Northeast Kingdom Waste Management Report

While it was a good year for recycling garbage, it couldn't pay its way in a struggling economy.
The Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District wrapped up 2008 in what is called “fair” financial condition after starting off the year with a strong first three quarters. However, for any business in the United States, everyone was struggling during this last quarter due to the economic downfall that we continue to struggle through.
While the NEKWMD might have struggled through the last quarter of the year, recycling markets still ended up pushing revenues 7% above projections. For the year, 25 % of total revenues, which is roughly $166,000 came from the recycling market which ended up being their best year on record. However, due to repairs, increased fuel costs and hazmat disposal, costs were 8% above projections, thus leaving the NEKWMD with a deficit of $4,400.
Now, the NEKWMD is entering 2009 with a budget if $610,015, which is a decrease of 3.2 % or $20,000. Even with the decrease in the 2009 budget, all district fees will remain at their 2008 rates.

The History of Town Meeting Day in Vermont

Town meeting day is a tradition that started over 200 years ago and continues to thrive in Vermont. While many things about town meeting day date back to the late 1700's, many things have changed.

Town meeting day began before Vermont was even Vermont. Vermont was established in the year 1777, yet fifteen years earlier the very first town meeting was held in Bennington in 1762. At this time, colonists crossed seas to settle in the new world, which later became the United States of America. They came in search of independence and freedom, and all shared a few common goals: to create and maintain communities, and have a say in how they were governed.

During these times men 21 years of age or older would gather on a weekly and sometimes monthly basis to discuss town issues and business. At this time, they didn't have elected officials as we do now, but as time passed, the towns people elected certain people to take leadership roles. These men would address issues raised by the townspeople and were called Selectmen.

These elected officials would take concerns raised by residents and bring them to the table to discuss as a whole. These meetings were once weekly and monthly but soon became an annual tradition, called town meeting day.

In the late 1700's town meetings decided such things as whether or not to let pigs run free, whether smallpox vaccinations should be allowed within towns, or what goods or labor would be used as payments for taxes. Today town meeting day ballots have come a long way with articles relating to education, roads, construction of buildings, and even whether or not to approve an annual July 4th fireworks display. In 1918, women were finally permitted to vote on town meeting day, four years before they were finally allowed to vote in state and national elections.

Town meeting day has never been all business, though. From the late 1700's, it has been a day to socialize with friends and family within your community and also introduce yourself to new families. This strengthens your community, making town decisions in the future that much easier--or at least based on common knowledge. In Vermont, this consensus-building process is always very apparent. Close-knit communities come out in clusters every March 3 to voice their opinions, support and vote for town officials and of course, sometimes just say "hi." And as of 2009, town meeting day is a Holiday. Working Vermonters are now allowed to take an unpaid leave from work to attend town meeting day. However, to take advantage of this day, the employee must give their employer at least 7 days prior notice. The law also gives students who are 18 years or older the right to miss school in order to attend town meeting day.

Here at Lyndon State College, of course, our News7 team works puts in extra hours, fanning out over our coverage area, and bringing back the results of democracy in action.

In 2008 Vermont Public Radio offered this audio-visual slide show. http://www.vpr.net/vpr_files/slideshows/town_meeting_tradition/index.html

MEET OUR TOWN MEETING ONLINE REPORTERS

The town meeting is a cherished tradition in Vermont. That's why News7, the daily broadcast produced at Lyndon State College for our surrounding communities, pays special attention to these important days. We'll introduce you to citizens gathering to voice concerns and make decisions. We'd like this website to provide context for the issues that are stirring discussion in public forums, and around kitchen tables. Each reporter has chosen a town to follow, posting news briefs and helpful background. We hope you will respond with suggestions and comments.

Here's the team:




Jeff Bonneau is in his final semester at Lyndon State College, where he is a Television Studies major. Originally from Bolton, Connecticut, he recently moved to the more rural northeast corner of Connecticut. He likes his new home town, so when he searched for a college, he looked for a similar place. He found it in the corner of Vermont known as the “beautiful Northeast Kingdom.” This semester, Jeff is an anchor and an investigative reporter and will cover the regional issues in the Northeast Kingdom. This past summer, he interned at WFSB Channel 3 in Connecticut which originally sparked his interest in news reporting at the young age of 5. (Although he was then primarily a viewer, he occasionally, with his mom’s help, e-mailed the meteorology department.) Jeff's upbeat personality in the news room comes through each news story he does. When he graduates in May, he hopes to land a job at a news station close to home. His parents are hoping for the same.



Adam Chick is midway through his fourth year at Lyndon State College, wher he majors in Television Studies. He chooses to spend more time behind the camera than in front of it. You can often find him scribbling in his reporter's notebook at local sporting events. In his New Hampshire high school, though, he was playing basketball, not reporting on it. Back then, he and his dad loved driving to Boston for Celtics games, and he's still a fan of any Boston sport you can name. Two years from now he'd like to work in broadcast news or for a newspaper. This spring he'll be covering town meetings and issues in Kirby.



Ashley Giddix comes from a shoreline town in Connecticut with only one stop light and no sidewalks, so she’s is no stranger to small communities. But town meetings are a new thing for her. She’ll be keeping her eye on Danville this year—literally—because she’s a photojournalist who likes to look at life through a lens. A junior in LSC’s Television Studies department, Ashley was in charge of the cable access station housed at her high school. That’s where she was voted “most unpredictable” in her class. It’s also where she snagged a couple of awards—third place for what she calls a “Vietnamesque” war film, and high honors for her work at the TV station. She’s crazy about animals, and can remember a time when her family had three dogs, two cats, four llamas, and three rabbits. She once saved a turtle from otherwise certain death on a highway. After graduation she hopes to direct a television news program.



Scott Jaeger is a hard working Senior Reporter at News 7 who is always taking on new challenges in the reporting world. He grew up in Northport, New York and is an avid New York Mets fan. When Scott isn't inside the news station he spends time working for Lyndon State College in the admissions office. He also was a weather intern at ABC Good Morning America in New York City (his favorite show) during the summer of his sophomore year. Originally Scott was pursuing a degree in meteorology but soon realized he was even more interested in news reporting. Scott’s easygoing personality makes his job and everyone else’s that much more enjoyable. And he expects to enjoy spending some time in Barnet during town meeting season.



Andrew Koch became interested in reporting during high school in Portland, Maine. An avid fan of local sports, he was naturally drawn to sportscasting. By the time he was a high school junior, he was broadcasting exciting high school sporting events from some of the biggest venues in the state of Maine, including the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland and the Bangor Auditorium. He soon found himself wanting to apply his reporting skills to local news, and Lyndon State offered the perfect opportunity to do that. Andrew is now a senior reporter at News7. He covers the town of Lyndon, specifically the town school and budget. When he’s not reporting, he works on the staff of The Critic (the college newspaper) as sports editor. You can also find him working at the scorer’s table as the public address announcer for Lyndon State athletics. He hopes to continue his career in journalism after graduation, and dreams of one day being a respected voice in sports broadcasting.



Joe Maher was born in Hawaii and moved to Coventry, Vermont as a small child. But he didn’t go straight to college. Instead, he joined the Navy and put in a four-year stint. He’s always wanted to be a journalist—but not an English major. At Lyndon, he expected to write for the newspaper but was excited to find a niche in broadcasting instead. He’s in his fourth semester as a reporter at News7. "I want to give people important information to live their lives by," Maher says. Covering the town of Burke, Joe will keep a sharp eye on the Ginn Company's plans for developing Burke Mountain. In his free time, Joe enjoys playing soccer and spending time outdoors in the Northeast Kingdom.



John Nilsen is an aspiring photojournalist who has operated cameras for Vermont's semi-pro basketball team, the Frost Heaves. (They won the ABA championship last year.) You can also find his writing and still photography on his blog at wordpress.com. An avid outdoorsman, John enjoys doing just about anything in the fresh air--especially 4-wheeling. He is a sports fan cheering against the wind in new England, as a fan of the Miami Dolphins and the New York Yankees. And speaking of wind power, that's one issue he'll be watching as he covers local debates in the town of Sheffield. He's hoping for a career as a photographer, and believes he's off to a great start at News7.



Courtney Rosemond likes Lyndon State because it's a small school in a beautiful, quiet place. She is a third year television studies major concentrating in Broadcast News. Courtney is in the middle of her second semester at the college's news station, News 7, and for this year’s town meetings she’s eager to find out what voters are talking about in Sutton. She is very passionate about reporting and likes meeting new people and telling their stories. During her first semester in the newsroom, she spent sixteen hours reporting on Election Day 2008, and she liked being a part of history. After she graduates in the spring of 2010, Courtney may apply to law school. In her free time, she enjoys boating, sailing, and other outdoor activities at her home on Lake Winnipesaukee.



Tim Senese is currently a fourth year student in the Television Studies department at Lyndon State College. At first, classes mostly involved the technical aspects of the trade (including camera work, editing, and studio duties), but through time the writing process gained more importance. Tim is originally from Bethlehem, Connecticut, a town far too similar what you would find in Vermont – one stop light, no fast food chains, one police officer, a town green, and a lot of individuals who know much more about their neighbors than is truly needed. Coincidentally, all of the towns near LSC resemble this classic New England format. After graduation Tim hopes to find himself in a city with plenty of sunshine doing whatever he can to get by. He'll be covering Peacham for this website.



Jenna Tucillo is currently in her fourth year at Lyndon State College, and misses her home of Southington, CT. She enjoys reporting because of the new experiences and people she meets. Each day brings a different challenge. Jenna filed News7 stories about Wheelock’s town meeting in 2008. That’s also where she covered the historical election in November by interviewing voters and one candidate for office. Some highlights in Jenna's reporting career include reporting from the Burke Mountain Music Festival in September 2008, where she received her first press pass and was brought back stage. Her goal is to get a job at ESPN. When Jenna isn't busy reporting at News 7, she enjoys kicking back, hanging out with friends and watching movies. But all that will have to wait during town meeting season, when she’ll be busy reporting on a lot of issues affecting St. Johnsbury.