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DECEMBER 12, 2024
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CSWD seeks new recycle center site Wetlands put snag in Redmond Road plan BY JASON STARR Observer staff
Ginger and David Isham
In memory of David Isham
PHOTO COURTESY OF ELAINE MCMILLION SHELDON
BY ELAINE MCMILLION SHELDON
EDITOR’S NOTE: David Isham, patriarch of the Isham Family Farm on Oak Hill Road in Williston, passed away this week. His obituary can be found on page 21. This article was written by Elaine McMillion Sheldon, a filmmaker who documented the life of David and his wife Ginger Isham for a Netflix series called “My Love” released in 2021. McMillion Sheldon originally published this article on her website, https://betweenframes.elainemcmillionsheldon.com. This week, David Isham of Williston, Vt., passed away, leaving behind his wife, Ginger, after 65 years of marriage. I am heartbroken for Ginger and their family, but I am also deeply grateful to have had the chance to know and document David during the filming of the Netflix series “My Love.” David was a man who left an indelible mark, not through loud declarations or performances, but through quiet strength, intentional living and a deep love for his family and land. David was a dream documentary participant — not because he was eager to be on center stage (he wasn’t) or because he performed for us (he didn’t). Instead, David brought his authentic self. He had no interest in playing a role or speeding up his life to match the pace of filmmaking. Instead, he invited us to slow down, to witness the beauty of his life as it unfolded naturally: tapping maple trees during sugaring season, walking among the fall colors with Ginger, and resting in his favorite recliner. Through his steady presence, we found poetry in the everyday. David had a routine that anchored him. He loved working with his hands — shoveling snow, picking corn and strawberries, mowing the see ISHAM page 21
The Chittenden Solid Waste District is abandoning its plan to build a new recycling center on Redmond Road in Williston after a summer walk-through of its 27acre parcel found newly formed wetlands. It was a different assessment than in 2020, when the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources first surveyed the property with drought conditions persisting in the area. Believing it had a buildable parcel, the district garnered voter support for a $22 million bond in 2022 and later received a permit for the project from the Williston Development Review Board. But two summers of heavy rainfall have changed the complexion of the site, saturating the soil and establishing wetland vegetation, according to Vermont Agency of Natural Resources inspectors as well as a wetland consultant hired by the district.
The CSWD recycling center off Industrial Avenue in Williston handles recyclables from residential and commercial waste haulers throughout Chittenden County. VTDIGGER FILE PHOTO
“We experienced record rainfall over the last couple of years, which severely impacted the quality of the land,” the district wrote in an October newsletter. “It now qualifies as primarily a wetland community … We made the decision to leave the parcel undisturbed.” CSWD Executive Director Sarah Reeves is working with district’s board of directors to find an alternative location, a
setback that will push the project completion back at least a year until mid-2026, she estimates. The recycling center is designed to replace the existing center off Industrial Road in Williston. It will be built to handle nearly 50 percent more material and implement automated sorting in place of the hand-sorting that currently happens at the center. The current center accepts recyclables from see CSWD page 7
Supreme Court rules in favor of dog rescue ‘Kennel’ can operate in a residential neighborhood BY JASON STARR Observer staff The Vermont Supreme Court on Friday reversed an Environmental Court ruling and determined that operating a dog kennel in Williston’s residential zoning district is allowable under the town’s zoning bylaws.
The case was brought by Dawna Pederzani as an appeal to the lower court ruling. Pederzani had operated Vermont English Bulldog Rescue out of her home on Lamplite Lane since 2010. The rescue had drawn increasing ire from a group of her neighbors, whose complaints to the town’s zoning office have led to two zoning violation notices. The Supreme Court ruling notes that the town’s zoning
regulations related to home businesses and kennels are “in tension” — home businesses are not allowed to use outdoor space under the regulations, but kennels are. “Between the home-business and kennel provisions, the kennel provision is more specifically applicable to (Pederzani’s) operation,” the Supreme Court ruling states. “The kennel provision see DOG RESCUE page 7
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