.

Haff’s message has been that the town isn’t adequately planning for capital expenses, mishandling its finances, and focused too heavily on economic development.

On the ballot last year — he narrowly lost to incumbent Selectman Chris Bianchi — Haff said he didn’t quite know yet if would be running again next year.

“I’m going to celebrate losing tonight,” he said. “My wife will be really happy to hear that I don’t have to sit on a board.”

The man suing the town for allegedly misappropriating funds, violating the public records act and overcharging taxpayers will continue to serve as Killington’s town moderator.

Running unopposed, Melvin B. Neisner Jr. garnered 346 votes for the one-year position, Wonsor said.

Voters Tuesday also approved the town’s $4.15 million budget and a $200,000 bond to replace the Sherburne Memorial Library roof. The town’s anticipated municipal tax rate is $0.3298 next year.

Killington Elementary School’s $1.68 million budget passed by a voice vote held at the elementary school Monday.