The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 21

OelBurlmgtonjfreeiPress Second kidnapping trial ends with conviction Page 2B i SECTION ssex future is under one roof Friday, July 1, 1988 City Editor, Sam Hemingway Phone: 863-3471, ext. 2017 State notes By Lisa Scagliotti Free Press Staff Writer ESSEX A $3.1 million public service facility could be the long-term answer to the town's police, fire and rescue needs, according to a recent study. Town officials last week received the long-awaited look at town needs compiled by the Toronto-based firm of Re-banks Architects specialists in working with municipal service departments. The report seeks to document the current levels of service and project needs 20 years into the future, said Town Manager David Bell. The report recommends doubling the size of the Police Department and merging the town and village volunteer fire departments into one paid force.

These, along with rescue services, could all be housed under one roof, according to the report. For town officials, the recommendations offer no surprises. "I think we've got some catching up to do," said Essex Police Chief John Terry. "We're entering into an age where we should be making sure we invest the public's money into a long-term facility." The study was done with $25,000 of $125,000 voters approved at the 1987 town meeting to cover the cost of the assessment and land acquisition for a new facility. The four-acre site under consideration for the new facility is in the town's highest growth area near the intersection of Vermont 15 and the proposed Circumferential Highway, southwest of the Grand Union shopping center.

Moving the police headquarters away from the Five Corners is "quite critical," Terry said. He noted that if there was a railway emergency involving propane gas, the dispatch center at Turn to ESSEX, 5B Shelburne Rescue on call today SHELBURNE Beginning this morning, requests for ambulance service in Shelburne should be made to the newly formed Shelburne Rescue through the town's 911 emergency phone line. Shelburne's contract with Burlington Rescue expires today, and Shelburne Rescue will assume responsibilty at 7:30 a.m., said Kevin Wooster, head of Shelburne Rescue. The 911 phone line should be used for all police, fire and rescue emergencies, said Town Manager Larry R. Wood.

Red IV PLANNING: Essex Police Chief John Terry, standing, and Lt. Robert Yandow look over a report calling for streamlined services. Looseimiim strings that tie the knot' i and white stickers, which can be attached to the phone as a reminder of the 911 line, can be obtained at the town clerk's office or police station, Wood said. Governor won't buy 'Straight Pride Day' 'MONTPELIER Gov. Madeleine Kunin Thursday termed the Vermont Republican Assembly's request to have her sign a proclamation designating a "Straight Pride Day" an insult to homosexual Vermonters.

"it's an affront to the gay and lesbian communities and disregards the reality that there is, in many cases, discrimination against these groups," Kunin said at a news conference. Claiming the governor caters to minorities, the VRA, a group of conservative Republicans, earlier this week asked Kunin to proclaim Nov. 8 as a day to honor straight Vermonters. The slang term refers to anyone who is heterosexual. Rail officials knew of problem hole The Associated Press WESTMINSTER Railroad officials knew about a sinkhole under the track at Westminster station at least several days before a train derailed June 18, a spokesman for Guilford Transportation Industries Inc.

said. Employees had filled the hole with stone and patrolled it regularly, Guilford spokesman Colin Pease said. He said ground that settled suddenly caught the train by surprise. "We had people out the day before," Pease said. "We had been watching it, done some work on it and felt it was OK." Five cars jumped off the track during the derailment, including a car of liquid nitrogen that leaked and prompted officials to evacuate 100 people.

Carse calls it quits after 22 years in House HINESBURG Rep. Henry H. Carse, R-Hinesburg, whose 22 years in the MARK SASAHARA, Free Press Flag presentation Technical Sgt. France Danyow of the Vermont Air National Guard Ceremonial Flag Team carries a Betsy Ross Flag as she passes Ira Hatch, left, Jerome Hatch and Herbert Duquette during a ceremony at the United Church in Northfield Thursday. Sen.

Patrick Leahy, presented the town with an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol. By Meg Dennison The Associated Press MONTPELIER Couples will have to wait only a day to tie the knot under a new law that takes effect today. "It will, I suspect, impact more on out-of-staters, or perhaps those who have perhaps a spontaneous desire to marry," said Judith Stephany, Gov. Madeleine Kunin's legislative liaison.

The law reducing the waiting period from three days to one day may benefit couples in rural areas who have had to go to the county seat for a probate judge to waive the requirement. The new law is one of many passed by the Legislature during the past biennium that will become effective today. Perhaps the law that will have the greatest impact on Vermonters is one regulating smoking in the workplace. The new law literally brings a breath of fresh air to nonsmoking workers by sharply restricting or banning smoking in any company at which more than two people work. It does not apply to businesses primarily open to the public, such as restaurants.

Also today, a portion of this year's massive centerpiece legislation, the growth bill, takes effect with an increase in the property transfer tax from 0.5 percent to 1.25 percent, with an exemption on the first $100,000 of value of a principal residence. About $1 million of the anticipated $7.5 million to be raised will be distributed to towns for planning. Another $750,000 goes to the Geographic Information System, a mapping system, with $400,000 for competitive planning grants and $1.5 million for regional planning commissions. The remaining money goes to the Housing and Conservation Trust Fund. Another new law requires state lawmakers to consider funding and creating space for art in new public buildings when drafting next year's capital budget.

A Human Rights Commission also is empowered today, but the governor must still make appointments to the panel, which is charged with reviewing complaints of human rights violations. Municipalities also must begin assessing a state solid waste tax on trash taken to their landfills, which private landfills have paid for a year. The cities and towns can choose whether to assess the tax, which is due in September, on volume, weight or a per capita basis. As of today, funding for special education and vocational education will be increased over four years. Turn to NEW, 5B Defenders may discuss cases with media associated with the investigation of a criminal matter shall not make or participate in making an extrajudicial statement that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication." For many years it has been assumed both in Vermont and throughout the country that defense lawyers were subjected to those limits.

There has been debate over that belief in recent years. In its decision, the state Supreme Court adopted the rationale used by a federal appeals court in ruling that defense lawyers should not be subjected to the limit. Turn to DEFENDERS, 5B By Christopher Graff The Associated Press MONTPELIER The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that defense attorneys are not subjected to restrictions limiting the ability of attorneys to discuss cases with the media. The ruling came in a 4-year-old case that involved statements made to the media by a St. Johnsbury lawyer seeking to balance leaks from the police attacking the credibility of his client, David Morrison.

At issue is a section of the Code of Professional Conduct that states "a lawyer participating in or Legislature make him second in seniority at the Statehouse, has announced he will not seek another term. The 70-year-old farmer plans to attend to other endeavors and hopes that a new representative will attack the issues with gusto. The district he represents covers all of CARSE Group tries to save ridge with a view Mystery's solution in lake? 3 a SvW a 3 u. Hinesburg and St. George and a small section of Shelburne.

He has served in several legislative posts, including chairman of the appropriations, education and natural resources committees. Carse in 1981 returned his final paycheck and expense check, citing the legislative inaction caused by "gamesters." He said they should be made to pay in some way for the delays. Carse aiso worked in various capacities in the community, including on the Hinesburg School Board from 1952-77. Supreme Court refuses to enter pig mess The Associated Press Can a pig farm be a form of political protest? The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday refused to answer that unusual question, rejecting an appeal by Stowe developers who claimed the pig farm they set up on their property was a form of protest after their plans for a motel were blocked.

The developers, Normand Ramsey and his son, Raymond, sought in 1981 to build a 79-unit motel on the Mountain Road. When the project was denied a land-use permit, the Ramseys instead got permission to operate a pig farm. Then, court records said, the Ramseys had tons of wet chicken manure dumped along an edge of their property and a storage tank placed in their meadow. The Ramseys were sued in state court by their neighbors and were deemed to be causing a public nuisance. They were ordered to pay nearly $568,000 in damages.

The Ramseys claim that the pig farm, while complying with land-use regulations, was "a constitutional visual protest against the arbitrary action" that denied them a permit to build a motel. "Any place you locate the house in that lot is going to affect one of them (the park or the street)," he said. "It was our feeling that, looking at the history of what the city was trying to do with the park, the view from the park is of overwhelming importance." Farrar added that interim zoning does not enjoy the same status as permanent zoning. "Interim zoning should be looked at much the way conditional uses are," he said. Conditional uses make up a special category in zoning ordinances, requiring special dispensation before they can be built.

Robert Hoehl, who bought the property in 1985 for $105,000, said he wants to see the city do away with the interim zoning altogether. "To take the entire stretch of Spear Street is unreasonable and illegal," he said. The interim zoning plan deemed the entire Spear Street stretch a "Scenic Overlook District." "This district includes on its easterly side public park land and a portion of Spear Street, so-called, approximately 1,140 feet in length," the regulations state. "It is the City's purpose to preserve these unique and panoramic views for residents of South Burlington and visitors to the City." The CommiUee to Save the View and Hoehl will appear before the South Burlington Planning Commission at 7 p.m. Tuesday to argue for and against making the interim zoning permanent.

By Judith Shulevitz Free Press Staff Writer A group of South Burlington residents plans to appeal a City Council ruling that would allow a couple to build a two-story house on a ridge overlooking Lake Cham-plain. The group, Committee to Save the View, says the house, a three-wing structure, will block a rare, panoramic view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains, afforded from a stretch of Spear Street. The group has raised only $1,400 through advertisements and word of mouth, said group spokeswoman Nancy Walsh. But more money has been pledged, she said, and Karen Yaclos, another spokeswoman, said she hoped more would come in as the case progressed. Yaclos and Walsh say that a written ruling issued by the City Council after it granted the couple, Robert and Cynthia Hoehl, a permit contains flawed reasoning.

City interim zoning strictures imposed in April, before the Hoehls applied for the permit, forbid any house that would block the view from any part of the stretch of Spear Street, Yaclos argued. When the city granted the permit, however, council members ruled that although the house would block the vista from the road, it would still preserve an expansive view from an adjoining park. Paul Farrar, council chairman, defended the city's decision. By Bethany Dunbar Free Press Correspondent WESTMORE Two years after 29-year-old Russell Bovit of Walden vanished, Vermont State Police will scour the 300-foot depths of Willoughby Lake again next week on a tip that his body was dumped there in a trailer. The search, with some of the bills paid by Bovit's father, is part of an effort to focus the investigation and track down those responsible for the disappearance.

"We have what we feel to be very reliable informant information," said Glenn Hall, captain of the Criminal Division of the Vermont State Police. Police this week probed the lake with a miniature, remote-controlled submarine. The submarine has a video camera and arms and was operated by two technicians from Aqua-Tech Marine Construction Inc. of Warren, Maine. The submarine, nicknamed Rover, looked all day but found nothing.

"We saw one beer can," said Lt. Dean George, a state police diver. It is the sixth time the Bovit case has brought police to the lake this year. Next week, the state police will use a sophisticated, underwater metal detector to try to pinpoint the trailer, said Sgt. Richard Perry.

Russell Bovit disappeared in May 1986 Hordwkk Gazette Photo SEARCHING: State police divers Rod Stone, left, and Dean George lower a miniature, remote control submarine video camera into Willoughby Lake. They are searching for the body of Russ Bovit. from his Walden dairy farm, called Last Resort Farm. Blood was found in his car, and he left no word about where he was going. The circumstances led police to suspect foul play.

Robert Bovit of Ridgewood, N.J., has run regular advertisements in two local newspapers offering a $50,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the Turn to MYSTERY, 5B rtimf mfl "hii imf mi ntnuwd win wrtniat ni ri rfii r-rr ti iiit- -L.