MCS Support Staff Negotiations - Numbers Please

As of Friday, the Norwich School Board and Marion Cross School Support Staff — educational assistants and custodians — have not reached agreement on a new labor agreement. The big sticking points are pay and health insurance. The School Board says the pay increases of  over 12% over two years will offset the increase in premiums and out-of-pockets union members are expected to pay. A recent listserv post disagrees, saying “many Norwich support staff stand to lose money.”

If support staff are net losers, then they have a valid point. What is missing are numbers supporting the union’s position. To be sure, support staff do not make big bucks. Still, the Fact Finder stated the wage proposal “should enable employees to absorb the higher health insurance costs and still realize a wage increase [that will] more than keep pace with recent cost of living increases.” Report at 28.

If the union could not convince the Fact Finder, they need a better pitch to the school board (and public) to show support staff end up losing money.  Numbers please.
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LINK: Fact Finder's Report for MCS Support Staff
https://www.sau70.org/uploaded/School_Boards/Norwich/Norwich_School_District_Support_Staff_(Fact_Finding).pdf

Norwich School Board Starts Work On Budget

Town Meeting is months away but the Norwich School Board has started on the budget for MCS. A “Quick Model” projects an 3.61% increase. The Budget Guidelines for next year are here.
However, in the words of Donald Rumsfield, there are several "known unknowns", including:
• contract with MCS support staff
• cutbacks in federal aid
• cost to establish a Pre-K program at MCS
• five-year building maintenance plan.
A wild card is new state government initiatives. Last year Vermont passed a law “encouraging” school districts to pay no more than 80% of teachers’ health insurance. Norwich pays 83% and as a consequence, will forfeit certain state funds next year.

No word on how much the MCS (or Dresden) budget will cost the taxpayers. Stay tuned.
====================================
LINK: Norwich School District Budget Guidelines: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0dszyJHBhYXSzRDbk8tUGZMNk0

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending March 9, 2013

Election March 2013

All budgets and other articles passed. Incumbents survived in all uncontested races. Of significant note was the passage of Article 34, petitioned on the ballot by Norwich residents and opposed by the Town Manager.  The bond vote was largely viewed as a referendum on whether Norwich or VTel should build and own the emergency communication tower.  Voters resoundingly supported Town ownership with 689 voting yes to 341 voting no.

Official Election Results
Official election results for Norwich are on the Town web site.
LINK: http://norwich.vt.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/VotingResults030513.pdf

Dresden Teachers Contracts, Budgets Pass
By Sarah Brubeck, Valley News Staff Writer
March 6, 2013
After going two years without a contract, Dresden and Hanover teachers yesterday won voter approval for new contracts as residents also approved the Hanover and Dresden school budgets and all accompanying warrant articles.
The Dresden contract passed by a ratio of 2-to-1 with 1,221 in favor and 574 against, and the Hanover contract passed 584-198.
Hanover School Board Chairman Robin Carpenter said he wasn’t surprised by the overwhelming support for the Hanover and Dresden districts, but the margins were larger than he had guessed.
“When an article is in trouble there is a buzz about it, letters to the editor and phone calls. I didn’t get any of that,” Carpenter said.
Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/news/4908909-95/hanover-contract-dresden-teachers

Norwich Balks At Tower Deal
By Sarah Brubeck, Valley News Staff Writer
March 6, 2013
 Voters sent a firm message to the Selectboard yesterday by voting overwhelmingly in favor of borrowing money to build a communication tower rather than have the town partner on the project with a private firm.
Selectman Steve Flanders, who in the past has supported the agreement with Springfield, Vt.-based VTel, said last night that the results likely means that the town would try to fund and manage the construction of the tower on its own.
“I will respect the fact that I’m pretty sure that the people voting thought that the town should have the tower itself instead of going through VTel and I will proceed with that expectation,” Flanders said.
Selectboard Chairman Christopher Ashley and Selectwoman Linda Cook both stood in front of the polls yesterday with signs that said they each supported the warning article for the communication tower.
Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/news/4876377-95/town-tower-vtel-selectboard?ID=abcde&CSAuthResp=62892%3A24547117%3A248%3A15%3A24%3Asuccess%3ADDA9E51B83A1515E8EF9F989E9729525

Shumlin taps Michael Kainen as State’s Attorney

By Christian Avard, Rutland Herald Staff Writer
March 09, 2013
Gov. Peter Shumlin appointed Michael Kainen as Windsor County state’s attorney on Friday.
Kainen is an Orange County deputy state’s attorney in Chelsea and ill replace Robert Sand who will be assisting the Department of Public Safety in redefining drunk-driving sentencing and treatment efforts in Vermont.
Kainen was informed of the governor’s decision Thursday. He will begin his new job March 23 and said he is pleased to represent Windsor County.
“I’m happy to have the appointment,” Kainen said. “I’ll be working on some transition items while in White River Junction and button up what’s left up here in Orange County and go from there.”
Shumlin said in a statement that Kainen is known for his common-sense approach to law and is seen by many as a consensus builder. Kainen attributed these traits to Sand, with whom he worked at the state’s attorney’s office in Windsor County for 15 years.
Windsor County Democrats nominated Kainen and Windsor County Deputy State’s Attorney David Cahill of Norwich as candidates to succeed Sand. The committee thought both candidates were well qualified for the job.
Cahill also heard about the governor’s selection Thursday and congratulated Kainen in his new role.
“It was a hard fought campaign among colleagues and I wish him the best,” Cahill said in an email. “It was an honor to have earned the trust and confidence of the many people who do the difficult, often thankless work of delivering justice to crime victims, offenders, and the taxpaying public. I look forward to playing a continued role in public service and in modernizing our criminal justice system for the benefit of all of its stakeholders.”
Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130309/NEWS02/703099914/1003

VTDigger Named Best Political Blog in Vermont 

Kudos to VTDigger for being named by Washington Post as the best political blog in Vermont for 2013.  In 2011, VTDigger shared the honor with Green Mountain Daily and Vermont Daily Briefing.
The VTDigger story is here and the Washington Post's 50 state rundown is here.
LINKS:
http://vtdigger.org/2013/03/06/washpo-puts-vtdigger-on-best-state-based-political-blog-list/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/03/05/the-fixs-best-state-based-political-blogs-list-is-here/

A subscription may be required for access to the Valley News stories.

Town Meeting 2013

Norwich Divided Over Tower

By Sarah Brubeck, Valley News Staff Writer
March 5, 2013
Residents and Selectboard members last night were once again divided over whether a proposed communication tower should be owned by VTel or the town, and they haggled over salary increases for some department heads.

More than 160 people filled Tracy Hall for the discussion portion of Norwich’s Town Meeting, with voting to take place by Australian ballot today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

After a 40-minute budget presentation by Town Manager Neil Fulton, Town Treasurer Cheryl Lindberg, a member of the Norwich Finance Committee, noted that the panel voted 4-0 not to support the proposed budget. In the town report, the Finance Committee cited large salary increases for several town employees.

The proposed $4 million municipal budget is essentially flat this year and is $10,000 less than the current budget. The budget includes large salary increases for the planning, finance and recreations directors of about 14 percent, 19 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

Selectboard Chairman Christopher Ashley soon stood up and spoke his mind.

“Our director of planning, director of finance and our director of recreation, I think we owe them a legitimate salary on what they currently do,” Ashley said.

But as is accustomed in Norwich, not all agreed. Both Selectboard members Linda Cook and Keith Moran said they didn’t support the increases because they didn’t think a $15,000 salary-comparison study conducted by Condrey & Associates for the town was accurate.

Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/home/4873651-95/town-tower-norwich-vtel

A subscription may be required for access to the Valley News stories. 

Norwich, VT 05055 

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending March 2, 2013

Dresden Election Brochures Are MIA

Informational brochures about the election and annual meeting mailers were late going in the mail.  I guess the dog ate the memo. Read the brochure here. Valley News Staffer Sarah Brubeck reports about the annual  meeting in the story below.
Dresden Contracts Questioned
By Sarah Brubeck, Valley News Staff Writer
March 1, 2013
Hanover — The number of School Board members rivaled the number of attendees at last night’s annual meeting for the Dresden budget, and it might have been because people didn’t receive mailers announcing the meeting.
At the end of last night’s hour-long meeting, former School Board member Kari Asmus took to the microphone and criticized the board for not getting information out to voters in a timely fashion.
The School Board decided not to mail out annual reports to each household this year because they are expensive and many residents toss them aside.
Instead, annual reports are available at town halls, libraries and the SAU 70 office, and small informational mailers would be sent out.
When Asmus didn’t receive a mailer before last night’s meeting, she was a little taken aback. But she shrugged it off and said she thought, “Oh well. I can come to this meeting and learn what I need to learn.”
So she headed to Hanover High School, but to her surprise, the doors were locked. Without the mailer, she hadn’t realized that the meeting had been moved to Richmond Middle School.

Read the rest of the story.
LINKS:
http://www.sau70.org/budgets/13-14_budget/brochures/Dresden_Brochure.v3a.pdf
http://www.vnews.com/news/schools/4767060-95/board-contract-meeting-teachers

Opinion

Does democracy suffer when the Town Manager has an agenda? Is the ballot box an adequate remedy?
Column: Direct Democracy Is Struggling in Norwich and Other Towns
Watt Alexander, For the Valley News
February 26, 2013
“Practice makes perfect,” it’s often said, but surely not in reference to democracy. We’re clearly not getting any better at it.

The democratic debate over competing interests — from New England town meeting to state legislatures to the U.S. Congress — remains as fractious and messy as ever. Messier, maybe, as that democratic debate is increasingly filtered through a vast and growing bureaucratic layer of government administrative roles and regulation.

Indeed, throughout the Upper Valley, New England’s experiment with direct democracy is giving way to a more modern, suburban bureaucracy. More and more town meetings are replacing customary floor debates and votes with annual Australian ballots. Volunteer selectboards cede ever more authority to professional administrators, signaling that American government, even in small communities, may no longer be a matter for amateurs.

Here in Norwich, our experiment with professional administration began in 2002 when we hired our first town manager. Barely 10 years later, convulsed by a series of public controversies, we’re on to our fourth town manager with new controversies brewing. While the details of these spats are fascinating to the participants — and make for good Valley News headlines — the underlying struggle they signify is relevant to all of your readers: Where do we, the amateur citizen-taxpayers, fit within this increasingly bureaucratized democracy?

Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/opinion/columns/4692948-95/town-democracy-manager-selectboard

A subscription may be required for access to the Valley News stories. 

The Norwich Finance Committee Position On The School Budget

2013-2014 Proposed Norwich School Budget:

The Norwich Finance Committee voted 4-0 (one member was absent from the meeting and two seats are vacant) to support the proposed Norwich School Budget.
Members of the Committee were initially concerned by the 5.4% increase in the Norwich portion of the budget, but found that two of the items driving the increase (special education spending—which gets partially offset with increased funding from the state--and building maintenance) provided a good explanation for the increase, and that the balance of the increase was reasonable.  In addition, the Committee notes that the projected CLA of 99.7% results in what we believe is a manageable tax rate increase with respect to the overall school budget (Norwich, Dresden, and SAU), but there is a very large caveat here:  If the CLA were to stay the same as the current year, at 93%, the tax rate increase would be almost 8%.  

In light of the projected tax rate increase of only 0.8%, the Committee also looked favorably on proposed additions to the building maintenance reserve and the special education reserve.

Looking forward, the Committee expects that if the bond issue (for roof and univents) is approved, that the project will be bid out and that anticipated cost savings will be realized both from doing the work all at once and in energy cost savings in future years.  One item of concern to be watched in future years is the long-term projection of a declining student enrollment.  To the extent that student enrollment is projected to decline over time, the Committee would like to see variable costs reduced in an effort to keep per pupil costs in line with, or even reduced from, the current proposed budget.

Norwich Finance Committee

Nate Stearns, Chair

Published on the Norwich listserv on March 1, 2013 

http://lists.valley.net/lists/arc/norwich

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending February 23, 2013

Norwich, VT Man Gets 30 Days; Police Chief Not Happy
“I think he pretty much got away with it,” [Police Chief] Robinson said. “When a guy has a lot of marijuana, thousands of dollars of stolen property, (acted inappropriately) with a little girl and possessed 40 guns, a 30-day sentence is ludicrous. I was in disbelief.”
Chief Questions Norwich Man’s Sentence
By Mark Davis, Valley News Staff Writer
February 23, 2013
A Norwich man was recently sentenced to 30 days in prison on a slew of state and federal charges, including weapons possession and lewd conduct, in plea deals that the town’s police chief says were overly generous.
A federal judge last week ordered Jeff Bogie, 50, sent to federal prison for 30 days for unlawful possession of a firearm. Days later, state prosecutors finalized a deal that called for the same sentence — which will run at the same time — for charges contributing to the delinquency of the minor, prohibited acts, marijuana possession and possessing stolen property.
Bogie was initially charged in 2010 with lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, for allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl after providing her alcohol. During that investigation, police searched his home and found more than a half pound of marijuana, pills and 44 firearms, including machines guns, rifles and pistols, according to police affidavits.
Federal authorities prosecuted Bogie for being a drug user in possession of firearms: The rest of the case was handled at the state level.
Norwich Police Chief Doug Robinson said that he believes Bogie should have spent at least a couple of years in prison, and was disappointed in the leniency.

Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/news/police/fire/courts/4632593-95/federal-bogie-state-charges

King Arthur Flour Voluntarily Recalls Flour
Press Release
February 22, 2013

King Arthur Flour has initiated a voluntary recall of a limited number of its bags of flour due to the possible presence of small (7-9 mm) blue polyurethane balls that are used in the sifting process. The balls have a smooth surface and no sharp edges and are made from food grade material. Because of their bright blue color and size (about half the diameter of a dime), they are easily seen in the flour.

Only 5-lb. bags of King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour and King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour that have a Best Used By Date and Lot Codes noted below are affected. This information is printed on the side of the bag beneath the nutrition panel. If the Best Used By Date and Lot Code number are printed on the TOP of the bag, then the product is NOT affected.


Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/voluntaryrecall/press-release.html

Preview Of School Vote

Summary of issues on the ballot on March 5th for Norwich and Dresden schools.

Elementary Schools Plan Renovations

By Sarah Brubeck Valley News Staff Writer

February 22, 2013 

Both the Ray School and Marion Cross School are proposing to upgrade aging facilities in the coming years, and residents Hanover and Norwich residents will see the impacts at this year’s district meeting.

*  *  *

Across the river at Marion Cross School, voters will be asked to approve borrowing $450,000 to pay for a gym roof replacement and energy and ventilation improvements.

Three school budgets are in play in the Dresden towns: the Hanover budget, which covers the Ray School; the Norwich budget, which accounts for Marion Cross School; and the Dresden budget, which covers the cost of the Richmond Middle School and Hanover High School.

Additionally, a negotiated contracts for Dresden and Hanover teachers are on the ballot after voters rejected a contract last year, and there’s a contested Hanover School Board race.

Read the rest of the story.

LINK: 

http://www.vnews.com/news/schools/4556299-95/hanover-budget-dresden-board

A subscription may be required for access to the Valley News stories.

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending February 16, 2013

CoreValue Software Helps Small and Medium Businesses Find Value

CoreValue Software in Norwich, VT, co-founded by Chuck Richards and Lisa Kable, creates web-based software to help owners of private companies build valuable companies. A profile of the firm appeared on February 10, 2013 in the Valley News.

Finding Hidden Value: Norwich Firm Helps Small Businesses Figure Out What They're Worth 
By Warren Johnston Valley News Staff
February 10, 2013
The mission of CoreValue Software is easy to see, although it’s not readily apparent.
Clues — large photographs of aged, closed factories, steam locomotives, rusted, discarded machinery — populate the office walls of the global company that operates in the back of a two-story building with no sign on Main Street to announce its presence.
However, even the poster-sized black-and-white photos don’t give a clear picture of what CoreValue is about. The bright office, functionally furnished with sensible desks and chairs, computers, an occasional dog bowl under a desk and bags of canine treats covering an entry shelf, could house any number of businesses — perhaps a real estate firm that sells off shuttered or dying factories or an equipment brokerage that finds buyers for obsolete machines.
But instead of hovering over the decaying carcasses of outmoded industries, CoreValue’s plan is to swoop and save them with a software program that makes closely held small- and medium-sized businesses look deeply at their operations with an eye on the future.
“The photographs are a reminder of what we do, and what we’re trying to prevent,” said Lisa Kable, the president of CoreValue, who co-founded the company with Chief Executive Officer Chuck Richards.
“We feel like we’re reaching and helping business owners, and when they transfer their business, it will be a net job generator — that the business will do well and jobs will be created,” Kable said.

Read the rest of the story.
CoreValue Software Web Site
LINKS:
http://www.vnews.com/home/4102921-95/business-corevalue-businesses-companies
http://www.corevaluesoftware.com/

Former Chef at Carpenter &  Main In Minneapolis

"Man, this guy can cook" reports the Star Tribune

Lynn on Bryant: A neighborhood gem of a restaurant
By Rick Nelson, Star Tribune
February 14, 2013

REVIEW: A transplanted Vermont chef sets up a great-looking shop in south Minneapolis. Are there more chefs like him?

The Twin Cities area has more than its share of local-chefs-made-good stories, but the culinary scene has also prospered from the fresh perspectives and enviable skills brought here by gifted out-of-towners.

Including Peter Ireland. The Vermont native cooked for big-name chefs in Chicago, New York and France — then ran his own acclaimed restaurant, Carpenter & Main, in his hometown of Norwich, Vt. — before relocating to Minneapolis (where his wife, Rebecca, was enrolled in law school) and opening the Lynn on Bryant.

The name is a reference to the surrounding Lynnhurst neighborhood. That only seems right, since the Lynn is billed as a neighborhood restaurant, and its breakfast-lunch-dinner format bears that out. But with Ireland at the helm, it’s also so much more.

Man, this guy can cook. The menu is tightly focused. At dinner, it’s just six appetizers and as many entrees, which could feel limited, but doesn’t. What makes the Lynn such a remarkable dining experience is Ireland’s intrinsic ability to subtly manipulate and balance outcomes up and down the continuums of flavor and texture: bitter-sweet, tangy-mellow, crispy-silky; all masterfully exploited.

Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/191058101.html?refer=y

Preview Of Town Meeting

Sarah Brubeck of the Valley News nicely summarizes the big topics for Town Meting 2013

Cell Tower On Warning In Norwich

By Sarah Brubeck Valley News Staff Writer
February 14, 2013

Norwich town and school budgets will be discussed Monday, March 4 at 7 p.m. in Tracy Hall. Voting for town officers and all warning articles will be done by Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 5 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Tracy Hall.

Norwich — This year’s Town Meeting warning isn’t lacking for controversy with one nonbinding article that would authorize the Selectboard to spend $275,000 to build a new communications tower, undercutting a deal the Selectboard struck with a private telecommunications company.

Voters will also decide whether an assistant town clerk who has been working full time will have her hours reduced to part time.

The tower flap started last fall when the Selectboard authorized Town Manager Neil Fulton to sign a letter of intent with VTel, a Springfield, Vt.-based telecommunications company, that would allow the firm to lease property on New Boston Road in order to build a communications tower to provide high-speed Internet service to the area. In return, the town could freely use the tower to upgrade radio communication among the police, fire and public works departments.

Norwich residents petitioned the article that calls on the town to build and own the tower itself. Proponents said passage would show the Selectboard that there is widespread opposition in town over the deal with VTel. The article is not legally binding, however, and if it does pass ... .

Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/news/townbytown/norwich/4397511-95/town-budget-selectboard-increase

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending January 19, 2013

from the Wall Street Journal

Kearney returns with a win

Olympic champion Hannah Kearney made a successful return to the moguls World Cup circuit Thursday with a win in the ASANA Freestyle Cup at Whiteface Mountain.

Kearney missed the first two World Cup races this season after fracturing two ribs during a training crash in Switzerland in October.

"I expected myself to pick up where I left off, and I think I did," Kearney said. "I think that's what I'm the most proud of, both with the results and my skiing."

Kearney, of Norwich, Vt., has won the moguls event at Whiteface Mountain four straight years. Last season, she was the overall World Cup leader and set the record for most consecutive World Cup victories in moguls with 16, dating back to the previous season.

from the Valley News:


Kearney A Winner In Return: Norwich Native Takes First Race Since Injury
Friday, January 18, 2013

Wilmington, n.y. — Three months ago, Hannah Kearney was lying in a basket dangling from a helicopter high above a glacier in Switzerland. And she wasn’t sightseeing. The Olympic moguls champion fell hard after landing a jump while training in Zermatt in early October. Her head and knees were OK. But it felt like someone had kicked her in the …

Norwich Board OKs Budget
Thursday, January 17, 2013

Norwich — The Selectboard knocked down proposed salary increases for three department heads, but the planning, finance and recreation directors will still receive pay increases of 13, 18 and 26 percent, respectively. Town Manager Neil Fulton’s proposed budget included large salary increases for several department heads based on a compensation analysis that was done by Condrey & Associates, which was hired by the …

School Budgets Shape Up
Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Hanover — Norwich and Hanover school boards are in the home stretch of finalizing their budgets, which they plan to adopt by the end of the month. Along with the budgets, residents will also be asked to approve teacher contracts for all three districts, which in some cases could increase taxes. The Hanover School District is proposing a $11.6 million budget, which is …

LINKS

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP505b4cba9dec4564b32cf9eb962f24b1.html

http://www.vnews.com/news/townbytown/norwich/

Norwich School Board - Final Budget Meeting - January 17

from the listserv:
The next Norwich School Board meeting will be this Thursday at 7 pm in the Marion Cross multipurpose room. This will the final budget meeting - the Public Hearing and budget adoption. Included in the discussion will be a proposed bond article to cover building maintenance items. Minutes from previous budget meetings can be found here: http://www.sau70.org/this_month/board_mtgs.htm

The proposed budget can be found here: http://www.sau70.org/this_month/budget_info.htm


Neil Odell
Chair, Norwich School Board

LINK;

http://lists.valley.net/lists/arc/norwich/2013-01/msg00297.html