Friday, October 26, 2001
The Rutland Herald

Even old foes agree: Dialogue vital to region

October 26, 2001

By BRUCE EDWARDS Herald Staff

If there was one point a community forum agreed on Thursday night, it’s that the future vitality of the Rutland region depends on an ongoing dialogue about economic, environmental and quality of life issues.

Sponsored by the Rutland Economic Development Corp, “Having It Both Ways: Protecting Our Opportunity. Preserving Our Heritage,” was the first step in beginning that dialogue in hopes, as one panelist put it, of eliminating the “us versus them” mentality that often surfaces when economic development projects are proposed.

The discussion before a large audience at the Paramount Theater was moderated by William Shutkin, who teaches in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Among the six panelists were two foes from the days when the Killington Ski Area had embarked on an aggressive expansion plan.

Nancy Bell, the Vermont director of the Conservation Fund, and Carl Spangler of the American Skiing Co. said they both learned a valuable lesson from their long-running and expensive fight.

Although successful in thwarting Killington’s expansion plans at the time, Bell said the battle that was won took a lot of time and money. Eventually, she said, environmentalists, sportsmen and Killington were able to open a dialogue and reach agreement on preserving an 18,000-acre black bear corridor.

Spangler said the attitude of his company changed when American Skiing Co. purchased Killington several years ago. The new ownership took the position that dialogue and compromise were far preferable to confrontation and litigation.

While there was no disagreement on the need for dialogue on the region’s future, several panelists said the region first had to determine where it wanted to go.

Bill Carris of Carris Corporate Community suggested that the community needed to “step back” first and ascertain its priorities, including its transportation needs. But Carris said reaching agreement on those priorities will be a challenge and he cited as an example the longstanding conflicts that surface from time to time between Rutland City and Rutland Town.

The Rev. Christopher Powell of Trinity Episcopal Church held out hope that community groups and individuals could work together to better the quality of life.

As an example, Powell said due to community efforts like the Community Cupboard, “There’s nobody that has to go without a roof over their heads or go without a meal tonight.”

He said the terrorist attacks last month reinforced his belief that as a community we are more dependent on each other than we have been in the past. He added that economic and other challenges that face Rutland County “obviously lies somewhere in the middle.”

However, for Annette Smith, the executive director of Vermonters for A Clean Environment, there may not be a middle ground when it comes to a proposed OMYA marble quarry in Danby. At one point during the discussion, she noted she had an ongoing dialogue with OMYA, but without success.

Smith also took REDC to task for supporting the quarry project and before that a natural gas pipeline project without seeking the input of the community.

She called for a statewide planning process that would go along with Act 250, the state’s land use law.

“What we really need to do is coordinate our permitting process, perhaps through the state planning office, and not push some of these huge proposals onto citizens before they’re ready,” she said.

Bell said when projects are proposed the dialogue often takes place in back rooms. People are left out of the process until it’s too late, she said, leaving many feeling disenfranchised.

“In the ‘us and them’ dialogue, we really reduce the possibilities about where this region can go,” she said.

Spangler had come up with four key areas to facilitate public involvement: understanding the community and take their concerns seriously, learning to compromise, remaining open and accessible, and remaining objective.

During the two-hour discussion, the audience was encouraged to submit written questions. Asked what kind of economic development was suitable to Rutland County, the answers often reflected the background of the panelist.

For Mark Monson, the president of Rutland Mental Health, the answer wasn’t bricks and mortar.

“We need to invest in lifelong learning and we need to really develop our educational system,” said Monson, who noted he had trouble finding qualified job applicants locally.

Smith, who owns a sustainable farm, suggested that Vermont invest in the fledgling renewable energy industry, including solar and wind power. Carris mentioned light manufacturing. He added that larger companies, like the Fortune 500, prefer to be close to larger markets and populations centers.

In his opening remarks, Shutkin was optimistic that a common ground could be reached if ordinary citizens got involved in the process.

“In its robust town meeting tradition, progressive policies on a host of important and quite controversial social issues and a binding commitment to rural culture and environmental quality, Vermont has shown a unique capacity for civic discourse and social problem solving,” he said.