Rim and Spokes - March 6th 2024 (Mar. 11, 2024)

Meeting Schedule: (Note locations)

Wed. March 13th—Retired Police Chief Tom Hanley (Rosie’s)
Wed. March 20th—Sadie Brightman, founder and executive director of Middlebury Community Music Center (MCCC)! (Rosie’s)

MEETING MINUTES March 6th, 2024

PRESIDING: John Barstow

Guest Speaker: David Provost

Birthdays:

Lary Jones (Birthday song was sang by David Provost)

Announcement:

Paul - District Grant
- Working with MALT - there is a possibility of a Rotary Trail at the northern end, near Beldon Falls/Weybridge area. This would be dog friendly area with benches, bat boxes, etc. The District Grant would support an on-going partnership with MALT for the TAM and help restore areas such as the Al Stiles trail.
Nancy - Nomination Committee:
- Nancy made a motion to elect the officers on the slate, and it was seconded by Ben:
  - President: Paul Horn
  - President Elect: Rebecca Hanley
  - Vice President: Liz Marino
  - Secretary: Geoff Conrad
  - Treasure: Heather Foster-Provenche
- This was unanimously approved.
Spence - Survey (Breakfast/Venue)
- The cost of meals/venues are the main driver for the higher dues and the membership committee is considering changes we could make. A survey will be going out shortly to help solicit feedback to bring back recommendations to the larger group. Please take time to complete the survey once it comes out to help with budget planning for next year! (Thank you Rebecca for sending it out electronically and paper copies will be available at a future meeting)
Jason S - District Updates
- March 23rd: Townhall Meeting with the other Rotary Clubs in Shelburne (Midd, Vergennes, Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg)
- April 19th-21st District Conference at Lake Morey
- https://rotary7850.org/SitePage/2024-district-conference-lake-morey
- RYLA is in progress and Jason will give more details soon
Heather - Sem’s Dinner & Fundraiser will be on March 27th, 6 p.m.
- Ann Ross Fellowship Hall, CVUUS, 2 Duane Court, Middlebury. There will be a dinner, silent auction, and trivia game. Tickets will be available at the next meeting (Thank you Ted for printing tickets)
- Sem will be doing a mini presentation on March 20th during the morning meeting and may give out information for trivia on the 27th.

Fines:

Geoff, Maureen - Late
Jason L - was featured in the Addy Indy

Happy:

Ben was happy to announce that Salisbury is killing bugs this year
Alex sent his son Stroop Waffles in DC and he just got accepted in Leiden University, The Netherlands
T was happy to be back after surgery and gave a shout out to Paul who drove T out to lunch and brought him back home
Larry moved to Starksboro in 2015 and loves the democracy in VT and Town Meeting Days
Spence went to the Town Meeting and happy to report that folks were in favor of Weybridge joining the Ilsley Library to have free membership like Middlebury. There were a lot of robust conversations
Eric was very happy: 1) happy to have gone on vacation for 2 weeks in the Bahamas 2) happy for the new slate of officers 3) happy to help with the PETS training to support Paul and Jason and 4) happy Sem’s family left the Denu Residence very clean and tidy
Liz M was happy to have spent 5 days in sunshine in Denver with her granddaughter
Heather was happy to have spent time with her stepdaughter and drove 3,000 miles cross country to help them move from the west coast to Asheville, NC and will be grandparents soon!!!
Geoff was happy to be back after surgery and thanked Maureen for being a great caregiver and cook
Jason S went to the Grand Cayman for a week and then Tampa for Spring Training
Jason L spent two weeks and 3,000 miles driving to Florida and a few other places down south

Guest Speaker: David Provost

Amy Carlin introduced David who is the Executive VP, Finance and Administration for Middlebury College. He loves VT, went to Saint Michael’s College, and loves spending time with his wife and daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys going to the slopes to ski.

David discussed what is happening on campus. He started with Seminary St Ext Solar Panels and how they were recently tested back in December, but they are not working yet. There are currently 22,000 panels on 30 acres of land. The goal is to power the campus with these and then eventually (possibly) expand to Downtown Middlebury and maybe more of Addison County with the help of IMB and the state. There is a push for regional support for local solar power.

Next David talked about the 1st year Residential Hall under construction to replace Battell Hall. Battell was built 8- years ago and had a lot of wear and tear, and a new hall was needed. The new hall is being constructed with the idea of sustainability and low carbon footprint. The new hall will have 300 beds expanding capacity and is scheduled to open next Spring of 2025. The college is looking for ways to honor Battell Hall as it was a staple to many people’s experience.

Another happening is the construction of a new Student Center which will be were the tennis courts currently sit. Those will be moved to another location and the goal of the Student Center is to have dining, but also a living room and area for students to hangout and build community.

As for the Snow Bowl, David was happy to report that the evening skiing has been a hit and they are trying to do more with Rikert and Breadloaf.

Otter Creek Extension is scheduled to start happening and soon you will see the large barn behind the building be moved and dirt coming in to build upon. The dirt needs to settle for a few months, so the construction will not happen until the fall and then it is scheduled to open in Spring 2025. This will help create more childcare spots in Addison County.

Summit Properties will soon be building the new residential community and restoration of 3 Condos is happening on Seminary Street. The Summit Properties will be a mixed of affordable housing and market housing. This will add about 200-220 houses in the region. This will be designed to support the workforce population.

David also talked about the school and student population. It was a tough fall semester and 3 students passed away (2 on campus and 1 at home). They had about 2,750 students enroll in the fall and 2,500 on campus in the spring (many are studying abroad).

Lastly, as for the campaign - it is going very well! They were lucky to have an alum leave their estate/wealth of $38 million dollars. They are about $400 of $600 million dollars!

A few other things, the Middlebury Magazine is coming back!

Thank you, David!

Cow Tag: #10 (No Winner)

MINUTES SUBMITTED BY SYLVIE MORRISON