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The Reading Informer January 2017

Published by the Town of Reading

Happy New Year

Start the Year off with some

fun to do’s.

Visit the State site at http://www.vermont.com to get listings for skiing, skating, snowmobiling or snowshoeing.

Ice skating at the Proctor rink, 459-2819 or the Union

Arena community center in Woodstock; 457-2500.

Swimming at Ascutney Resort, Upper Valley Aquatic Center, White River Junction or the Edgar Mae Fitness Center, Spring-field.

Try dogsledding at Braeburn Siberians right close by in Windsor, VT. http://www.braeburnsiberians.com

Sleigh rides are available at Kedron Valley Stables in S. Wood-stock

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Calista and Esther

Reading Town Office

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Reading– West Windsor Food Shelf

Monday 2:00 to 4:00 (Food Shelf)

Thursday 4:00 to 6:00 (Thrift Store & Food

Shelf)

Located at 3456 Tyson Road

in South Reading

at the Stone School House

The Thrift Store is open to anyone, not just

food shelf members. Please feel free to stop in

Inquiries please contact

Sara Norcross 484-5097

Dana Waters 802-291-3299

To send a donation please mail to:

Reading– West Windsor Food Shelf

PO Box 384 Brownsville, VT 05037

Meeting Schedule

Town Contact Information

Town Clerk/Treasure Office

484-7250 Mon, Tues, Wed, 8 am—4 pm

Thursday 8 am—3:30 pm First Saturday of the Month: 9am-12pm Website: www.readingvt.govoffice.com Email: readingvermont@comcast.net

Post Office Iiri Makkonen

484-5994 Retail Counter

Monday – Friday 9:30 am-12:30 pm, 1:30 pm—4:30 pm

Saturday Retail Counter 9:00 to 12:00

Lobby Monday – Friday Saturday 8 am to 5 pm 8am to 12pm

Library 484-5588

Tuesday 12:00 to 3:30, 4:00 to 7:00 Thursday 10:00 to 1:30, 2:00 to 5:00

Saturday 10:00 to 2:00

Listers Call for appointment – 484-7258

Email: rtownhall_464@comcast.net

Reading Elementary School

484-7230

Fire Warden - Fire Burning Permits Nathan Willard 484-0094

Contribute to The Reading Review in the Vermont Standard. Author, Stephen D’Agostino is always looking for newsy

items, sweet Reading stories, or tidbits to share with our community. Send your ideas to him at

stephen.d.dagostino@gmail.com

Emergency Telephone Numbers

Fire and Ambulance 911

State Police 457-1416

Domestic/Sexual Violence Hotline

866-348-WISE (9473)

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Please be advised:

Mailboxes placed in the Town right of way and subsequently damaged by

Town snowplows will not be replaced by the Town.

Winter Parking Ban Effective

November 1, 2016 to April 15, 2017

TOWN ORDINANCE ARTICLE VI

WINTER ROADS Section 1: No person shall shovel, dump, push, or accumulate snow from adjoining premises

upon any highway maintained for winter travel within the Town of Reading. It is recognized that plowing across Class 3 Highways is necessary in certain instanc-es, however snow MUST be cleaned up and completely out of the Town main-tained travel areas. In no case is plowing across Class 2 highways permitted. (Tyson Road, Twenty Mile Stream Road, and all Village Streets)

Section 2: No person shall leave a motor vehicle parked, deposited, or left unattended upon

a highway or in any public areas ordinarily used for parking, so as to interfere with the proper maintenance of roads, public areas or end-of-road turnarounds, within the Town. In the case of emergency or mechanical failure, vehicles must be removed within 24 hours.

Section 3: The Town will enforce the ‘No Parking’ rules at all locations where the trucks

turnaround and all public parking lots. Vehicles left beyond the 24-hour limit will be towed at the owner’s expense.

Section 4: Plow routes are set up to open major traffic routes and school bus routes first.

After all school bus routes are open plowing continues until all roads are open. Section 5: The Town does not plow Class 4 or private roads.

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Selectboard’s Meeting

December 12, 2016 UNAPPROVED

The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm. Present: Robert Allen, Gordy Eastman, Jim Peplau, Calista Brennan, Duane Wyman, Becky Basch, Mike Bean, Kathy Rondeau and Katherine Otto. Robert started the meeting asking if there were changes to the agenda. No changes Minutes of the November 14 Selectmen’s meeting were approved as printed. Treasurer’s Report: As of 11/30/16, Expenses were $1,751,674.31; Revenue was $1,324,849.28. Balance in LSB (G/L account) $-698,759.25 and balance in the sweep account $1,926,623.44 for a total of $1,227,874.19. Delinquent taxes for 2013-16 are $113,896.65. A payment agreement was mailed this month for all delinquent taxes. Jim moved to approve and Gordy seconded. Report is accepted. Action Items: (Katherine Otto was late arriving so started with Becky)

Weatherize Program: Becky talked about a new program to help residents weatherize their homes. This program offers a free evaluation and has funding available. There will be a meeting on Saturday, January 28th at 10 am at the Weathersfield School. For more information http://publicservice.vermont.gov/content/act-174-recommendations-and-determination-standards.

Clean Water Report and Road Inventory Report: Katherine reported that the road and culvert in-

ventory has been complete. She went over a few of the “hot” spots. The State is working on a municipal roads general permit that will be required by all Towns in the next couple of years.

Speed Study by WCSD: Did not receive the report in time for the meeting. Bob will follow up with

Mike Chamberlain. Duane stated the speed limit sign at the bottom of Tyson road is very hard to see. Town Farm Bridge Status: Bridge construction is on hold because ANR would not give the Town a

permit even though no work was going to be done in the water and they did not like the initial design. AOT concurred. Mike Bean has put a packet of 3 proposals together for Chris Bump at AOT. Bob will talk with Chris to determine his concerns. It’s now going to be the summer of 2017 before either bridge has any further work done.

Highways: Tyson Road bridge jersey barriers needs something to make them more visible at night.

Gordy suggested getting in touch with the local AOT district about object markers. Errors and Omissions from Listers: The listers submitted a letter requesting the Selectboard to

approve changes to the grand list for 4 parcels, due to an error in current use. Gordy moved to approve and Jim seconded.

Being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 8:10PM. Next Selectboard meeting will be on Monday, January 9, 2017 at 6:00 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Calista N Brennan, Town Clerk

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Librarian’s Note

The response to our annual appeal letter continues to be strong. I’d like to thank all the folks who are giving. Your ongoing support for the library really means a lot. If you’re looking for something to do this winter, remember we have free passes available for the American Precision Museum (Windsor), the Billings Farm & Museum (Woodstock), and the Vermont History Museum (branches in Montpelier and Barre); and we have reduced-price passes for Echo Aquarium & Science Center (Burlington). In addition, we have acquired a free VINS (Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Quechee) pass for up to 2 adults and 2 children. You can call the library at 484-5588 to reserve a pass, or just drop in and check it out. The library provides free access to Universal Class, an online continuing education service with a growing catalog of more than 500 courses. Classes normally cost $50 to $250 each but our patrons can take up to 5 at a time at no cost. Program features in-clude 24/7 access anywhere via the Internet, real instructors guiding the learning, en-gaging video-based lessons, a collaborative learning environment, graded lesson tests, continuing education units, and certificates of achievement. Areas of study include the arts, business, computers, cooking, crafts, financial management, gardening, GED train-ing, hobbies, home decorating, legal studies, math, natural remedies, office skills, psy-chology, real estate, science, special education, spirituality, web development, and writ-ing. Patrons register for Universal Class using an access code, and then participate in the online courses at their own pace. Although additional reading materials are recom-mended, they are almost always optional. Most courses can be completed within 10-20 hours. Patrons can take up to 6 months to complete an individual class and can corre-spond online with instructors. Patrons can drop or add classes as they wish. These are non-credit continuing education courses, provided for personal enrichment. To get your own access code, contact me at the library. Cordially, Tony Reading Public Library. Tues. 12-3:30 p.m. & 4-7; Thurs. 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. & 2-5; Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mail: P.O. Box 7, Reading, VT 05062. Tel. 802-484-5588. E-mail: reading.public.library@comcast.net. Web: www.readinglibrary.org. The board meets the last Tues. of each mth. at 6 p.m. Wi-Fi 24/7.

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Resources For Elders

Are you dealing with the issues associated with taking care of someone growing older, having trouble getting around, needing support at home? Sara Norcross and a group of volunteers from West Windsor have put together an excellent brochure that has pulled together a list of resources for people dealing with these issues and more. Copies of these brochures are availa-ble at the Reading Town Office and also on the town website: www.readingvt.govoffice.com These brochures contain information on: fitness, food/meals, clothing, at-home support, financial support, transportation, hiring and volunteering, medical resources, veterans, long term care and much more.

Reading Recreation Commission

The Town is looking for people to help serve on this committee. The purpose of the commission is to oversee the activities that take place at the ball field and to host community activities. Please submit a letter of interest to the Selectboard. Thank you

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Green Mountain Smokehouse Voted 2014 Best Bacon Yankee Magazine

Rte. 5 Windsor, VT 802-674-6653 - Maple Sugar Cured Ham - Smoked Sausages - VT Smoked Cheddar Cheese -Marinated Meats - Garlic/Herb Smoked Chicken - 10 Flavors of Sau-sage - Bacon & Canadian Style Bacon - Beef Jerky - Hickory Smoked Turkey Breast - Pepperoni

Law Office of Peter K. Vollers, PLC _______________________________________________________________

Peter K. Vollers, Esq.

KimAnn R. Vollers, Office Manager

T’Other House 4 The Green

Woodstock, Vermont 05091 Tel: 802-457-2420 Fax: 802-457-9960

pvollers@vollerslaw.com kvollers@vollerslaw.com

JOSHUA GALE, DC Chiropractic & Whole Food Nutrition

keyesmountain.com

jtgaledc@me.com 802.291.2288

Offices

39 Central Street, Suite 201A, Woodstock, VT 76 Keyes Mountain Road, Reading, VT

Wrinkle Reduction Reaches Reading Botox, Fillers, Skin Vitamins and Medical Grade Skincare Products

now available locally Please call for a complimentary consultation

Dr. Carol Boerner 802.356.2343 Vermontfacialaesthetics.com

Recent Local Property Transfer

Alan Nass to John & Christina Vanzandt 218 Center Road House & 41.5 Acres $250,000

Jane Cleveland to Catherine Baumgartner 697 Route 106 House & .66 Acres $ 0

Support Our Local Advertisers Thank You

Properties

Sold

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Reading Planning Commission - December 5, 2016

Please note that these are only an abbreviated version of the minutes.

The complete minutes are available on the Town website: www.readingvt.govoffice.com

Present – Steve Strait, Ken Cox, Kevin Kaija, Becky Basch Guests – Jason Rasmussen (SWCRPC), Kurt Voight

Minutes of November 8, 2016 – Kevin made a motion to accept the minutes as printed, Steve seconded the motion, all were in favor. SWCRPC representative – Steve noted that Jason Rasmussen has taken over as the SWCRPC representative for the zoning re-write as Dan Potter has taken a job with the VT Department of Public Service. The Planning Commission expressed their gratitude for all of the good work that Dan has done for the Town. Act 174 meeting – Becky reported that she had attended the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network conference on 12/3. She attended several sessions on Act 174 and plans to go to a meeting in Springfield on December 8th to learn about the process that is being proposed under Act 174 for towns to achieve “due def-erence” consideration in the permitting of renewable energy projects under Section 248. Jason said that the RPC is in the midst of the energy planning process for the region, and suggested that the Town may want to wait for the RPC to complete the data gathering process before the Town embarks on its own planning pro-cess. He added that the State has a target of 90% renewable energy by 2050. Correspondence – Steve read a letter from Shirley Dunning of Whittemore Circle. Ms. Dunning owns land on Reading Lee Brook (now a beaver pond) and expressed interest in donating an easement to the Vermont Land Trust or Vermont River Conservancy. Kevin said he would send a map showing the site location to the Wetland Reserve Program at VT ANR and suggested that the Planning Commission should send a letter of support for the easement.

Zoning re-write (For full discussion, see minutes published on the Town Website - www.readingvt.govoffice.com) Lot line adjustment – Jason sent out proposed language for lot line ad-justments that provides for administrative review as long as the adjustment meets four criteria. (Comments on website version)

Subdivision regulations – There was discussion about creating separate subdivision regulation (as de-fined under Section 4414) or keep review of subdivisions under site plan review. (Full discussion on website) Language about “undue burden”: Discussion about road standards (Full discussion on website ver-sion)

Short and long-term rentals – Jason sent out some language regarding short-term rentals. He said there was a court case in Grand Isle where the Town said that this activity was a change in use from single family to commercial use. Jason send out the Woodstock ordinance that invokes requirements by the fire marshal. Jason said that Air Bnb sites are also required to pay rooms and meals tax, and there are some building codes that apply to short-term rentals. Steve commented that the homeowner has to comply with insurance requirements and state fire marshal requirements. Jason said that if we don’t currently have issues with noise, parking etc, we may not need to address short-term rentals. Becky commented that Woodstock’s regulations seem to be targeted at the village and areas of denser devel-opment. Steve suggested that we review the Woodstock language for next meeting.

6. Next meeting – 1/2/16. Jason will look at Subdivision standards. Steve suggested that Jason look at the November minutes for other areas that have been discussed with regard to the zoning changes. 7. Adjournment - Kevin made a motion to adjourn, Ken seconded – meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Becky Basch, Secretary

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PO Box 128 384 Weld Cemetery Road Reading, Vermont 05062

802-342-1513

www.NewhallFarmVT.com

TREE PRESERVATION

802.484.5539 Experienced•Insured•References

KRIS BLANCHARD Northeast Rural Resource Management, LLC

Member National Arborist Association

Jim & Sandy Peplau’s

Happy Acres Farm Pure Maple Syrup, Hand Braided Rugs

826 Twenty Mile Stream Road

South Reading, VT 05153

484-7806

www.happyacresfarm.com

PLUMBING & HEATING

CONTRACTOR

Malagash Road PO Box 183

Reading, Vermont 05062

EDWARD ALLEN (802) 484-5580

LOGGING & LAND CLEARING SANDING BRUSH CHIPPING SNOW PLOWING BUSH HOGGING LIGHT EXCAVATION

ROLLING MEADOWS FARM CUSTOM FARMING

David Goodhouse * 484-5540

Law Office of JONATHAN L. SPRINGER, P.C.

12 Depot Avenue Post Office Box 245

Windsor, Vermont 05089 (802) 674-2649

Fax: (802) 674-2990 Springerlaw1@comcast.net

James Cloud Logging & Trucking

READING, VT

802-484-5946

Firewood Snowplowing

THE SPRINGFIELD BARBER Pam Eastman

307 Clinton St., Springfield, VT 802-885-3232

Regular & Styled Walk-in Service

Mon 7-12 Tues 7-5 Wed 11-7 Thurs 7-3 Fri 7– 5 Sat 7-12

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Reading Historical Society

Preserving The Past For The Future

An Historical Sketch of the South Reading Church

Editor’s Note: On Christmas Eve, the Old Stone Church held it’s Candlelight Service. Hazel King provid-ed me with some information on the church. This is a history written by Mrs. Maude Edwards, of the building and its use in its early years. Though Hazel doesn’t know exactly when it was written, she guesses it could have been the 1940s.

*** The “South Reading Meeting House Association” was formed as a voluntary association at a meeting in the Stone Schoolhouse on April 6, 1844, for the purpose of building and maintaining a church. The land was given by Louis Robinson and Rufus Buck. The structure was fifty-four feet by forty-four feet with walls of stone quarried locally and erected substantially according to the plans of Washington Keyes. John Adams, and Clark Wardner are said to have been the stone masons. The pews were sold by auction on December 26, 1844. The church was completed and dedicated on July 22, 1845, with the Reverend C. A. Tilletson, a Universalist minister, delivering the sermon. The cost of erecting the church amounted to about twelve hundred dollars. In the beginning, it was used as a Union Church, each denomination allotted a certain number of Sun-days for their use during the year. The Methodists and the Spiritualists were the two strongest de-nominations. Achsa Sprague of Plymouth, a Spiritualist preacher, delivered her first discourse here on July 16, 1854. Not only the Church, but the grounds about the church as well, were crowded and the doors and windows were left open so that all might hear. In 1893, the Methodists took full charge and since then the Meeting House has been occupied mostly by them. In 1919, Bishop Hughes of Boston spoke at the seventy-fifth anniversary celebration and the building and surrounding grounds were once more crowded. The last resident minister was the Reverend G. H. Bolster in 1901-1902. Since then, the Church has been yoked to the parish of Perkinsville and Browns-ville. This Church is now a chapel of the Brownsville Methodist Church.

Mrs. Maude Edwards

The Old Stone Church is no longer a chapel to the Brownsville Methodist Church. Today, it is only used on holy days, weddings, memorial services, and funerals. Stephen D’Agostino

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NEED TO SHOP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE? VERMONT HEALTH CONNECT INFORMATION

Do you need health insurance? Vermont Health Connect's Open Enrollment period runs now through January 31, 2017—and if you don't have health insurance, or would like to make a change to your existing health plan, Open Enrollment is the time to do it. De-pending on your income, you may also qualify for significant reductions to your health insurance premiums, meaning that you can sign up for great health care that won’t break the bank. There are many ways to enroll: visit Vermont Health Connect online at vermonthealthconnect.gov, call them at 855-899-9600, or visit one of their in-person assisters before January 15—for coverage starting by February 1, 2017—and January 31 for coverage starting March 1, 2017.

New customers can sign up online, by phone, or in person with an Assister. Current cus-tomers are automatically being renewed into 2017 coverage; they are able to call 855-899-9600 or click on the Renewals link in their online account to report changes for the 2017 coverage year.

Open Enrollment is a time for new customers to sign up for health and dental plans for the coming year. It is also a time for current customers to compare their existing health plan to other options. Vermont Health Connect offers a free 2017 Plan Comparison Tool, which can help customers decide whether another plan would be a better fit for their family’s needs and budget. The online tool allows customers to compare plans not just by monthly premiums and deductible amounts, but also by estimated total annual costs. Vermonters can try it out by clicking on “Decision Tools” at http://VermontHealthConnect.gov. After taking a couple minutes to enter age, income, health status, and expected use of medical services for all family members, the site presents the 20 qualified health plans from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont and MVP Health Care in order of estimated total costs, lowest to highest. Users then have several options for sorting the results, or they can click on links to plan details and additional information on insurance carrier web-sites. Vermonters who would prefer to talk to a live person about their options can call Ver-mont Health Connect’s toll-free Customer Support Center at 855-899-9600 or set up an appointment with an Assister in their community. January 15 – Last day to sign up or report change for February 1 coverage January 31 – Open Enrollment ends (coverage effective March 1)

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For Your Coloring Pleasure…...

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“Best Decorated House in Reading” Contest

Due to normal winter weather, the Cookies and Caroling at the Library was Cancelled, but the house contest went on. The judges determined that Jerry & Pat Vittum had done a tremendous job decorating their home and yard, so they were the winners.

Congratulations to them.

The prize was a $50 gift certificate to Keeper’s Restaurant.

Project Giving Tree Once again, a community came together to bring holiday cheer to many of our neighbors. Thank you to the Reading-West Windsor Food Shelf for the forty-one holiday food "baskets" which were distributed to families. A throng of local “angels”, donated toys, clothing, and gift cards to 28 children and 15 teens. Woodstock’s Yankee Bookshop most generously donated beautiful, new books to each of the children and teens. Woodstock Home and Hardware donated scotch tape and gift labels. Thanks to the Mount Ascut-ney Holiday Inn resort for donating exciting toys from a toy drive. Thanks to Calista and Esther for organizing the giving tree at the town hall.

A heart full of gratitude goes out to all those who donated money, or their time, doing the needed tasks of shopping, organizing, packing, and making deliveries. These people truly honor the spirit of Christmas.

Sarah Norcross

Editors Note: A big thank you to Sarah Norcross who takes the time to pull together all of this “Giving” and makes sure that every deserving family has a Happy Holiday.

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The Reading Informer

PO Box 72

Reading, Vermont 05062

PRESORTED STANDARD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

WRJ. VERMONT

PERMIT NO. 86

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 Plan Comm 7 PM

Fire Auxiliary 7 PM

3 Fire & Rescue

7pm Fire Station 4 5 6 7

8 9 Selectboard 6 PM 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 PTO 7 pm—

RES

24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 Library Trus-

tees 6 pm

January 2017