Cavendish Update 2/13/15 SB Mtg/News/Events

2/13/15 EDITION OF THE CAVENDISH UPDATE

1. Cavendish Select Board Meeting 2/9/15

2. Cavendish related News

3. Ballantine Animal Fund

4. CCCA to Hold Town Meeting Information Forum in Cavendish

5. PAX Searching for Local Host Families

6. Events

1. CAVENDISH SELECT BOARD MEETING 2/9/15: Select board (SB) meetings are recorded by LPC-TV and are available at their website and on Comcast Television.  Written minutes are available at the town’s website. 

At Monday night’s meeting, Scott Brooks from TDS was on hand to discuss issues pertaining to ongoing complaints about Internet service and some possible solutions. Town manager Rich Svec informed the board that the Annual Town Report will be ready for distribution at least 10 days before Town Meeting Day. On Tuesday, Feb. 24, there will be an informational forum regarding the upcoming Meeting, hosted by CCCA, at the Cavendish Town Office. It was pointed out by Selectmen Mike Ripley that this forum has been scheduled at the same time as the GMUHS annual meeting, so he and others involved with the school will not be available that night. Svec also informed the board that route 131, which was scheduled for paving from 106 to the intersection of 103, has been postponed until the summer of 2017. The board voted to establish a Ballantine Animal Fund to help with veterinary bills and other costs associated with the care of animals being provided by the Animal Control officer.

A full report on the Select board meeting is available at The Dish. 

2. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

Marks Participates in the Boston Fight for Air Climb: On Saturday, Feb. 7, 2nd Captain Chris Marks of Proctorsville Volunteer Fire Dept. participated in the Boston Fight for Air Climb. It's an annual benefit for the American Lung Association. Chris climbed 40 floors of stairs in his fire gear and SCBA in just under 10 minutes. Chris was able to raise a few hundred dollars for his efforts to donate to the American Lung Association. Great job Captain Marks, we are very proud of you!!! Proctorsville Volunteer Fire Dept.

 Shell Station in Ludlow Robbed: At approximately 9 p.m. on Saturday night a white male in his late teens or early twenties entered the Shell Gas Station in Ludlow brandishing a small caliber silver semi-automatic handgun and demanded the clerk open the safe. The clerk ran out the back of the store and the subject pursued him to the back room. The subject then returned to the front counter area where he removed a cash drawer and ran out the front door. He was last seen running south on Main Street with an undetermined amount of cash. Vermont Journal 

 FTC Warns GMP about Renewable Energy Claims: Federal Trade Commission staff cautioned Green Mountain Power to be clear to Vermont consumers about its renewable energy practices in a letter dated Feb. 5. The letter addresses a Petition to Investigate Deceptive Trade Practices by GMP filed in September by the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic at Vermont Law School on behalf of four Vermont citizens and environmental leaders. FTC staff wrote in the letter, “GMP may not have clearly and consistently communicated the fact that it sells renewable energy certificates (RECs) to entities outside Vermont for most of its renewable generating facilities and, as a result, may have created confusion among Vermont electricity customers about the renewable attributes of their electricity.” Press Release 

 3. BALLANTINE ANIMAL FUND: At Monday's select board meeting, a special fund was established to help with the costs of veterinary bills and other expenses relating to the care of animals that fall under the care of the Cavendish Animal Control Officer.  Named in honor of Jim Ballantine, who loved animals and all things Cavendish, contributions can be made to the Ballantine Animal Fund and mailed to the Cavendish Town Office, PO Box 126, Cavendish, VT 05142. The town manager and the Animal Control Officer will administer the fund. FMI: 226-7292

 4. CCCA TO HOLD TOWN MEETING INFORMATION FORUM: The Cavendish Community and Conservation Association will hold an informational forum for Cavendish voters on the Tuesday before this year’s town meeting. The forum will be held on Tuesday, February 24th, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Cavendish Town Offices on High Street in Cavendish. The forum will be recorded by LPC-TV and will be broadcast at various times during the week before town meeting. The video will also be available for viewing on www.lpctv.org.

The discussion will address each of the issues on this year’s town meeting ballot, including both the town and the school proposed budgets. Other articles requiring a vote will be discussed, including Article 4 that asks if the voters will approve of taking the town's burial grounds out of the charge of the board of cemetery commissioners and place them under the charge of the selectmen. An affirmative vote on this article will cause the office of the Cavendish cemetery commissioners to terminate. Finally, voters are asked to approve the use of a surplus from 2014 to reduce 2016 taxes. Town and school officials will be present to discuss each issue.

Although there are no contested races on the ballot this year, all candidates are invited to attend and any candidates who are present will be able to make short statements and to answer attendees’ questions. The meeting is open to all Cavendish citizens and residents.  For more information, please call Peter LaBelle at 802-376-5648.

5. PAX SEARCHING FOR LOCAL HOST FAMILIES : PAX Community Coordinator Kimberly Eckhardt invites local families to “Share Your America” with a high school exchange student from one of 80 European, South American, Asian, or African countries during the upcoming school year. Sponsored by PAX-Program of Academic Exchange, these students arrive to the U.S. in August, and will be attending school at Green Mountain and Springfield!

PAX students are 15-18 years old, have studied English for at least three years, and are motivated to learn more about the U.S. by attending high school and living with a host family. PAX students are eager to experience American activities—backyard barbecues, birthday celebrations, and holidays—with their host families. 

Volunteer host families provide PAX students with a bed, a quiet place to study, a seat at the dining table, a warm and supportive home environment, and encouragement to engage in everyday American life. With their exchange students, host families experience such activities through fresh eyes while also learning about the exchange student’s country and culture. All types of families—single parents, young couples, retirees, and parents with teenagers—are welcome to host.

Founded in 1990, PAX is a non-profit educational organization and one of a select few U.S. Department of State designated Exchange Visitor Program’s chosen to participate in its prestigious U.S. government-sponsored FLEX, YES, and A-SMYLE programs. Each year, more than 1,100 teenagers visit the U.S. as PAX exchange students. For more information, contact Kimberly Eckhardt at 802-824-3792, via email at keckhardt08@gmail.com, or visit www.pax.org.  

 6. EVENTS: Tonight, Feb. 13 is Family Movie Night at CTES. Saturday is not only Valentine’s Day, but it’s annual Mardi Gras party and fundraiser. As noted above, the coming week is the Annual meeting for GMUHS as well as the town meeting information forum.   For more information about these and other upcoming events, go to the Cavendish Connects Calendar. For events in the area, see the Okemo Valley Calendar.

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CAVENDISH SELECT BOARD MEETING 2/9/15

Select board (SB) meetings are recorded by LPC-TV and are available at their website  and on Comcast Television.  Written minutes are available at the town’s website. 

 A. TDS/Internet Service: Scott Brooks, TDS Manager, State Government Affairs for the four state region, was on hand to discuss telecommunications in Cavendish. Because he had been the manager for the TDS Ludlow office, he is very aware of the situation here and admitted that the Tarbell Hill area is the only place in Vermont TDS market without DSL.

The reasons for the poor service in Cavendish outlined by Brooks are similar to what was reported in Cavendish Telecommunications: Why there is such a problem: end of governmental funds for landline carriers; under estimating the future demand for Internet service; and loss of market share due to cell technology and competition.

Because Cavendish is such a small part of the TDS market, it’s not a priority for the company as they favor areas with larger customer bases, which yield a quicker return on investment. That noted, Brooks indicated that they have looked into fiber for Cavendish and it would cost about $2.1 million, or roughly $3,500 per household. In order to make this a more viable investment opportunity for TDS, the cost needs to be closer to $1,500 per household.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the last few weeks has changed what constitutes high speed broadband. The old definition set a standard of 4 megabits per second (Mbps) download and an upload speed of 1 Mbps, or 4/1. The new FCC standard is a significant jump – to speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 up, or 25/3. With the significant changes in how much people use the Internet for all aspects of communication as well as entertainment, the new standard will not remain a constant for long. As has been noted before, the only true technology that will meet the growing demand for Internet is fiber optics.

 Brooks pointed out some difficulties with an all fiber optic system. With the copper system, if power fails, you can still have a dial tone and 911 remains functional. With fiber only, a dial tone is lost after about eight hours, thereby creating issues in emergent situations. As the all fiber systems are replacing copper, the latter are not being maintained. While this may not be an initial problem, in time it could be since, as was found in the recent Cavendish Telecommunications Survey,  cell service is very poor in many parts of the town.

 In 2009, 2010, when the government was giving out stimulus money for broadband, while TDS applied for these funds and received them for other market shares, they did not meet the criteria for our area.

 In the past legislative session, Vermont passed Act 190 and on February 4 the VT Dept. of Public Service issued their first request for proposals under the new Connectivity Initiative. The RFP invites Internet Service Providers to submit proposals to serve locations identified by the Department as needing improved access to broadband Internet service. The Department will award grants to organizations willing to serve these areas. The Department will utilize up to $963,350.00 in available funding to support the extension of broadband facilities in underserved communities. Press Release  Rich Svec, town manager, gave information to Brooks about this new round of funding and stated that the town would provide letters of support if they wish to respond to this RFP.

Brooks brought up the idea of a municipal private contract with TDS. In other words the town would work with TDS to help secure the funding to set up a town wide fiber optic system. This is being done around the world, and in many parts of the U.S., resulting in much better service, and lower costs. In Vermont, EC Fiber  is trying to do something similar. The advantage of TDS over EC Fiber for Cavendish is that installation would be cheaper, as TDS owns the lines, has considerable experience in setting up the service and doing repairs when required.  

There was also a discussion about whether the FCC would regulate the Internet much as a as it does the phone. There are strong feelings on both sides and it’s worth reading the Statement of the FCC Commissioner on President Obama’s Plan to Regulate the Internet to help understand the pros and cons.   If the Internet were to be treated as utility there is the potential that fiber optics to the home would be “jump started” much as the Rural Electrification Act of the 1930s help to wire rural America.

As far as upcoming improvements, Brooks said that Proctorsville and Perkinsville, which share an OC3 line (bandwidth), will soon have their own lines, which will improve speeds. However, this will not be noticed in the outer areas, such as Twenty Mile Stream.

Brooks discussed some stopgap measures that could be done to significantly improve services in the Twenty Mile Stream and Brook Rd areas. However, these would be costly upgrades and the concern then becomes is that “good enough” and further delays fiber optics being installed town wide?

B. Town Report: The Annual Town Report is now at the printers and will be available to voters meeting the 10 days prior to town meeting requirement.

C. CCCA Informational Forum: The CCCA will once again hold a Pre town meeting at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 24th at the Town Office.

D. Rescheduling of Solar Array Dedication: Due to weather, the dedication of the Solar Array was postponed to April 20 (Monday), which is part of Earth Week.

E. Roads & Bridges

• 131 Repaving: Originally scheduled for this summer, route 131 is to be repaved from the intersection of 131 and 106 to the intersection of 131 and 103 (from Downer’s 4 Corners to The Castle). This has been postponed until 2017 as engineering work is needed to correct problems in various locations, including drainage issues in both villages.

• Depot Street Bridge: The replacement of the Depot Street Bridge in Proctorsville is still a priority for the state.

F. Ballantine Animal Fund: A special fund was approved by the board to help with the costs of veterinary bills and other expenses relating to the care of animals that fall under the care of the Cavendish Animal Control Officer. Named in honor of Jim Ballantine, who loved animals and all things Cavendish, contributions can be made to to the Ballantine Animal Fund and mailed to the Cavendish Town Office, PO Box 126, Cavendish, VT 05142. The town manager and the Animal Control Officer will administer the fund. FMI: 226-7292

Ballantine Animal Fund

At the Feb. 9 select board meeting, a special fund was established to help with the costs of veterinary bills and other expenses relating to the care of animals that fall under the care of the Cavendish Animal Control Officer.  Named in honor of Jim Ballantine, who loved animals and all things Cavendish, contributions can be made to to the Ballantine Animal Fund and mailed to the Cavendish Town Office, PO Box 126, Cavendish, VT 05142. The town manager and the Animal Control Officer will administer the fund. FMI: 226-7292

Cavendish Update: 2/6/15 Contest/News/Events/Solar

There is lots of snow in the forecast, so Cavendish Connects is introducing something new and entertaining. Combine your love of puzzles and Cavendish by taking the monthly Cavendish Puzzle Challenge, which will appear on the first Friday of the month on the Cavendish Connects blog. 

 Submit your answers by Friday, February 26th at 5 p.m. via e-mail or snail mail.

E-mail: cavendishconnects@gmail.com

Mailing address: Cavendish Connects | PO Box 3 | Cavendish, VT 05142

 The winners will be posted in The Cavendish Update and on the blog, March 6th. With that announcement we will also be posting the March puzzle. One lucky winner's name will be drawn at random and will receive a free entry into the Cavendish Connects "All Things Cavendish" Raffle, which will take place on Saturday, December 5th at the 2nd Annual Abundance Swap. 

 This month's puzzle is a crossword created courtesy of Cavendish resident Kem Phillips.

 You may either print the crossword out, complete it, and mail it or scan it and e-mail it to us. You can also email us your answers numbered (ex. 1, 2, 3, etc.). 

 Download the puzzle and enjoy!

 2/6/15 EDITION OF THE CAVENDISH UPDATE

1. Cavendish Related News

2. Becky & the Murphy Boys Raise the Roof

3. Solar/ Energy Workshop for Ludlow Electric Customers

4. Events

 CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

How Much Energy is the Cavendish Solar Array Producing?: You can monitor the energy being generated by the Cavendish Solar project by going to the Solrenview website. Please note that the dedication of the solar array, planned for Monday, Feb. 9, has been rescheduled to April 20th due to the continuing snow forecast.

Thanks to Our Volunteer Firemen and Women at Least One Homeowner has Lower Insurance: Bill Hallowell posted the following to the Cavendish VT Facebook page. I just heard from my homeowner's insurance company that my rates will decline by 33% because the insurance industry rating assigned to our Volunteer Fire Department has improved dramatically in the last few years. Thank you volunteer firefighters!!!!!!!

 Having issues with TDS?: On Monday night, Feb. 9, representatives from TDS will be attending the Cavendish Selectmen’s monthly meeting to discuss Cavendish’s telecommunication issues. If you are experiencing a problem, you can now try checking Down Detector to see what the problem might be.

Concerned about Measles Outbreak?: With the current news about the measles outbreak in various parts of the country, there is widespread agreement that Vermonters are less likely to be vaccinated than almost anywhere else in the country. Be advised that recent state data  shows that approximately 99% of the students at GMUHS and CTES are vaccinated against measles. In fact, vaccination rates at both schools are in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control standards.

GMP Launches a New App: Green Mountain Power has launched a new mobile app to help customers better track their energy use in real time, monitor outages and manage their account. The convenient app will allow customers to access their accounts and pay their GMP bills from their phones or other mobile devises. The app is free to download and is available for both iOS and android. In addition to the new app, GMP offers many products and services for customers to access technology and save time and money. Our new heat pump and heat pump water heater service is an affordable way for customers to be more comfortable in their homes while using less energy. To learn more about these products and services, call 888-835-4672. Customers can sign up for text service to report outages and get updates by texting REG to 46788 or GMPVT, or sign up online. You can also sign up for paperless e-billing at https://wss.greenmountainpower.com/customers/my-account/login/ Press Release 

Under New FCC Standards, 30% of Vermonters Now Lack Broadband: Last week, the Federal Communications Commission significantly raised the bar on what constitutes high speed broadband. In doing so, it created and even greater challenge to delivering broadband to rural customers, including those in Vermont. The old definition of broadband set a standard of 4 megabits per second (Mbps) download and an upload speed of 1 Mbps, or 4/1. The standard approved last week by the FCC is a significant jump – to speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 up, or 25/3. Note: Given Cavendish’s telecommunications issues, considerably more than 30% of the community is not served by broadband.  VPR 

2. BECKY & THE MURPHY BOYS RAISE THE ROOF: On Sunday February 15 Becky & the Murphy Boys will light up Gethsemane Church in Proctorsville for the last Raise the Roof concert of the season. A musical family from southern Vermont that is well known on the concert and contra dance circuit, they are a rich musical mix of fiddle, piano, guitar, mandolin, French Canadian style foot percussion and vocals. Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy are dynamic performers of traditional music from Newfoundland, Quebec, Ireland, France and beyond. Between them they have been part of the bands Nightingale, Childsplay, Assembly and Wild Asparagus, and have each recorded their own solo albums. Keith, a native of Newfoundland, is an accomplished composer whose work was recently featured on the Ken Burns documentary about the Roosevelt’s. Becky, who has fiddling in her blood, is classically trained and later studied Irish and French Canadian fiddle styles with some of the masters. She was the featured soloist with the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra in their performance of Evan Chambers' Fiddle Concerto. For their special performance in Proctorsville they will be joined by their 13 year-old son Aiden, a budding fiddler. Gethsemane Church is on Depot St. next to Crows Bakery Cafe. The concert begins at 4:00 p.m. and admission is $10 at the door. Spice up your late winter afternoon with a concert that promises to be a foot tapping, shimmy shakin' good time.

3. SOLAR/ENERGY WORKSHOP FOR LUDLOW ELECTRIC: A solar/energy workshop is being held for Ludlow Electric customers on Feb 27 (Friday), 7 pm at the Ludlow Town Hall. The program will include money and energy saving tactics for your home and/or business.  Learn about rooftop and community solar, solar heating and weatherization techniques.  Also learn about the first Community Solar Project on the Ludlow Electric Grid.  Financing options discussed as well.  Presenters include:  Tesha Buss (The Good Farm Community Solar), Dave Bonta (USA Solar Store/Sundeavor), and Bruce Whitney (NeighborWorks HEAT Squad).  Have questions?  Call Tesha at 802-245-4746 or email teshabuss@gmail.com

 4. EVENTS: On Monday (2/9), the dedication of the Cavendish Solar Array has been rescheduled for April 20th. However, at the monthly Select Board meeting, TDS will be present to talk about telecommunications in Cavendish. Other activities this coming week include: Cavendish Fire District # 2 Annual Meeting (Tuesday); Solar Workshop for Businesses (Wednesday); Heat pump Workshop (Thursday); Family Movie Night at CTES (Friday). Don’t forget to purchase your Mardi Gras tickets for the Feb. 14 bash featuring fine food and the Cajun/Zydeco band Yankee Chank.  For more information about these and other upcoming events, go to: Cavendish Connects Calendar or Okemo Valley Calendar 

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