Letters to the Editor (3/29/23) 

Courtney Deserves Kudos

So proud and delighted to see Courtney Lamdin recognized and valued for her excellent writing, diligence, dedication to her craft, insight and ability to wade through the verbal nonsense in politics [From the Publisher: "'Journalist Christmas,'" March 8].  

I was the former editor of the Milton Independent for 18 years and in 2009 hired Courtney, who had recently graduated from Saint Michael's College. A year later, I woke up one morning and decided it was time to retire, put my house on the market and give three months' notice. I never would have been able to walk away from the paper if I didn't have the perfect candidate to replace me, and that was Courtney.

Lynn Delaney

Milton

End Act 250

[Re Feedback: "S.100 Is Not the Answer," March 15]: I literally spit out coffee while reading Ed Stanak's response to the "Site Work" article in your March 8 edition. It's no wonder he was opposed to the altering of Act 250, since he made a career from it. The 1970s law created protection against overdevelopment that does not exist now. It is no longer a tool to protect communities but is a weapon for anyone opposed to forward progress in Vermont, and no one wielded that weapon better than Ed. Act 250 should be repealed, not revised. It should go the way of other 1970s notables, like leaded gas and phosphates in detergent.

Michael O'Hara

St. Johnsbury

Don't Forget About Septic

[Re "Site Work: Bills Would Chip Away at Rules Curbing Home Construction," March 8]: I was a bit surprised there was no mention of state wastewater permits being an issue for development. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to add an ADU but cannot because it would likely require a new septic system. Even though there are only two people living in our three-bedroom house, I believe an ADU would require its own system or upgrading ours to a four-bedroom system.

I also wonder about the huge proportion of properties that require expensive mound systems in Vermont compared to other states. The only places I see them outside of Vermont are in coastal regions with high water tables where leach fields would not work. Why does Vermont require mound systems, in so many instances, to replace leach fields that functioned correctly for decades? Do the water quality improvements of mound systems make any dent in a state with an increasing number of large dairy farms that spread massive amounts of manure on fields?

Alysia Catalfamo

Georgia

You Don't Need Math

I am usually in agreement with advice given by the Reverend, but I was disappointed to read about "Study Girl," who was getting bad math grades [Ask the Reverend, March 15]. The "Just work harder and you can do it" doctrine fed to kids by adults who only value academic success is misleading and alienating.

Learning math is potentially useful. Many people, despite what academia tells children, will never use any math beyond a fourth-grade level. If you are one of those people, it is important to understand that it is OK to get bad grades at something that doesn't come naturally and you probably won't use.

Even if you will not use advanced math, it is excellent brain exercise. Will you ever have a practical use for push-ups? Almost certainly not. But in serving as a form of exercise, push-ups will generally improve your life in making you stronger, healthier, more focused, etc. There is no reason for you to feel like a failure because you can't do as many push-ups as the person next to you, simply because they were born with a different body type.

"Study Girl" may have been born a dancer, a farmer, a chef. The world needs these things, too. "Study Girl" should be encouraged to be willing to try things that are foreign and difficult — but ultimately to find what she loves and to pursue that thing foremost, regardless of the expectations of other people and establishments.

Joe Howansky

Worcester

Trees Are Renewable

[Re Feedback: "Trees and Forest," March 8]: I would like to correct two things about the Burlington Electric Department's McNeil Generating Station wood-chip plant. First, in a properly managed woodlot, trees are not "mined." Mining extracts a finite commodity from the ground that cannot be replaced. A well-planned timber harvest allows new seedlings to regenerate, helps existing seedlings and saplings develop faster, and increases growth rates on remaining trees. It is the definition of a renewable resource and is very much unlike mining.

The letter also states that early successional habitat can only capture a fraction of the carbon that mature forests can capture. The science shows that trees between 20 and 60 years old capture, or sequester, carbon at a much faster rate than their 100-plus-year-old counterparts. Older trees are better at storing carbon, not sequestering it. We need both young and old forests in the landscape to help reduce atmospheric carbon.

Yes, the wood burned in Burlington's wood-chip plant sends up pollution. There is no perfect energy source. The plan moving forward to capture McNeil's waste heat and use it in a district heating system will make the plant tremendously more efficient.

There are so many other benefits to having a market for the low-quality wood that gets sent to McNeil — it aids in good forest management, keeps our energy dollars local and supports the working landscape economy — that I hope it is here to stay.

Harris Roen

Burlington

What Is an 'American'?

[Re "GOP Sues to Stop Noncitizen Voting in Winooski," March 9, online]: It's marvelously crazy how there are always those who are ready to define and insist on what their version of "being an American" is, because citizenship is something that must be dangled like a carrot until "new immigrants" have run long enough on the treadmill of "the American way." Meanwhile, those Americans who very often have never had to work for their citizenship, ever, or at all, try to insist that they can decide who is deserving!

Joy Yonan-Renold

Winooski

Remembering Y

I read with great interest [From the Deputy Publisher: "Talk of the Town," February 8] about the old YMCA. My dad, Richard "Dick" Nelson, ran the snack bar at the Y from 1955 to 1975. The snack bar closed, ironically, to allow the building of the health club that Paula Routly wrote about, and our family's hearts broke collectively at that time.

But the mazelike hallways and the quirky, not-air-conditioned building was our home away from home for 20 years. My dad fed businesspeople from nearby companies, kids who played basketball on Saturdays, kids who dropped by after school for a snack (when Burlington High School was a block away at the Edmunds school site) and the men who called rooms on the upper floors their home — a time that has long since passed but is so fondly and lovingly remembered.

In 2015 or 2016, when I first heard rumblings that the Y would move from 266 College Street, I connected with someone there to share my family's history. Graciously, he invited me in for a tour. We went to the gym and the swimming pool, saw where the men's rooms used to be, and, of course, saw the health club where the snack bar had been. I was able to stand where I stood many times through the age of 16.

It was very meaningful. So was this article.

Patti Norton

Essex

'Shame on Us!'

[Re "No Return: Motel Owners Are Withholding Security Deposits Meant to Benefit Homeless Tenants," March 22]: Vermonters, we have a housing emergency, and it will reach crisis proportions this summer! With all the talk about housing being everyone's No. 1 priority, the only plan offered for the coming year is a massive unhousing of those in hotel-based shelter.

Vermont has been spending $6 million to $7 million a month to provide hotel housing for 1,800 households. The legislature and Gov. Phil Scott's administration are on track to allocate less than half that amount in their budget plans for July 2023 through July 2024. And it won't save us money! The unsheltered will absorb the trauma of living unhoused, and the communities will absorb the increased cost of public safety, emergency medical systems, public health resources and sanitation, when staffing of those services is already severely strained in our municipalities.

For three years, we have paid hotel owners tourist room rates. They have not been held accountable for even a minimum of health, safety or facility maintenance. We have had three years to form a plan that is smarter, that allows people to move forward, but turning half of the people in hotel housing out into the streets is unacceptable! There is no pathway for them to achieve housing and literally nowhere for them to go. It is magical thinking to assume otherwise.

We need innovative alternatives to the use of private hotel properties for shelter. We need our state government to take ownership of this crisis. At this late date in the budget process, we are seeing none of this. Shame on us!

Beth Ann Maier

Waterbury

The Problem With Paid Leave

Regarding contractor fraud and the inability of victims to have the Vermont justice system adequately address their losses: It's not much different than many other crimes being perpetrated against victims in Vermont these days.

The contractor most cited in ["Unkept Promises," March 15] allegedly took deposits for materials and never started the jobs. He was quoted as admitting that he took money but then "his life fell into crisis." He accepted compensation for jobs but then never actually completed the work, citing a personal problem. This sounds like the self-employed person's version of "paid sick leave."

Maybe this scenario can give a bit of appreciation for some Vermont employers' and taxpayers' concerns about recent proposals in the legislature for enhanced paid leave programs, which essentially accommodate someone saying they will accept compensation for work and then later coming up with a personal reason for not doing it. Whenever the honor system is involved, we can see that fraud and abuse are inevitable in any program that guarantees payment for work not performed.

Most responsible, full-time employers already voluntarily offer paid sick days and paid "vacation" time, which can be spent on the activity of your choice, lying on a beach or caring for a family member. Somehow, when the fraud could be perpetrated against the taxpayers or through mandatory payroll deductions on all employees, it still sounds like a good idea in the legislature.

Rich Lachapelle

Huntington