Community

Year in Review: Six Stories from 2019

By Jordan J. Phelan
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Editor’s Note: In the Dec. 31 print edition of the Eagle Times, one of the photos in the story, “Year in Review: Four Stories from 2019,” depicts Romaine Tenney. While a story on the Ascutney farmer was originally set to run in the print edition, it was ultimately taken out due to lack of space. The photo was meant to be removed to coincide with this change, but it ran with it.

From the first PRIDE celebration in Windsor to Springfield Hospital’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, here are six stories that graced the front page of the Eagle Times in 2019.

Selectboard attempts merger of two fire departments

Despite Weathersfield voters rejecting the town’s proposal to fund a full- or part-time fire chief position in March, the selectboard made clear its intentions to still pursue a single municipal fire department after a 3-2 vote in June. The two departments remained diametrically opposed to the town’s plan, with West Weathersfield strongly in support of a municipal department but Ascutney wanting to remain an independent entity.

At another selectboard meeting in mid-June, Weathersfield selectmen — still unclear about the best path forward — reiterated that the vote to form a municipal fire department still stands.

For Selectman Michael Todd — who was in the minority vote to rescind the selectboard’s municipal plan — the biggest problem with the fire department standstill was not the selectboard’s motion to create a municipal department, but that so few town residents understand why there should be a municipal department.

“It’s really difficult to talk about problems like safety, liability, protection, ability or capability without it sounding like you’re putting down the volunteers,” Todd said. “That isn’t what this discussion is about.”

These issues were not indictments of the firefighters, Todd said, but systemic problems from the town’s service structure.

The 2016 John Wood Report, a town-commissioned fire services study, found numerous safety concerns within Weathersfield’s system, particularly from having two independently-operating fire stations and volunteers burdened to meet modern regulatory demands.

The report found that each department had different operating procedures, and both departments needed to update or review their operating guides more regularly; members from both associations expressed concerns about getting overtaxed and burnt out; and a need to either train more volunteers for emergency medical technician (EMT) certification or reduce their department’s responses to emergency medical calls.

In an early August meeting, residents and volunteer firefighters pressed the selectors to at least take action through policy setting.

West Weathersfield volunteer Josh Compo told the selectboard that nothing can change until the selectboard establishes a policy that the departments must adhere to, in order to retain a service contract with Weathersfield. The current agreement lacks teeth to enforce anything, Compo said, because there is no such language specifying such expectations or the consequences for failing to meet them.

At the next meeting in September, West Weathersfield continued to press the selectboard to act on its decision last year to create a municipal fire department.

“Nothing is getting better or safer,” West Weathersfield firefighter Josh Compo told the board. “It’s been how many months? We’re still sitting here, with the same problems and issues recurring over and over.”

The two fire departments are still operating as independent entities and there is still no plan to merge or indication that a single municipal fire department will be in Weathersfield in the near future.

First responders peaceably resolve active shooter incident

As the sun began to rise in the sky for yet another warm mid-August morning, members of the Claremont Fire Department were ready to change shifts in just a few short hours when a not-so-typical call for the city came through: “code silver,” an active shooter. In an instant, Claremont’s three agencies — ambulance, fire and police — responded to the call, prepared to protect the community they proudly serve.

And they did.

The incident began in the early hours — 5:20 a.m. to be exact — of Thursday, Aug. 15, when Michael Burns, 55, barricaded himself in his apartment and fired numerous rounds into the air. Burns lived in a multi-family apartment building located on Hanover Street near the intersection with Centennial Street.

As quickly as they could, the Claremont Police and Fire Departments, along with the New Hampshire State Police, established a staging area and command post stationed in Barnes Park. Claremont police, state troopers and a SWAT truck blocked access to Hanover Street.

The incident then turned into a standoff.

“Fire department members were positioned in the warm zone,” Claremont Fire Chief Bryan Burr said. “It’s not the hot zone — the epicenter of the incident — but an area where we can extract the victims.”

Hundreds of rounds were fired throughout the morning as police used a loudspeaker to get the individual to the window and surrender. Pepper gas was used to drive him from the area he had confined himself in.

“We were stationed around the incident until 2, 2:30 in the afternoon until the incident was stabilized,” Burr said. Stabilized, as described by the fire chief, means when the subject, in this case the active shooter, is apprehended and is deemed no longer able to inflict harm.

“It was a trying incident,” Burr continued. “We are not used to [these types of incidents occurring in Claremont], but it is a new reality, unfortunately.”

At the conclusion of the nearly seven-hour standoff, the Claremont Fire Department took an engine to decontaminate Burns and make sure he was not severely injured. This was also the time when New Hampshire State Police Col. Chris Wagner spoke to reporters about how local law enforcement handled the situation.

“Patience is really where we’re looking for in these situations,” he said. “There were rounds being fired through this residence for the duration of this event, but through all of it, the local officers, the troopers as well as the special unit members displayed a great deal of discretion, a great deal of courage during this period of time… They were very disciplined in their movements.”

Coincidently, in the weeks leading up to Aug. 15 the Claremont Fire Department finished up part of its grant from the Department of Homeland Security. A few years ago, the Claremont Fire Department received a Department of Homeland Security 50-50 match grant for bulletproof vests, helmets and medical gear, which enabled the department to acquire enough gear to outfit four people.

In looking back at what the incident taught them, Burr stated that residents of Claremont do not have to fear about their ability to effectively handle similar situations in the future, if they are to occur.

“I can reassure the folks that the three agencies — ambulance, fire and police — in this city work well together and did work well together during the span of this incident,” Burr said. “That’s the proof in our collaboration training with Charlestown police and fire we had several weeks prior to the incident at the Disnard Elementary School, which is ironically just down the street from where this incident took place.”

Springfield Hospital declares bankruptcy

The small Vermont hospital located in Springfield announced in May that the financially-struggling hospital would likely file for bankruptcy protection so it can restructure its finances. Springfield Hospital interim CEO Mike Halstead said the filing of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy is probably needed so the hospital can survive after losing $14 million over the past two years.

“We need to find a partner who’s got a little bit more resources than what we have,” Halstead said at a public meeting in Springfield. “As a stand-alone hospital as Springfield Hospital and Medical Systems have been for the last 105 years; not in the cards for the future.”

On Wednesday, June 26, Springfield Medical Care Systems (SMCS) and Springfield Hospital filed for Chapter 11.

Throughout July, Springfield Medical Care Systems hosted a series of community meetings to discuss the organization’s recent bankruptcy filing and what that process would mean going forward.

In August, former president and chief executive officer of Springfield Hospital and Springfield Medical Care Systems Tim Ford filed suit in United States District Court Wednesday, seeking punitive damages against the hospital board and Quorum Health, a hospital management company, for defamation of character, slander and conspiracy. Ford alleges he was forced out in 2018 and did not willingly resign.

Springfield Medical Care Systems (SMCS) and Springfield Hospital are still in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

PRIDE celebration organized in Windsor

When Windsor resident Amanda Smith, 28, learned that the Town of Windsor had not planned a community recognition of PRIDE Month, Smith wanted to change that message. On June 14, Smith met with Town Manager Tom Marsh, who told her that the town does not officially recognize PRIDE but that if she wanted to organize an event that the town would not object, Smith said.

Smith set to work and in less than two weeks she organized a Windsor PRIDE celebration at the Windsor Fairgrounds. Event participants included local health providers, advocacy groups, faith organizations and community members, which aimed to educate residents about information and resources available to the LGBTQ+ community. The event also provided family-friendly activities that promote acceptance and diversity, with a librarian from the town library reading children’s stories and an activity painting kindness-rocks.

Given the community support, Smith asked the selectboard on Tuesday, June 25 to consider being more actively involved by showing support for the PRIDE event.

Smith expressed her disappointment to the selectboard about the town manager’s reluctance to promote the PRIDE event on the town website or digital newsletter, saying that this issue is not comparable to showing favoritism to a private company but recognizing a need within the community.

“I believe that inaction sends a [negative] message very loudly,” Smith told the board. “I hope that the board can focus on that message to the town and need in the community going forward.”

Marsh said he told Smith that the town could support the event through its municipal services, like portable bathrooms and police support for parking and traffic, but “to make a statement for or against” should be the decision of the selectboard and not the town manager.

Smith took exception to Marsh’s use of the word “against,” saying that she did not see PRIDE as a for-or-against issue.

“A town government should still support them with every resource a government can,” Smith said.

Smith asked the selectboard to endorse a public message that welcomes the LGBTQ community and give the town manager the authority to convey it.

“There are a lot of small towns that stand up and say the community is welcome there,” Smith said. “There has been such an outpouring of community support for this. I think the community wants this.”

Smith said that visible actions are the first step to building inclusivity whereas, speaking as the wife of a disabled military veteran, policies like Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell that attempt to ignore the differences fail.

“When we don’t acknowledge the differences in our community we miss an opportunity,” Smith said. “I love Windsor but think we need to give an extra push to show people how great we are.”

Musician, residents put ‘spark’ into Tenney memorial

On Thursday, Oct. 10, Vermont country singer Ben Fuller released his song “Spark,” which tells the tragic story of Ascutney dairy farmer Romaine Tenney. The song instantly forged a personal connection with local history, residents and family members who still remember the event and has since been at the forefront of a now passionate discussion over the state can appropriately commemorate his legacy.

Most of the attention has been placed on the symbol of progress overtaking the state’s agricultural past – the last maple tree that once shaded Tenney’s farm.

With plans to remove the last living maple tree from land once owned by Weathersfield farmer Romaine Tenney, representatives from the Vermont Department of Transportation (VTrans) held a community meeting in late October to gather ideas for how to salvage the wood for a fitting memorial to Tenney.

The overall response from Weathersfield residents was to let the tree live.

“You’re conducting this meeting to discuss the wood from the tree you plan to cut down,” resident Jeff Slade told the V-Trans members. “We’re here because we want to save it.”

However, the arborist who recommended the removal of the “Tenney Sugar Maple” to the state said that the tree’s proximity to the Ascutney Park-and-Ride poses too great of a safety risk to consider letting it die naturally.

Scott Hance, a certified arborist with EIV Technical Services, a Winooski-based environmental contractor, conducted a six-month assessment of the maple tree for the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans). Hance’s study initiated in March 2019 and included multiple site visits. He submitted his report to the state on Sept. 16.

In a letter to VTrans that accompanied the report, Hance wrote that the century-old tree “is at the end of its long life” and its state “poses a high risk to people and personal property.”

In an interview with the Eagle Times, Hance said that the tree’s condition is unsafe for a public area.

“Nobody wants any more than me to let this tree live out its life,” Hance said. “But unless the state moves the park-and-ride, there’s too much risk of one of those branches falling and hurting someone.”

Since late November the issue has grown quieter by the day. The last development was that Vermont Transportation Agency (VTrans) officials discussed plans with the Weathersfield Selectboard for the state to fund a second evaluation of the maple tree’s condition and how to ensure public safety while waiting for the second opinion.

WNESU invites their attorneys to apply for their own job

The Windham Northeast Supervisory Union (WNESU) School Board voted on Wednesday, June 26 to consider new legal services for the supervisory union after 28 years of representation by the Burlington-based firm Stitzel, Page and Fletcher.

The board narrowly rejected by a vote of 5-4 with one abstention a motion by member Jessa Westclark of Grafton to renew the supervisory union’s contract with Stitzel, Page and Fletcher. Board Chair David Clark of Westminster cast the tie-breaking vote in opposition to renewal.

The board held a discussion on June 26 about whether to retain the services of Stitzel, Page and Fletcher in the fiscal year 2020 or make a fresh start with new representation. Despite a nearly three-decade relationship with the law firm, some board members expressed discomfort with the relationship due to conflicting goals within the supervisory union. The supervisory union wants to stay in compliance with Act 46, but districts within the union are in an active lawsuit against the state over the constitutionality of Act 46.

In April, tensions rose between the board and their law firm because of miscommunications and misunderstandings between them. While board members said they better understand those mistakes and confusion, some members still had concerns about the differences about philosophical and practical differences between certain districts in the union and the firm’s counsel.

The fundamental problem, said member Jack Bryar of Grafton, is an incompatibility between the legal situation and goals of the Athens, Grafton and Westminster districts — who are fighting the state in court over compliance with Act 46 — and the law firm, who advises the superintendent and boards about how to comply with Act 46 regulations.

“There is a very different legal philosophy between how to best comply with a bewildering array of regulations and a philosophy that says how one gets to [a desired point] without getting sued or ensnared with the state,” Bryar said.

At a meeting with the board on April 26, firm partner Robert Fletcher said that their job is to provide clients with the best advice and counsel consistent with the law, and that they do not tailor their judgement to the client’s policy goals.

“Our responsibility is to provide you counsel based on what we believe is correct or incorrect,” Fletcher told the board.

Around January, the Athens, Grafton and Westminster districts began soliciting legal advice regarding their suit with the state from Westminster’s town attorney Larry Slason. Slason advised them as to how to respond to the state’s mandate for the districts to merge against their will. The Westminster attorney continues to represent the three districts specifically for their Act 46 grievances, while Stizel, Page and Fletcher serve the supervisory union, including the superintendent, in complying with the new law.

Firm attorney Dina Atwood, who attended the June 26 meeting, told the board that she met with Slason and believes the two legal sides understand the boundaries, and that Stizel, Page and Fletcher can continue to serve the supervisory union and boards without encroaching on the interests involving the Act 46 suit.

The WNESU ultimately switched law firms from Stitzel, Page and Fletcher to Lynn, Lynn, Blackman and Manitsky.

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