Vermont Housing & Conservation Board 2004

2004
Vermont Housing & Conservation Board
Annual Report to the General Assembly

Vermont Housing & Conservation Board
John T. Ewing, Chair, Burlington
John D. E. Roberts, Vice-Chair, Cornwall
Sarah E. Carpenter, Executive Director, Vermont Housing Finance Agency
Kevin Dorn, Secretary, Agency of Commerce and Community Development
Christine Hart, Brattleboro
James Keeney, St. Johnsbury (retired February 2004)
Steven Kerr, Secretary, Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets
Nancy Nye, Taftsville (retired February 2004)
G. Kenneth Perine, Middlebury
Thomas Weaver, Essex Junction
Jonathan Wood, Commissioner, Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation
Agricultural Advisory Committee
Roger Allbee, USDA Farm Service Agency
Cecile Branon, Fairfield Farmer
Dave Hoyt, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Glenn Rogers, UVM Extension Service
Jon Satz, Brandon farmer
Vermont Farm Viability Program Advisory Board
Jo Bradley, Manager, Vermont Economic Development Authority
Jane Clifford, Starksboro farmer
Steven Kerr, Secretary, Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
Doug Lantagne, UVM Extension Service
David Marchant, Fairfax farmer
David Major, Westminster farmer
David Nourse, Ag lender, Chittenden Bank
Michael Quinn, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Economic Development
Gus Seelig, Executive Director, Vermont Housing & Conservation Board
Ross Thurber, Brattleboro farmer
VHCB Staff
Executive Director: Gus Seelig
Financial: Janice Cummings, Kym Andrews, Cheryl Viens
Administration: Larry Mires, Pam Boyd, Kathleen Dempsey, Laurie Graves, Ethan Guiles
Conservation: Paul Hannan, Billy Coster, Nancy Everhart, Karen Freeman
Housing: Polly Nichol, Rick DeAngelis, Nita Hanson, Lorraine McBride, Patrick Shattuck
Lead Paint Hazard Reduction Program: Ron Rupp, Marty Bonneau, Rebecca Sheppard, Bob Zatzke
Vermont Community Stewardship Program: Laurie Larson, Dean Blumberg
Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Program: Ethan Parke
Legal: Jim Libby, Elizabeth Egan
Cover photos by Bob Eddy: clockwise, from top left - Darryl Kuehne, Benson farmer;
Dale, Clara and Renee Nadeau, Holland farmers; Emily; Glenn and Ian Barnes.
Back cover, clockwise, from top: Cheryl and Jack DeVos; Carol Faye Miller;
Lake Paran (Vermont Land Trust photo by Donald Campbell); Wilson family
Photography: Bob Eddy, Peter Wrenn, staff, grantees, and as credited
Writing: Doug Wilhelm | Design: Pam Boyd | Printing: Hull Printing, Barre

State of Vermont
Office of the Governor
Montpelier, Vermont 05609
James H. Douglas, Governor January 31, 2005
Dear Vermonters,
I congratulate the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board on another successful year of service to the
people of our state. The Board’s work focuses our housing efforts in a manner that supports community vitality
and preserves the historic character of our town and village centers surrounded by open countryside. Maintaining
this focus makes Vermont a special place to live, work and raise our families.
During my years of service on the Vermont Housing Finance Agency’s Board of Commissioners, I became
familiar with VHCB’s work and we collaborated on a study of future housing needs for the Northwestern part
of Vermont based upon anticipated job growth. I can report to you today that as I travel the state, the need for
affordable homes has become highly recognized as a key issue within the business community that will affect
future economic growth.
The Board’s work is also crucial to our Clean and Clear Action Plan for Lake Champlain. We know that
developed land creates far more run-off and phosphorus in our lake than conserved land. Most importantly, the
Board’s programs, including its new Farm Viability Program, provide important economic development tools
for Vermont agriculture, supporting intergenerational transfers and investments in farm expansion, efficiency
and diversification.
Community vitality is enhanced through good stewardship of the historic resources we have inherited. This
fall I visited Northfield, where residents have raised 1.4 million, including a 57,500 contribution from VHCB,
to restore the Gray Building, which had served as the town school from 1877-1994, but had fallen into disrepair.
It has now been magnificently restored as a community center, hosting youth activities ranging from Head Start
services for the youngest community members to a dance studio and a teen center managed by the Boys & Girls
Club. These fine prevention programs and this capital investment in the heart of Northfield are a great example
of state government supporting a local initiative to improve the quality of life in that community.
Last fall year we undertook a management review of housing nonprofits. This independent review notes
Vermont’s role at the leading edge of housing development in rural states while also clarifying challenges in
stewarding our investment over the long-term.
Finally, the Board, as administrator of the federal HOME Block Grant, has committed 1.5 million over four
years to the redevelopment effort in Winooski. This project will add 118 affordable apartments to one of the state’s
tightest housing markets while also achieving our smart growth objectives.
We face challenging budget times, so it is good to know that the funds provided through the Vermont Housing
and Conservation Board are being used by our communities not only to realize the goals of affordable housing and
land conservation, but also to achieve community revitalization, economic development, and a sound environment.
This synergy is a model of sound investment in Vermont communities.
Sincerely,
James H. Douglas
Governor

Letter from the Chair
2
Dear Members of the General Assembly,
As Chair of the Vermont Housing
and Conservation Board, I want to
thank you once again for your strong
support of the Board’s programs. In
fiscal year 2004, the Board invested
in the rehabilitation and construction
of 468 homes, the conservation of 20
farms encompassing 3,368 acres, and
the development of 19 community and
conservation projects, including five
historic structures that will be put to
use as valuable community facilities.
In addition to responding to
funding applications, the Board
focused significant time gauging the
effectiveness of our programs. I am
pleased to tell you that VHCB has
won national recognition from HUD,
earning the Doorknocker Award for
administering the best rural HOME
program in the nation.
Also, two important evaluations
have been completed over the last 18
months. The first, commissioned by
the Agency of Administration, was
an independent study completed by
ICF Consulting of Fairfax, Virginia
Vanessa Sullivan served two terms with
VHCB’s AmeriCorps program, acting
as Resident Services Coordinator for
the Central Vermont Community Land
Trust. Vanessa was presented with the
Governor’s Award for Community Service.
to review the performance of housing
nonprofits. The report indicates strong
performance by the nine groups
evaluated in the study. According to
the ICF report, “Studied nonprofits
exhibit a high level of professionalism
with respect to project development
practices. From their use of third
party cost estimates to their ability
to acquire sites at discounted costs,
the organizations are models for
other nonprofits to emulate.” The
report indicates housing investments
can result in significant savings for
Vermont’s Agency of Human Services
budget. It goes on to say, “VHCB’s
flexible, mentoring style and a strong
monitoring and technical assistance
program has helped to build the
capacity of the statewide nonprofit
network.”
The second report evaluated
the performance of the Single
Family Homeownership Program
at the Burlington Community Land
Trust. The evaluation of 97 resales
indicates excellent performance.
It concluded that when properties
were sold, owners had built equity
and many moved into the traditional
homeownership market. It also
showed that perpetually affordable
homes were more affordable to the
second generation of home buyers.
Homes were sold to those buyers
without additional public subsidy.
Although we are pleased with
these very positive findings, the Board
continues to look for opportunities
to improve performance and to
leverage additional resources. As a
result, we are requiring that project
developers increase funding of project
reserves. We are working with the
Vermont Housing Finance Agency to
modernize standards for capital needs
assessments and have enhanced our
monitoring program.
VHCB funding serves as
a leveraging tool for Vermont
communities. Through its history,
VHCB-funded development has
leveraged approximately 600 million
in private capital, foundation support,
and federal funding. Despite recent
cuts in the Section 8 rental subsidy
program, we are financing projects in
Ludlow, Vernon, Waitsfield, Dover,
Groton and Middlebury that will add
80 apartments with rental assistance
to the market. From the Natural
Resource Conservation Service,
VHCB was awarded 150,000 in
federal funds to support its Farm
Viability Program and 3.1 million
in matching funds for farmland
conservation (a 50 percent increase
over the previous year’s award). In
addition to the state’s investment in
conservation, over the last ten years
the Freeman Foundation has invested
58 million in land conservation and
historic preservation in Vermont.
The Board continues to support
Vermonters in confronting a
challenging real estate market.
Numerous studies document
not only an inadequate supply of
affordable housing, but also the
increasing gap between wages and
the cost of housing. One result is
the gentrification of some Vermont
communities and the resulting
displacement of working Vermonters.
Fortunately, communities such as
Shelburne, Dorset, Manchester and

More than 300 people attended an open
house to celebrate restoration of the
Gray Building in Northfield, a community
effort spearheaded by local volunteers
and funded in part by VHCB’s local
conservation program.
South Burlington have recognized
the need for affordable homes and
selectboards or interfaith groups
have worked with nonprofit partners,
building new housing to meet the
demand.
Vermont’s rate of land conversion
for development of all types is twice
that of population growth. Clearly,
such a pattern of development is
neither sustainable nor healthy. Many
Town Plans seek to conserve our
agricultural economy and heritage.
The Board’s programs have provided
effective tools for communities to
guide and manage growth and to
conserve our working landscape.
This report documents how
our community partners utilize
VHCB programs to improve the
quality of life for current and future
generations by providing public
access to the land for recreation,
supporting our agricultural economy,
and assuring that Vermonters have
affordable homes. The Board’s work
not only meets statutory directives
to provide housing, conservation
and historic preservation benefits,
but also promotes smart growth and
economic development in a manner
that reinforces our commitment
to compact village settlements
surrounded by a working landscape.
We look forward to working with
the Legislature in this new biennium
and continuing to be of service to your
constituents.
Sincerely,
John T. Ewing
Board Chair
3

VHCB Housing Programs
The Board funded a variety of
housing developments in 2004
— ranging in size from one unit of
transitional housing in Brattleboro
to 118 affordable units as part of the
greater Winooski redevelopment effort.
Housing types ranged from service-supported
rooms or apartments
for households or individuals with
special housing needs to independent
apartments to homeownership opportunities,
including both rehabilitation
of existing structures and construction
of new buildings. Three major trends
emerged: an increased emphasis on
homeownership, a significant number
of new units to meet the documented
need to increase the supply of housing,
and the ongoing need for service-supported
housing, including transitional
housing, throughout the state. As
in the past, the Board continued to
support the rehabilitation of existing
structures and the preservation of federally-assisted
housing.
Increasing the Supply
Seventy percent of the developments
funded by the Board since July
1, 2003 add new units to the market.
A total of 286 units were added either
through the adaptive reuse of existing
structures or in new buildings. The
Board funded new developments in
much of the state, with particular concentration
in the tightest housing markets,
including northwestern Vermont,
the Upper Valley region, and communities
with large numbers of expensive
vacation homes. New home-ownership
opportunities were created in Chittenden
County, a mobile home park was
expanded in Rutland, and additional
rental opportunities for families and
seniors were funded throughout the
state. Most of these developments are
located in existing neighborhoods
or downtowns and serve the dual
purposes of creating affordable housing
and strengthening or revitalizing
neighborhoods.
Focus on Homeownership
During the past year the Board increased
the amount of money spent on
homeownership by 50% as low interest
rates combined with rapidly increasing
prices continued to fuel an unprecedented
demand for assistance by low
and moderate income households. The
Board funds homeownership through
a number of different programs that
offer downpayment assistance or subsidy
to help achieve affordability. In
addition to utilizing the buyer-initiated
Homeland Program, nonprofit
4

In October 2004 the Burlington
Community Land Trust celebrated
completion of 32 affordable apartments in
a 40-unit development on the waterfront
in Burlington adjacent to land conserved
with VHCB funds in 1992.
housing developers began to undertake
developments that will provide
new homeownership opportunities
on a scale not seen before. VHCB
augmented state dollars with an award
from the Federal Home Loan Bank
of Boston’s Equity Builder Program as
well as by taking on the administration
of the new, federally-funded American
Dream Downpayment Initiative on
behalf of the State of Vermont. Habitat
for Humanity chapters throughout
much of the state took advantage of
the Board’s fund for Habitat and Vocational
Education Programs. New partnerships
began to develop between
local housing nonprofits and Northern
New England Tradeswomen working
with women incarcerated in the Windsor
Correctional Facility to build modular
homes that will be purchased by
lower income households. The homes
will achieve affordability through a
VHCB subsidy and the shared appreciation
model.
Transitional and Other
Service-Supported Housing
Housing with support services for
households with special housing needs
continued to be a focus of the Board’s
activities this year. A special Transitional
Housing Fund was established
to streamline the approval process;
transitional housing developments in
Brattleboro, Barre, Bennington, and
Rutland received awards from the
fund. This past year the Board funded
service-supported housing for households
who are homeless, battered
women, frail elders, pregnant and parenting
teens, and people with severe
and persistent mental illness.
Fiscal Year 2004
HOUSING
State Funding Commitments
$7, 871, 497
466 units
20 projects
Homeownership 105 units
Rental Housing 361 units
Federal Funding Commitments
HOME Program
$3,101,369
Lead-Based Paint Hazard
Reduction Program
$ 1,017,309
Federal Home Loan Bank of
Boston Affordable Housing
Program Funds
$275,000
5
Whetstone Housing, Brattleboro. The Brattleboro Area Community Land Trust
rehabilitated 4 buildings with 20 apartments prominently located on Clark and Canal
Streets in Brattleboro’s national historic district. Acquired in 1988, the buildings had
operated as rental co-ops. BACLT will manage the buildings as rental housing.

Bob Eddy
New Neighbors
In Affordable Rutland Apartments,
a Local Family Finds a Home
There is a severe shortage of affordable three-bedroom apartments in
Rutland City. Glenn Barnes knows this very well.
A single dad who works at the local Jiffy Mart, last summer Barnes won custody
of his two children, Ashley, now 14, and Ian, now 12. At the time, he was living
in an efficiency apartment in a building that would soon be replaced by a new
Walgreens pharmacy.
“I had to hurry up and get a place,” he says. But where?
“A lot of the apartments you look at now are 600, 700, and nothing included,”
Glenn notes. “And when you have two kids . . .”
He heard about a new, modest cluster of affordable apartments being built on
School Street, in a traditional residential neighborhood that’s walking distance
Glenn Barnes and son Ian, in front of
their new apartment building on School
Street in Rutland. The City encouraged
the Rutland County Community Land
Trust to construct new housing on the
site. Later, development was delayed
for 20 months due to neighborhood
opposition and ensuing court proceedings.
Today, these buildings are a
community asset, providing rental
housing for low- and moderate-income
wage earners.

from his job and downtown. He applied to the Rutland County Community Land
Trust. RCCLT was developing the School Street Apartments, creating 10 family
rental apartments — including six three-bedroom units — for low- and very lowincome
residents. Funded in part by VHCB and the federal HOME program, the
development was being built on the site of a demolished cold-storage warehouse.
But the School Street Family Housing would not be ready in time for Glenn’s
family. So they lived for several months in a large, low-income housing complex.
Still, Glenn asked to be kept on the list for School Street.
A few months later, he got a call from RCCLT. The School Street apartments
were ready for occupancy. Glenn Barnes got first pick of the three-bedrooms. His
rent would be an affordable portion of his income, with all utilities included; the
project is dedicated to perpetual affordability.
Built in a style resembling small adjoining homes, the School Street apartments
fit neatly into the long-established neighborhood.
“Oh, it’s nice here,” he says. “The neighbors are fine, everybody here gets along,
all the kids pretty much play together — and there’s quite a few kids here.” He counts
a total of 13 children, of various ages, in the 10-unit complex.
When this project was proposed, it was somewhat controversial, with some
neighbors wary of affordable housing. Glenn says he has seen at least some of those
attitudes changing.
“There’s different people around here that were opposed to it — but since we’ve
been here, a couple of them have come over here, visiting with us, sitting out on
the picnic table in the summer. They didn’t know what it would look like. But these
are very, very nice apartments.”
Glenn is local. He grew up mostly in Rutland, graduated from Rutland High
School in 1978. He’s an Army veteran as well. There are, he notes in conclusion,
many more families like his that are looking for a nice place, with enough room,
that they can afford.
“There are certainly more people out there who could use the help,” he reflects.
“And they did a beautiful job with this place.”
nonprofit profile:
RUTLAND COUNTY COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
Established in 1990
Director: Elisabeth Kulas
Development Record
RCCLT has developed 176 units of rental housing. Their work includes
developments in Rutland City, West Rutland, Fair Haven, Castleton and
Brandon.
Significant Projects:
Erastus Thayer House, Brandon; Adams House & Carriage Barn,
Fair Haven; Hopkins Street Apartments, Rutland; Union and Barlow
Apartments, Brandon; Colombian Avenue Apartments, Rutland; Mussey
Street Mobile Home Park, Rutland; Colonial Apartments, West Rutland
What happens
when neighbors
don’t welcome new
affordable housing?
New construction of proposed
housing developments
can be delayed or stopped
by neighborhood opposition.
Neighbors may not understand
that today's affordable housing
developments are carefully
planned and developed to
fit in with the existing character
of the neighborhood.
Management companies are
trained to screen tenants and,
as necessary, social services
link residents with programs
to provide assistance to meet
their needs.
Non profit housing developers
engage the neighbors in
public meetings prior to commencing
new construction.
Neighbors’concerns can be
addressed in the project design,
resulting in affordable
housing solutions that meet
the needs of our citizens, while
contributing positively to the
neighborhood.
A recent survey conducted
after the construction of one
new development* showed that
neighbors who had initially
opposed the development were
pleased with the results and
find the property to be attractive
and well managed.
7
*Anderson Parkway Community Housing, South Burlington. Survey by Maura Collins. December 2003. www.housingawareness.org

Bob Eddy
8
In Randolph, a War Hero’s New Home
Bernard Jarvis was a ball-turret gunner in a B-17 Flying Fortress in World
War II. Suspended from the bomber’s belly, he flew 50 missions over the
Mediterranean and Italy. All the time he wrote to Rhoda Flint, his girlfriend
back home in Vermont.
“I never got a real love letter from him,” Rhoda says with a twinkle. Still, he
wrote. And she wrote back.
Bernie survived and came home to marry Rhoda. They raised three boys,
one of whom survives today. Rhoda was an elementary schoolteacher for 25
years; Bernie was a maintenance supervisor for Pratt & Whitney’s jet engine
plant in Southington, Connecticut. After retiring, they came back home to live
in a winterized family camp on a steep, wooded hill in Braintree.
As the couple grew older and Bernie became disabled with arthritis, the
chores and isolation on their hill became too much.
“The family became concerned that I was out trying to plow or sand and
nobody was around to help me,” Rhoda says.
A year ago, she read in the local newspaper about an affordable-housing
project in Randolph. It was a partnership between the Randolph Area
Community Development Corporation (RACDC) and Housing Vermont, the
At a ribbon cutting ceremony for
Branchwood Apartments in Randolph
last summer, resident Bernard Jarvis
and his wife, Rhoda, do the honors,
as community members, residents,
developers and funders look on.

statewide nonprofit, with funding from VHCB. Two apartments were to be
accessible to people with physical disabilities.
Last August, Rhoda and Bernie cut the ribbon at the dedication of the
development, which created 12 new apartments in two parts of town, while also
reusing an abandoned industrial site and reclaiming a very rundown property at
the gateway to a historic neighborhood.
Today the Jarvises live in a bright, nice-looking apartment on Pearl Street that
is located on the site of a former sawmill and storage area for a plywood factory
that burned down in 1999. Theirs is one of eight new apartments in two small
clusters.
“I’ve got involved in the church, and I have a couple of friends here,” says
Rhoda. “It’s working out pretty good.”
“I’m getting used to it,” adds Bernie, bright-eyed and smiling.
Nearby, Randolph Avenue is a street of landmark homes next to the
commercial downtown. At its entry stood a Victorian house that had been cut
up into five apartments and allowed to run down very badly.
“It was as substandard as you can possibly get,” says housing specialist Laura
Ranker of RACDC. As part of the project, RACDC tore down the old house and
built a new structure with four apartments in the style of the neighborhood —
so much so, says Ranker, that “it’s a double-take. You would think that building
has always been there.”
Back at the Jarvises’, Bernie says the apartment’s new white walls could use
some more decoration. Rhoda smiles. She has, she quietly confides, ordered a
special frame for his air medal, with the two silver clusters that each marks 25
missions in hazardous duty.
But don’t tell Bernie, she adds. It’s a surprise.
nonprofit profile:
RANDOLPH AREA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Established in 1993
Director: Jeremy Ingpen
9
Development Record
RACDC has developed 63 units of rental housing for families and
seniors and a mobile home park with 15 lots.
Significant Projects:
Red Lion Senior Housing (20 apartments on the 2 nd and 3 rd floors of a
prominent downtown building damaged by fire); Joslyn House (20-room
shared housing facility for seniors; Jacobs Mobile Court (15-lot mobile
home park)

Bob Eddy photos
10
A Place to Come Home
New Apartments are St. Johnsbury
Native’s Long-Sought Haven
Carol Faye Miller only wanted to come home. St. Johnsbury born and raised, a
graduate of the Portland Street School and the St. Johnsbury Academy, Carol
had lived in New Jersey with her husband for many years, working a family electronics-repair
business together, until he died and she became disabled from multiple
sclerosis and severe complications from abdominal surgery.
She had lost her home. She came back to northern Vermont and stayed for a
time with relatives while she looked, with help from a nephew in Danville, for an
affordable senior apartment.
“I visited so many different places — and every time, nothing was less than
500 a month,” she says. “Well, that’s my disability check! What was I going to live
on? So I had to turn them all down.”
Finally, she went to stay with a friend in Alabama. Then her nephew, Bruce
Benoit, heard about a place being built in Carol’s home town.
It was a new apartment building, dedicated to affordability for low-income
seniors. It was being built on the site of the Daniels Block, a prominent commercial
and residential building that burned to the ground in 2000. That blaze, which
killed three people, was one of four devastating downtown fires. It had left a stark
hole on Railroad Street.
Carol Faye Miller at home in her kitchen
at Passumpsic View Apartments on
Railroad Street in St. Johnsbury.
With HUD 202 operating subsidies,
residents pay thirty percent of their
income towards rent.
Gilman Housing Trust developed 25
apartments for seniors with commercial
space on the ground floor. The building
was placed in service in January 2004.

The building’s private owners tried to rebuild, but found they couldn’t make the
project work with the insurance settlement. They turned to the city, which asked
the nonprofit Gilman Housing Trust to consider the property. Gilman bought the
site and put together a financing package. Using VHCB and federal HOME funds,
HUD operating subsidies and a modest capital campaign, they developed 25 senior
apartments, with each rent to be kept at 30 percent of the resident’s income.
Carol Miller had found a home.
“I’m more than happy,” she says today. “I absolutely love it here! The ceilings
are 11 feet high, the walls are a light cream color, we all have carpeting in the living
room and bedroom. The kitchens and bathrooms are tiled on the floor, and the
bathrooms have hold bars for seniors almost everywhere.”
Carol shows prospective new residents around the new building, which opened
last January as Passumpsic View Apartments.
“The first thing I do is show them the apartment that’s available. Then I show
them the utility room on each floor, and the big community room on the second
floor. You can have relatives in to visit there, you can have parties, you can even
cook! We have a swell group of people here,” she adds. “I love them all.”
As for herself, “I do the best I can with what I’ve got left,” Carol says. “I’m a
tough little cookie! I absolutely won’t give up. There’s an awful lot of people a lot
worse off than I am.”
Carol has even taken up bowling again. She’s become a regular at the local Gold
Crown Lanes. She has forearm crutches, but she generally leaves them in the car.
“I’m unsteady, I walk sort of like a snake, and I’m not strong — but I’m compensating,
and I’m still having fun.”
And she has a home.
nonprofit profile:
GILMAN HOUSING TRUST
Established in 1985
Director: Ed Stretch
Development Record
Gilman has developed and preserved more than 600 units of affordable
family, senior and special needs housing. Their territory covers Orleans,
Essex and Caledonia Counties.
Significant Projects:
Passumpsic View, Mountain View and Moose River Apartments, St.
Johnsbury; Coventry Senior Housing; Groton Senior Housing; Rainbow
Apartments, Barton; Mathewson Building, Lyndon; Lind Homes,
Ryegate; Kidder & Hotel Blocks and Shattuck Mobile Home Park, Derby.
“I do the best I can with
what I’ve got left. I’m a
tough little cookie!
I absolutely won’t give
up. There’s an awful lot
of people a lot worse off
than I am.”
— Carol Faye Miller
11

12
Home Ownership Programs Busy in 2004
The HOMELAND Program is a
home purchase program funded by
VHCB and offered by eight regional
housing organizations working in
coordination with a statewide system
of NeighborWorks® Homeownership
Centers located in St. Albans,
Burlington, Barre, Lyndonville, West
Rutland, and Springfield. Low interest
rates and pent up demand this past
year have contributed to a sustained
high level of program activity. VHCB
committed 561,000 to provide
purchase subsidies for 28 households
in fy 2004.
How it Works
Credit-worthy buyers are eligible
for purchase subsidy grants of up to
20,000 towards the cost of a home
on the private market. Buyers typically
obtain mortgage loan financing, often
from the Vermont Housing Finance
Agency or USDA Rural Development,
and are required to contribute at least
1,500 cash toward the purchase.
Additional loans of up to 2,000,
repayable upon the sale of the home,
are available as needed to assist with
downpayment and closing costs. In
exchange for the purchase subsidy
grant, home buyers agree to share any
appreciation in the value of the house
with future buyers. When the home
changes hands, the grant stays with the
property and is recycled to the next
buyer. Over the past 18 years, VHCB
“It Means I’m Going to Have a Home”
Habitat for Humanity Building Home in East Arlington
Ruth Banghart is a single parent with a 14-year-old daughter, Nicole, and a
three-year-old son Gabe. They live in a two-bedroom apartment behind the
post office in Manchester Center.
“We’ve been here a year, and every month it seems to get smaller,” Ruth says
of the rental place.
Last spring, Ruth’s mom, who lives nearby, gave Ruth a gift certificate to get
her hair cut. At Camille’s Hair Salon, she heard about Bennington Area Habitat
for Humanity. Soon after, to help her save her very limited funds for a home, Ruth
joined Assets for Opportunity, a workshop program of the Bennington Rutland Opportunity
Council (BROC). “Assets” teaches precise budgeting, saving, and money
management, and will double-match savings of up to 1,000 for postsecondary
education, a small business, or a home.
Ruth completed the program and applied for a Habitat home. It turned out that a
priority for the Bennington area chapter’s 2004-05 project, a new home in Arlington,
was that it go to an area resident with a disability in the immediate family.
Ruth's daughter, Nicole, has autism. So one day last May, Ruth got a call from
chapter president Rich Jorgenson of Shaftsbury.
“He said, ‘Well, we picked you!’” Ruth recalls. “I said, “What?”
It was true. Construction on the home began late last summer. The Habitat
chapter canvassed area businesses, community organizations, colleges, and high
schools, seeking volunteers for the Wednesday and Saturday workdays. Ruth committed
to investing 250 hours of sweat equity, and to making monthly payments
on a zero-interest mortgage that Habitat would hold. Because she works weekends
has awarded HOMELAND grants to
help nearly 700 households become
homeowners.
Habitat for Humanity Fund
In addition to the HOMELAND
Program, VHCB awards grants for
the construction of homes built by
Vermont’s eight Habitat for Humanity
chapters. Projects that involve the
construction of a home by a vocational
school program are also eligible for
grants through this fund. Since it was
established in 1991, 52 homes have
been built with this grant assistance.
Ruth Banghart with her daughter, Nicole
and son, Gabe. Ruth grew up in Rupert
and has been living in a two-bedroom
apartment in Manchester Center. This
spring, she will move into a new home
built by Bennington Area Habitat for
Humanity. Ruth has invested 250 hours
of labor into the home, which was built
with the help of hundreds of volunteers,
including family members and friends.

as a receptionist at the local Palmer House Resort, Ruth has joined the Wednesday
workdays. Family members and friends helped on Saturdays, too.
The ranch-style home — Ruth chose a single-story plan for Nicole’s ease and
safety — has been going up steadily.
“I’ve been participating in every part of it,” Ruth says. “It’s been such an experience,
to watch this house go from an architect’s floor plan to watching them dig a
hole, put the foundation in, do the decking, and then frame it up. Then watching
the walls go up, ‘pop pop pop’; then they put the rafters in. It just amazed me.”
Hoping to get in her new home this spring, Ruth says she can’t wait to volunteer
on Habitat’s next planned project, a new home in Shaftsbury.
“It’s amazing how you can get hooked on this,” she says. “It’s a lot of fun!”
What will a Habitat house mean to this one family?
“It means I’m going to have a home that I’m going to be able to put my money
into,” Ruth says. “It makes a big difference to be able to do that, and to have a
home for both my kids. They each have a bedroom! And I don’t have to go to the
laundromat to do my laundry!
“There are a lot of other people out there who need this kind of help,” Ruth
reflects. “Programs like this really do need to be there for people. It’s amazing how
this is going to help me and my kids.”
In mid-December, members of the United
Church of Dorset helped complete the
siding on the porch of the Banghart’s
new home in East Arlington. Area
church groups, community organizations,
bank employees, and high school and
college students contributed their time
to construct the home. The Lions Club
raised half the funds for materials; a
VHCB grant was used to help purchase
the land.
Study Shows Shared Equity Homeownership Program Effective
Since its inception in 1984, the Burlington Community Land Trust (BCLT) has sold almost 300 single family
homes and condominiums to low- and moderate-income households. At the end of 2002, BCLT studied
resale data for 97 homes* to determine whether this model of perpetually affordable homeownership,
funded across the state by VHCB, is cost-effective, sustainable, and beneficial to those it assists. Results
of the study provide strong evidence that the shared equity approach provides not only perpetually affordable,
but even increasingly affordable, homeownership opportunities for future generations.
The study’s principal findings are as follows:
1. The opportunity to purchase a home through BCLT provided access to homeownership for persons
who otherwise would have been excluded from the market.
2. When reselling their BCLT homes, most homeowners increased their assets during the period of
homeownership.
3. Households who sold their BCLT homes generally did so for similar reasons, with similar destinations,
and with similar success as homeowners buying and selling on the open market.
4. Resold BCLT homes not only continued to be affordable to successive generations of homebuyers, but
often became more affordable, even when the favorable effect of falling mortgage rates was eliminated.
5. The public subsidies invested in these homes remained in the properties for the benefit of successive
generations of homeowners.
6. Land and housing brought under the stewardship of the BCLT were rarely removed from its portfolio.
13
*Davis, John Emmeus and Demetrowitz, Amy. “Permanently Affordable Home Ownership: Does the
Community Land Trust Deliver on Its Promises? A Performance Evaluation of the CLT Model Using
Resale Data from the Burlington Community Land Trust.” Burlington Community Land Trust. May 2003.

Equity Builder Program Helps One Family Rebound
By Shira Bergman
14
Teresa Ettouzar thought she had done
everything right. A single mother with
two small children, she returned to school to
earn a degree and found a full-time job as a
dental hygienist in Barre, Vermont.
But just as she was preparing to start
her new job, the lease on her apartment
terminated and she found herself frantically
searching for a home for her family.
Although she had a good credit history and
the guarantee of a full-time job, Ms. Ettouzar
was unable to find an apartment. “In such a
tight housing market, a single mother and
two kids are the last people a landlord wants
to take in,” she says.
After unsuccessful phone calls to over
30 landlords, Ms. Ettouzar was forced to
move into a homeless shelter in Burlington.
She managed to postpone starting her new
job in order to spend more time searching
for an apartment close to her office, but she
eventually had no choice but to begin the
long commute to work.
Between driving six-year-old Sarah to
school, dropping off four-year-old Nathan at
daycare, and working full-time, Ms. Ettouzar
did not have the time to actively search
for an apartment. Shelter life was also taking
its toll on her children. Her once mildmannered
son began exhibiting aggressive
tendencies, says Ms. Ettouzar, and she was
desperate for a solution.
Homeownership Programs
Teresa Ettouzar worked with
the Central Vermont NeighborWorks
® HomeOwnership
Center to purchase her
home. Six locations around
the state sponsor workshops
on budgeting and home
maintenance, helping prepare
first-time homebuyers for
ownership. VHCB HOMELAND
program and EBP grants
subsidize the purchase price.
Four months after her arrival at the
shelter, the solution came during a call to the
Vermont Housing Authority. Ms. Ettouzar
had contacted the agency to request help
with finding an apartment in the Barre area,
but she was instead recommended for a
home-buyer program. Soon after her call to
the agency, Ms. Ettouzar enrolled in a homebuyer
counseling class through the Central
Vermont Land Trust’s NeighborWorks®
HomeOwnership Center.
To help cover down-payment costs for
the purchase of a home, the Community
National Bank of Derby used 10,000 in
funding from the Federal Home Loan Bank
of Boston’s new Equity Builder Program
(EBP). The Central Vermont Community
Land Trust (CVCLT) provided an additional
19,000 grant to support the purchase.
“Within six weeks of finding the house
I wanted, I was able to close,” says Ms.
Ettouzar.
The EBP provides very low- to moderateincome
home buyers with up to 15,000 in
grants to cover down-payment, closing-cost,
home-buyer counseling, and rehabilitation
assistance. Member banks apply for a
minimum of 50,000 in EBP funds and a
maximum based on the money available
(1.5 million in EBP funds was available in
2004).
The recipient of over 150,000 in EBP
grants since the program’s inception last
year, Community National Bank helped six
families purchase new homes in 2003. A key
to the bank’s successful use of the program
has been its partnership with the CVCLT.
“The EBP grants coupled with other
grants and low- to zero-interest loans from
CVCLT brings the monthly cost of housing
for moderate-income folks more in line
with what they can pay,” says Lee Youngman,
mortgage originator at Community
National Bank. “We live in a very low-wage
state with an aging, expensive housing
stock. EBP allows folks to buy their homes
without down payments and use whatever
assets they have for capital improvements or
needed repairs.”
Ms. Ettouzar confides that she initially
had reservations about buying her own
“We live in a very low-wage
state with an aging, expensive
housing stock. EBP allows
folks to buy their homes
without down payments and
use whatever assets they have
for capital improvements or
needed repairs.”
—Lee Youngman
Community National Bank
Teresa Ettouzar and her dauther, Sarah.
home. Being a single mother and working
full-time was enough of a challenge without
the added responsibility of maintaining her
own home.
She has found, however, that the rewards
of homeownership outweigh the challenges.
Within two weeks of moving into their new
home, Nathan’s aggressive behavior had
stopped. Her two children now have their
own bedrooms and a big yard to play in.
“It’s the perfect house,” says Ms. Ettouzar.
“It’s just what we needed.”
Reprinted from TOOLS for Housing and
Economic Development, the newsletter
of the Federal Home Loan Bank
of Boston, Fall 2004.

The Tom Cramer Story Has a Happy Ending
by Lorie Rogers
Once upon a time, in the 1960s, Tom
Cramer was an honor student at East
Carolina University in North Carolina on
his way to becoming a dentist. On weekends,
Tom and his surfer buddies would head to
the shore, catch a wave, and catch a buzz.
It didn’t take long for Tom to plunge from
smoking marijuana to becoming hooked on
cocaine. Reflecting on that time in history,
he says, “Like a lot of people, I got swept up
in the drug culture of the sixties.”
But Tom’s quick to point out this isn’t an
excuse, just an explanation of how he began
a substance abuse nightmare that lasted into
the 1990s. Living in Vermont, he worked as
a cook, bartender, and caretaker of a farm.
He even got married and had a daughter. But
his addiction intensified and eventually he
lost his family, job, and was evicted from his
apartment. Tom was down and out — out
of work, out of money, and living down in a
friend’s basement.
According to Tom, everyone has to hit
their own bottom. His came about 12 years
ago when he crashed his truck into a tree.
Ironically, the accident that almost ended
Tom’s life actually saved it.
After the accident, Tom caught a break.
He was referred to a rehabilitation program
that helped him successfully overcome his
addiction. From there, he moved to the
Morningside Homeless Shelter. It was during
his time at the shelter that the Brattleboro
Area Community Land Trust (BACLT)
began their Service-Enriched Housing Program
(SEH), a collaboration with Morningside.
SEH was designed to provide people a
safe place to live with support services and
counseling as they prepare to take their lives
forward in a positive direction. Tom caught
another break. He was invited to be one of
the first people to move into BACLT’s first
transitional home, a totally renovated property
on Washington Street in Brattleboro.
Tom recalls, “Together with my caseworker
Andrea, I established some basic goals and
objectives for my life: to stay sober, seek employment,
pay child support, pay rent, and
accept the responsibilities that come along
with creating a productive life. I realized that
to be successful, I’d have to change one thing
. . . everything.”
Things were looking up. Tom landed a
job at Omega Optical in Brattleboro and
continued pursuing his self-imposed milestones.
His hard work and determination
again paid off when BACLT offered him
a management position at Cobblestone
House, a single room occupancy on Canal
Street with private rooms and shared living
space for nine residents.
Tom Cramer with twin sons, Beau and
Johnny. Tom is manager at Cobblestone
House in Brattleboro, where he helps the
residents in exchange for reduced rent.
Tom accepted the position, and for more
than a decade has lived in the Cobblestone’s
only apartment, exchanging reduced rent
for the invaluable services he provides to
the residents and the organization. Tom is
so much more than manager; he’s a strong
shoulder, a clear head, and a warm heart for
the people under this roof. He drives people
to appointments, runs errands, and keeps
things running smoothly at the Cobblestone.
He’s their rock.
Tom recalls his own road, “I don’t
mind going out of my way to lend a hand.
I remember how I struggled with everyday
things like transportation, and relied on others
to help get me back on my feet. It feels
Peter Wrenn
good to be a productive member of society
and do my part as a good neighbor.”
Today, at age 58, Tom leads a structured
life that includes his job as a thin film technician
at Omega Optical, his responsibilities
at Cobblestone House, and his passion for
restoring old cars. He has also reconnected
with his grown daughter Adrienne and
established a solid relationship with her
and her two children. And perhaps most
treasured of all is being an involved father
to 12-year-old identical twin boys Beau and
Johnny. “I’m so proud that my boys only
know me as a sober dad,” Tom says. “But I
understand that alcoholism is a family disease,
so I openly communicate my experiences
with my kids in hopes that they don’t
repeat my mistakes.”
Tom is living proof that people can
conquer addiction and lead respectable,
responsible lives. “I’m extremely grateful for
the Land Trust’s Service Enriched Housing
Program, which helped me to turn my life
around. I’m also grateful that the Land Trust
offered me the opportunity to manage the
Cobblestone House. This job has given me
a chance to get a handle on my finances and
start achieving my goals.”
Tom finds comfort in current philosophies
of Alcoholics Anonymous and seeks
wisdom in the Desiderata written by monks
in the 1400s. Tom also has his own message,
and the moral to the story is simple: “If you
don’t want to get hit by the train, stay off
the tracks.”
Cobblestone House
Historic Cobblestone House is
a single room occupancy (SRO)
dwelling. Developed by the
Brattleboro Area Community
Land Trust in 1994, the
Cobblestone is home to nine
residents with private rooms
sharing common areas such as
the kitchen and living room.
15

16
Joellen Valley lives in a mobile home in Waterbury Center. The Vermont Center for
Independent Living Home Access program, funded in part by VHCB, financed the
cost of accessibility modifications to Joellen’s bathroom. Joellen lives with Parkinson’s
disease and multiple sclerosis. The adaptations allow her to continue to live independently,
as she has since retiring from her job as an administrative assistant at
Waterbury State Hospital.
Bob Eddy
Working It Out
With Help From Home
Access Program, a
Vermonter Makes Do
I
“ try to be a giver, not just a taker,” says
Joellen Valley.
She does pretty well at that, considering.
Joellen was an administrative assistant
with the Vermont State Hospital
for 16 years until she was diagnosed with
Parkinson’s disease, and then with multiple
sclerosis (MS). She lives, as she has
since 1977, in a modest mobile home in
Waterbury Center. This year funds from
the Vermont Center for Independent
Living (VCIL) Home Access Program
enabled Joellen to remodel her bathroom.
VCIL used Sue Williams Freedom
Funds to remodel Joellen’s kitchen for
accessibility. She cooks all her own food,
and now she has everything she needs in
open shelves or sliding drawers, accessible
from wheelchair height.
The wheelchair is another issue. Joellen’s
MS is in an “exacerbation phase,”
as she puts it, and recently she lost all
feeling in her legs. She had to quit driving
and is now contemplating beginning
to use a wheelchair.
“Every time you get to the point
where you can accept the latest change,
something else happens and you are
back at square one in acceptance,” she
says. “Accepting the cane was one thing;
accepting the walker was the next. And
accepting the wheelchair . . . I have to
work it out.”
She took out a credit union loan to
pay for an access ramp, so she wouldn’t
fall over the threshold each time she
enters her home. She is on a waiting list
for funding for a patient care attendant.
Meanwhile, she depends on friends to
take her to appointments and help with
shopping.

Joellen has a lot of friends. She has
been active in Alcoholics Anonymous
for 15 sober years; “a lot of my personal
help comes from AA people,” she says.
“They have been the most supportive.”
She is also involved with two local
churches, and this year is the prayer
coordinator at the Waterbury Center
Community Church. A longtime crafter,
she still makes baskets for a battered
women’s shelter, and once a week she
welcomes a Washington County Mental
Health client into her home, for a day of
simple crafting together.
Increasingly, Joellen does have to
receive, not just give — and VCIL has
been a tremendous help. The Center
has helped her find funding and support
from several sources. She’s now learning
to use voice-recognition software that
was donated through VCIL.
“I don’t know how people manage
with either one of these diseases without
professional help,” Joellen reflects. “I
try to be proactive, I try to have a really
positive outlook on my life. But without
professional help, I couldn’t manage.”
Vermont Center for Independent Living
Home Accessibility Program
One in five Vermonters has a disability, but most homes are not
accessible. Anyone can become disabled — at birth, through
traumatic injury, or as part of aging.
The Home Accessibility Program at the Vermont Center for
Independent Living provides entrance and bathroom accessibility
modifications to low-income Vermonters with physical disabilities,
creating an environment that enables people with disabilities to live
with dignity and independence.
Eligible Participants:
• Residents of Vermont
• Participants must have a physical disability and need an
entrance and/or bathroom access modification
• Income must be at 80% or below HUD median income
For more information or to apply, call the VCIL Home Access
Specialist. Toll-free voice and TTY 1-800-639-1522.
The need for accessible housing continues to increase. The Home
Accessibility Program receives approximately 10–12 new applications
every month. There are currently more than 200 people on
the waiting list representing a financial need of approximately $2
million. Although VCIL receives more than $400,000 per year from
the State of Vermont and the Vermont Housing and Conservation
Board, the waiting list for accessibility modifications continues to
grow each year. To make a tax-deductible gift to the Vermont
Center for Independent Living, contact the Development Specialist
at VCIL for more information.
17
The Vermont Center for Independent Living is citizens with disabilities
working together for dignity, independence and civil rights. This
year VCIL celebrates its 25 th anniversary.

VHCB Conservation Programs
18
VHCB’s conservation work is at least
as much about people as it is about real
estate. The Board funds the conservation
of land and historic buildings, but
the impetus for every project comes
from motivated community members
who see a human need best addressed
through the lasting protection of vital
resources.
Local Conservation
Towns seeking to increase recreational
opportunities for their residents
take advantage of VHCB’s Local Conservation
Program. Conservation can
be an invaluable tool for implementing
the vision expressed by citizens in local
forums while also helping to define both
growth and conservation areas.
Bradford’s Devil’s Den project,
described in this report, adds land to
an already popular local hiking and
picnicking spot on Wright’s Mountain,
enhancing a prior conservation investment
by the town. Conservation of 56
acres at Lake Paran in Bennington secures
public access to the water on the
largest undeveloped lake in that part of
the state. A short walk from a multistory
senior housing development in
Barre now finds one in the newly created
Canales Park—a resource made possible
through partnership among a local land
trust, the Vermont Youth Conservation
Corps, and the City. There has been a
notable surge of interest in local conservation
work over the past few years
and in response, the Board has made a
corresponding increase in our funding
allocation for this category.
Similarly, as townspeople appreciate
the heritage of historic architectural resources,
they have turned with increasing
frequency to VHCB for support.
The restoration of Northfield’s Gray
Building, featured in this report, is a fantastic
story of local ingenuity to which
VHCB was pleased to lend a hand.
Statewide Conservation
Finally, committed people at Vermont’s
conservation nonprofits and state
agencies continue working to provide
citizens and visitors with opportunities
for hunting, fishing, hiking, skiing, and
the enjoyment of natural areas.
The Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association
has added another jewel to their
ridgeline crown in Windham County.
With the addition of a 30-acre parcel in
Athens to the 1400-acre Windmill Hill
Pinnacle Reserve, one of the finest panoramic
views in the county is now part
of the hiking experience there.
Conserving resources for use and
enjoyment by Vermonters is a vital mission
made possible by the passion and
commitment of our partners. There’s a
human story behind every parcel.
Fiscal Year 2004
CONSERVATION
State Funding Commitments
Agricultural Land:
$1,973,702
20 farms
3,368 acres
Natural Areas, Recreational
Lands, Historic Properties:
$1,502,666
21 projects
497 acres
7 historic properties
Federal Funding Programs
Farms for the Future:
$151,000
NRCS Farmland
Preservation Program:
$1,971,700
John Taylor leads volunteers Sue Bigl, Fred Rubenfeld and Ginnie Moore,
making trails on the Devil’s Den property in Bradford, conserved last year
by the Upper Valley Land Trust.
Nancy Jones, Bradford Conservation Commission

Bob Eddy
Farmland Conservation Program
Cheryl DeVos and her son, Jack, on the family farm in Charlotte.
Since 1987, VHCB’s Farmland
Conservation Program — in
partnership with the Vermont Agency
of Agriculture, Food & Markets, and
nonprofit conservation organizations
such as the Vermont Land Trust and
the Upper Valley Land Trust — has
conserved over 106,000 acres on more
than 364 farms. During this time,
private efforts have supplemented
VHCB’s program to provide for the
conservation of more than 130 additional
farms.
Through the purchase of perpetual
conservation easements, the Farmland
Conservation Program protects working
farmland with good agricultural
soils in strong farming communities
where agriculture is likely to remain
viable. Proceeds from the sale of
development rights are often used to
modernize facilities, finance new farm
enterprises, buy additional farmland,
or facilitate transfers to the next generation
of farmers.
Although the long-range forecast
for conventional dairy prices is not
optimistic, 2004 brought better milk
prices for Vermont’s dairy farmers
than the previous year. While dairy
farming remains the backbone of
Vermont’s agricultural industry, interest
in diversification, direct marketing,
and transitioning to organic continues
to intensify, with many farmers
seeking assistance through the Farm
Viability Enhancement Program (a
partnership between VHCB and the
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food
and Markets) described on page 27.
During the past year, as real estate
values have continued to escalate
rapidly, the pressure to sell farmland
for development has increased. In
September 2004 VHCB raised its per
acre and per project caps for farmland
conservation projects to 1,700
and 400,000, respectively. These
same market forces have precipitated
changes in VHCB’s farmland conservation
policy. Although in the past
VHCB has typically conserved farms
with housing and farm buildings, due
to concerns about the future affordability
of protected farmland, VHCB’s
farmland conservation easements now
typically exclude the dwelling(s) and
in some cases the farm buildings.
Consistent with the goal of keeping
conserved farmland in the hands of
working farmers, VHCB is also now
offering farmers the choice to sell an
“Option to Purchase at Agricultural
Value.” Farmers who decide to include
the affordability option in the
easement are compensated additionally
for agreeing to restrict the future
sales price of the conserved land to
its agricultural value. The Farmland
Conservation Program operates on a
willing buyer/willing seller basis, with
appraisals determining the price that
is paid for an agricultural conservation
easement, with or without the affordability
option.
For the past several years, Vermont
has been fortunate to receive federal
funding for this program through
the Farm and Ranchland Protection
Program (FRPP), administered by
the Natural Resource Conservation
Service (NRCS). These federal funds
provide up to 50% of the easement
cost on each farm project, stretching
VHCB’s state dollars even further.
19

Bob Eddy
20
A New Future on a Good Farm
Conservation Helps Family
Modernize for a New Generation
Up in Holland, in an old, tiestall dairy barn, Dale Nadeau had been stooping
to milk cows for 45 years. His back and knees were going.
“We had to do something,” he said.
At the same time, Dale and Clara had tried more than once to purchase a
neighboring property — 100 acres right next to their old barn — that they had
been haying for 20 years.
At last the neighboring property owner decided to sell. The Nadeaus, who
had previously conserved their 485-acre farm, purchased the adjacent 100 acres
this year, at the same time using a VHCB grant to sell development rights on the
property to the Vermont Land Trust.
“That made it real reasonable,” Dale says. In turn, the purchase of the
conserved land has made a big difference possible on the family farm.
The Nadeaus have built a new freestall barn on the purchased property. The
larger, more efficient barn enabled them to more than double the size of the
milking herd, which had numbered 90 in the old barn.
Renee, Clara and Dale Nadeau on their
farmland in Holland, conserved in
1994. Last year the Nadeaus added 100
conserved acres to their home farm,
constructed a new freestall barn, and
doubled the size of their milking herd.
Proceeds from the sale of conservation
easements helped to make it all possible.

“We’re going to get up to around 200 milkers in the next year, we hope,”
Dale says.
The family brought their young stock back from two neighboring barns
they had been renting, and put them into the old dairy barn. “Now we’ve got
everything at home. It’s much more efficient,” Dale says.
Perhaps most important of all, the modernizing changes in the farm
operation helped convince the Nadeaus’ daughter, Renee, to come back home
and manage the dairy herd.
Renee has an associate’s degree in dairy farm management from Vermont
Technical College, and a bachelor’s degree in animal science from the University
of Vermont. After graduating from UVM in 2002, Renee spent an additional
year at Vermont Tech, where she taught some courses and eventually took over
management of the college’s dairy herd. When her dad proposed that she come
back and commit one year to working on the family farm, Renee agreed.
“I see a lot of potential here,” she says — “and, I don’t know, maybe a chance
to prove myself.” Since returning, she has decided to stay.
“A lot of things have changed in the way we can now operate the farm,”
Renee says. The cows, who had been penned year-round in the old barn to
optimize feed and milk production, can move around in the new facility. Renee
believes that alone will help extend their productive lives.
“A healthy herd can stay around, if you feed them right and take care of
them,” she says.
Her dad, who has lived on the farm since he was three years old, is
optimistic. Well, as optimistic as Vermont dairy farmers get these days.
“My back is better than it was — but it’s still old,” he says, with a laugh.
“When milk prices are good, I’m happy — but that’s our big problem. We can’t
get a consistent price. It’s hard to plan. Last year was good, though, and it’s pretty
good right now. I’ve got several kids who want to farm,” he adds. His oldest,
Todd, worked on the farm for years. His youngest, Ryan, is working in Newport
but talking about coming back home.
“We had to expand the farm, or send them away,” their dad says.
So far, so good.
“When milk prices are good, I’m happy—but that’s
our big problem. We can’t get a consistent price. It’s
hard to plan. Last year was good, though, and it’s
pretty good right now.
“I’ve got several kids who want to farm. We had
to expand the farm, or send them away.”
— Dale Nadeau
Vermont Farmers Sell
Conservation Easements,
Utilize Business Planning
Assistance to Stay in
Farming — and Stay Ahead
Farmers who sell development
rights through the Vermont
Farmland Conservation Program
often do so based on the decision
that the best mechanism
for preserving their cherished
way of life is through perpetual
conservation of the land that
sustains them.
The Nadeaus of Holland made
just such a decision and the
result is that one generation is
easing out of the business while
the next is handed the reins — a
transition made smoother by
VHCB funding.
By selling conservation easements
on their home farm and
an adjacent parcel in Charlotte,
J.D. and Cheryl DeVos were able
to add land to their operation
to support their transition to
organic farming.
Likewise, imaginative farmers
looking for a new direction to
take their business are seeking
help in increasing numbers from
our Farm Viability Program,
cosponsored by the Agency of
Agriculture, Food & Markets.
The Clark family, operating Applecheek
Farm in Hyde Park, provide
an example of the limitless
creativity of Vermont’s agricultural
entrepreneurs.
21

22
Generation Five—and Still Farming
Conserving Joneslan Farm Helps
Keep a Family Tradition Whole
On the wall as you walk into the
barn complex at Joneslan Farm,
on Jones Road in North Hyde Park, is a
nice photo display of the farm’s family
history.
There’s one shot of the current
owner-operators — brothers Steve and
Brian Jones, who bought the farm in
1992 — with their wives, Carolyn and
Paulette, and five children (Brian has
three, Steve two).
Next are the brothers’ parents, Robert
and Carolyn Jones. They bought
this farm in 1972.
Next are the brothers’ grandparents,
Raymond and Ruth Jones, who
purchased the farm in 1947. (Ruth is
still around — she just turned 96.)
Then their great-grandparents,
Arthur and Lillian, who took over the
farm in 1899. Then their great-greatgrandparents,
Alfred and Delia Jones,
who bought 80 acres to start the farm
in 1872.
That’s a lot of Jones family history,
and commitment to this land.
This year Steve and Brian conserved
the home farm’s 304 productive acres,
selling development rights to Vermont
Land Trust, thanks to a VHCB grant.
The brothers used the proceeds to buy
a neighboring, 175-acre farm they’ve
been renting for the past seven years.
“When that land came up for sale,
there was some big pressure from
developers,” Brian explains. “We’re
close enough to Stowe that the pressure’s
coming this way now. People
are paying big bucks for land — it’s
unreal.”
The brothers have a large herd,
milking about 175 Holsteins. In recent
years they built a spacious new, freestyle
barn for the cows, and they need
the additional land to keep supplying
the herd with home-grown feed, and
to have enough land for spreading
manure.
“We didn’t have enough tillable
land on this farm to keep milking
the number we wanted to milk,” says
Steve.
“You’ve got to have it,” adds Brian.
“You have to.”
On the day last February that the
brothers closed on the sale of the conservation
easement for the home farm,
they bought the neighboring property,
a onetime farm that went out of
dairying in the whole-herd buyout of
the mid-1980s. They plan to conserve
the newly purchased property as well,
early in 2005.
When they took over the farm
from their parents, who still live right
nearby, the brothers had thought
hard about whether they wanted to
continue in this tough business. They
decided they’re farmers, and they want
to stay farmers. They do good work,
too: the farm has won a series of Milk
Quality Awards from the St. Albans
Coop.
Grandpa Raymond Jones would
have been proud. So would Arthur and
Lillian Jones. Alfred and Delia Jones,
too.
No doubt about it.
Robert Jones with sons Brian and Steve
in the barnyard at Joneslan Farm, a family
operation since 1872. Selling conservation
easements on the home farm last year
allowed Brian and Steve to purchase an
adjacent, 175-acre farm they had been
renting for seven years.

Bob Eddy
Fine Meats—from Small Farms to the Big City
From tiny Benson in Rutland
County, lamb producers Darryl
Kuehne and Pamela Stefanek ship
their farm’s product to such prestigious
Manhattan restaurants as Il Buco, Blue
Hill, Grammercy Tavern, and Cristo’s.
The farmers are among the owners of
Fancy Meats from Vermont, a group of
about 20 in-state meat, egg, and cheese
producers that make weekly shipments
to New York City and Boston
in a group-owned refrigerated truck.
The groups’ products are also available
seasonally in Vermont.
Last year, the couple conserved
their 149-acre farm through the
Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets,
which used a VHCB grant to buy
the development rights. The transaction
is enabling Kuehne and Stefanek
to expand into beef production, and to
provide grazing land for several hundred
sheep from a neighboring farm.
“Selling the development rights
enabled us to buy down the mortgage,”
Darryl says. “The payments were a
drain on us.”
The couple started their Bellwether
Farm on 29 acres over a decade ago.
Then, in 2002, they purchased 120
acres from the former Goodrich farm,
which had gone out of business in 1998.
“The farm was just sitting there,”
Darryl recalls. “We drove by and saw
a ‘For Sale’ sign every day, and we saw
the potential.”
Kuehne and Stefanek have put in
an access trail for farm animals, “and
in April we’re going to start putting
up fencing,” Darryl says. They’ll first
introduce Highlander beef cows, a
hardy breed that will help to clean
up the land by grazing it. In time, the
couple hopes to shift to a higher-value
beef cow on the land.
“This was definitely a piece of land
that could have been developed, as has
been happening a lot in Benson lately,”
Darryl says.
“I’d rather see it farmed.”
Darryl Kuehne and Pamela Stefanek, with
sons Sumner and Jonathan and daughter
Grace, raise lamb for sale to Manhattan
restaurants.
23

24
“We wanted to make sure
that with some of our
woodland, we could cut
some cross-country ski
trails, maybe a hunting
preserve. It’s all conserved
land around us—state
land on two sides, and the
farms to the south and
east conserved.”
— J.D. DeVos
Going Organic—in a Big Way
In Ferrisburgh and Charlotte, the dairy farm that J.D. and Cheryl DeVos run
spreads broad and open, fringed with woods, along a lovely — and very
desirable — section of the Champlain Valley. The growth pressures here are
strong. The northern segment of the DeVos place faces a subdivision that was
carved out of another farm, and the family knows they could turn their land into
house lots that would be quite saleable.
“It’s pretty obvious,” says J.D. “This is a great place to live.”
Instead, this year the family conserved both their home farm and an adjacent
place that J.D. and Cheryl bought from a neighboring farmer, employing VHCB
funding and working through the Vermont Land Trust. The family needed the
extra land and barn: they’re going organic. With about 300 acres of cropland, a
220-cow milking herd, and a total of about 500 animals on the property, theirs
will be one of the state’s largest organic farms when the certification process is
complete this coming spring.
“We can see that the organic is going to work financially — which is what
we thought,” says Cheryl DeVos. “We ran the numbers, but real life can be
different.”
Real life has often been scary in recent months for farmers in the conventional
milk market, where the DeVoses have been striving to earn their living.
The family had taken on debt to build a new barn, with an efficient new parallelstyle
milking parlor, when milk was 17 a hundredweight. Then the price
dropped to 10.50.
That spurred the DeVoses to consider going organic, Cheryl says. “I was lying
in bed at night saying, ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to pay these bills?’”
Milk prices have lately rebounded — but organic milk pricing is generally
higher, and is much more stable. Selling development rights on the home farm
allowed the family to retire its debt from the new barn. J.D. and Cheryl then
purchased the neighboring farm and conserved it, creating a larger land base for
the organic operation.
“The restrictions that the land trust put on us, I don’t see any problems with
them,” says J.D.
The couple is thinking ahead. They might want to try new value-adding land
use — perhaps a bed and breakfast, or maybe recreation trails.
“We wanted to make sure that with some of our woodland, we could cut
some cross-country ski trails, maybe a hunting preserve,” says J.D. “It’s all
conserved land around us — state land on two sides, and the farms to the south
and east conserved.”
“Seven years down the road, we may want to go in some different direction,”
Cheryl adds. “We tried to think of everything for the farm.”
J.D. and Cheryl DeVos milk 220 cows
on their farm in Charlotte, conserved
last year by the Vermont Land Trust.
At right, Cheryl and her son, Jack,
in the milking parlor.

Bob Eddy
25

Dean and Kate Stockman,
with baby Ingrid and
the family cat—organic
vegetable farmers in
Richford.
Bob Eddy
26
Raising Produce on a Once-Abandoned Farm
There aren’t many family traditions
in organic farming, but Dean
Stockman has one. His dad, Ed
Stockman, is a pioneering chemicalfree
produce grower who now raises
berries in western Massachusetts. So
it was natural that, a decade ago when
Dean was looking for farmland of his
own, he knew very specifically what he
wanted.
He wanted Hadley silt loam.
That’s a river floodplain soil type that
is somewhat sandy and excellent at
draining water — it rarely puddles
— while retaining enough moisture
for plants to grow.
“I looked for land for five years,”
Dean recalls. In 1995, he found 40
acres of bare land in Richford, along
the Missisquoi River. It had the soil
he wanted. With a bare minimum of
money, he bought it.
The land was on a former dairy
farm that had been abandoned since
1967, the house and barn burned by
vandals in ‘68. Dean and his wife, Kate,
are still farming today. The couple
built a post-and-beam home and barn,
using timber harvested from their
land. They erected two greenhouses.
They ship cabbage, lettuce, winter and
summer squash, kale, and fennel to
Boston and Washington, D.C. through
the Deep Root Organic Truck Farmers
Cooperative, of which Dean is now
president (and which is open to new
Vermont organic food producers,
Dean notes). In 2000 they added 49
more acres of land, in Richford and
Berkshire, and started a pick-yourown
blueberry operation.
This year they sold development
rights on their farmland to the
Vermont Land Trust, thanks to a
VHCB grant. The conservation deal
“paid off our mortgage, which really
helped us out,” Dean says. “It saves
us something like 8,000 a year, and
20,000 in total interest.”
Dean and Kate, who this year
added baby Ingrid to their family, keep
moving forward. They’re planning
to add pick-your-own strawberries,
and Dean hopes before long to grow
year-round tomatoes, in a greenhouse
warmed by waste heat from a
proposed, wood-fired power plant at a
Richford feed processing site.
“You rarely hear of anyone starting
from nothing, in farming — with
virtually no money,” Dean says. “I
started this whole thing with 20,000.”
He is still moving forward. Hard
work and doing your homework still
count.
So does good soil.

Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Program
Provides Services to 50 Farms in Second Year of Operation
The Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Program assisted more than 50
farmers in 2004. Participants ranged from the owner of a 650-cow Holstein
dairy to the proprietor of a cut flower enterprise operating on one acre of rented
land. Other enrollees included a farmer milking 20 Jerseys supplying an organic
cheesemaker, a large-scale vegetable and berry grower, and a livestock producer
developing local markets for fresh meat and poultry.
All of the participants had one thing in common—a desire to make their
farms more profitable. The Viability Program connected each farmer with a
financial consultant and a team of technical assistance providers whose job
was to facilitate the creation of a farm business plan—a detailed strategy or
“roadmap” for success.
Under a bill passed by the 2004 Legislature, the Viability Program is
advised by a panel chaired by the Secretary of the Agriculture Agency and nine
others—the VHCB Executive Director, the Director of UVM Extension, the
Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development, the Manager of
the Vermont Economic Development Authority, a farm financial expert, and
four farmers.
In 2004 the Program was funded entirely by VHCB; in 2005, VHCB
funding will be supplemented by a grant from the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service. The Program is administered in conjunction with the
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
Recognizing that there is no single path to farm profitability, the Viability
Program approach is to listen, to let the farmers articulate their goals as well
as their frustrations, and then to bring in assistance that is tailored to the
farmer’s particular needs. This flexibility allows the Program to serve all types of
agriculture, from traditional dairy to innovative, or value-added enterprises. The
fundamental premise of the Program is that sound financial analysis, critical
thinking, and business-oriented decision-making can make a difference.
The Farm Viability Program contracts with independent consultants,
farm management specialists, and staff from NOFA-Vermont, the Intervale
Foundation, the Vermont Small Business Development Center, the University of
Vermont Extension Service, and Working Landscapes, Inc. These organizations
received VHCB grants to provide services to farmers under Viability Program
specifications and oversight.
Approximately 50 farm families will receive Viability assistance in 2005.
At the same time, the Program will send advisers back to 2004 participants to
gauge the farmers’ financial success since participating in the Program, and to
offer technical assistance as farmers work to implement their business planning
goals.
For more information
or to apply to the
program, call 828-0795
or visit the website:
www.vhcb.org/viability.html
27

Finding a Creative Farm’s Future
Viability Program Is a Timely Aid to Applecheek Farm
28
About 10 years ago, John and
Judy Clark, hard-working dairy
farmers in Hyde Park, felt worn out.
“And maybe a little disillusioned,” Judy
recalls.
“We said, ‘Hey, we work so hard,
and maybe are not making the kind of
living we would hope to make.’ I mean,
at least to be able to pay the bills on
time.”
Rather than get out or grow bigger,
the Clarks got creative. A decade later,
they’re still milking about 70 cows
—but their farm is transformed.
A sign on Rte. 15 points the way
to Applecheek Farm, on scenic open
land surrounded by mountains. Each
year, thousands of schoolchildren,
Vermonters, and visitors to the state
make that turn toward the farmstead.
The visitors take sleigh and wagon
rides pulled by two Belgian draft
horses. They go llama trekking, visit
its emus along with its cows, and learn
about how and why the farm went
organic, five years ago. They may also
visit the gift shop, enjoy a meal cooked
in the farm’s commercial kitchen,
or attend yoga classes, retreats, or
community or business functions in
the long, beautiful hall the Clarks built
atop an old bunker silo.
“Always when people come, we
talk a lot about farming—and we don’t
talk about it the romantic way,” Judy
Clark says. “It’s not all sleigh rides! We
talk about the work, and why we went
organic, and what that means. Often,
when people leave, they say, ‘Thanks
for the experience. I really learned
something today.’”
Today, the Clarks are working
with the Intervale Foundation on an
effort supported by the Farm Viability
Program to develop a business plan
for the directions in which Applecheek
Farm can go next. A grant is bringing
expert consultants and Intervale
Foundation staff members out to the
farm for the planning project.
“About two years ago, our oldest
son started showing an interest in
coming back,” Judy says. Son John
and his wife, Rocio, want to make a
raw-milk, grass-fed, organic farmstead
cheese here. Their younger son Jason,
who runs a catering business, JDC’s
Just Delicious Catering, from the
property, wants to build the visitor
business, serving busloads of tourists
and others. John and Judy want to
retire in a few years. How to make all
those ideas work together?
“This Farm Viability grant—I
mean, the timing was impeccable,”
Judy says. “It has just been a godsend.”
The consultants are helping with
business planning, with making and
selling cheese, with marketing to
larger groups of visitors and making
the most of visitors' time on the farm.
A UVM Extension Service expert will
also work with the family to plan the
farm’s transfer to the new generation.
“So, do you think we’re busy? Are
things a little hectic around here?”
asks Judy, smiling. “We never expected
the boys to want to come into it. We
tell people this is the most exciting,
and the most challenging, time we’ve
ever had.
“The boys are finding that the
viability study and business plan are
just so critical,” she adds. “They’re
finding a way that they can make a
living.”
In Hyde Park, John and Judy Clark have
opened their farm to thousands of school
children, Vermonters and visitors. They
offer sleigh rides, llama trekking, home
catered meals, and a meeting hall. Their
marketing efforts will be studied by
business consultants provided through
the Farm Viability Program.

Local Conservation
Program Helps
Towns Realize
Their Objectives
VHCB’s Local Conservation
Program provides funding
for the acquisition of land or
easements to provide public
access to water, trails or
greenways, to protect or expand
town parks and town forests,
and to conserve public historic
properties. Local Conservation
awards are limited to $100,000
and require a one-third match
of total project costs.
More than 60 towns have
used the program to acquire
or conserve land, creating
ballfields, public parks and
trails, and securing public
access to swimming holes and
historic buildings.
Local Farmland Conservation
Smaller farms that are unable
to compete for funding under
VHCB’s statewide Farmland
Conservation Program are
eligible for grants of up to
$125,000 plus associated costs
under this program, which also
requires a one-third match of
total project costs in the form
of local fundraising, in-kind
services, and/or donations
of land and easements that
further the conservation goals
of the project.
Mary Sue Henszey, courtesy of the Upper Valley Land Trust
John Taylor and Nancy Jones lead Oxbox Union High School biology students hiking
on the Devil’s Den property.
A Cavern Full of Lore
Bradford Project Mines a Rich Local Resource
Deep in a ravine alongside a mountain, Devil’s Den is a cave with a colorful
past. And now, for the community of Bradford, it’s also a resource with a
secure future.
This year the Upper Valley Land Trust (UVLT) and the Bradford Conservation
Commission employed a VHCB grant, together with substantial local
funding, to buy and conserve the 60-acre parcel whose centerpiece is a deep,
rocky ravine. At the ravine’s base is Devil’s Den, a two-chambered cave formed
by great chunks of fallen rock. The conserved parcel has been added to Wright’s
Mountain, an adjacent 218-acre property that Bradford bought and conserved
with VHCB funds in 1994.
Wright’s Mountain is close to the village center, and a mile-long, locally
popular hiking trail there leads up to a summit whose view is “wonderful — you
see a huge panorama,” says Nikki Darling, who chairs the town’s Stewardship
Committee for conserved land.
The Devil’s Den acquisition permitted townspeople to add a second trail
in to Wright’s Mountain — one that also leads to the cave. Local histories say
that counterfeiters once secreted an illicit press in Devil’s Den, and that around
the time of the Revolutionary War, a settler named Benoni Wright, a man of
extreme religious fervor, once tried to spend 40 days and nights in the cave,
meditating without food.
Wright’s fast failed, pretty miserably. But he became the mountain’s
namesake, and many local people have childhood memories of exploring his
old haunts. Last summer and fall, after the Devil’s Den acquisition, the Bradford
Conservation Commission worked with John Taylor, recreation coordinator for
29

the UVLT, to organize volunteers for four days of trail work that attracted people
of all ages.
“We had 30 to 40 people, from first graders through adults,” Darling says.
“We had high school kids, we had college kids. We’ve been really working on
getting broad-based support from the community.”
Students from the local Oxbow Union High School and River Bend Career
and Technical Center worked with Taylor to install new trail markers. Oxbow
students also used Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to map the
trails for a new visitor’s brochure.
The conserved land “is a tremendous resource,” says Nancy Jones, an Oxbow
biology teacher who chairs the Bradford Conservation Commission. “The trail
going into Devil’s Den intersects a trail that goes up to Wright’s Mountain, and
right off that is a wonderful vernal pool that we use as an outdoor laboratory.
“When you get to the ravine, suddenly the landscape changes,” she adds. “It’s
rocky, with sheer cliffs. It’s breathtaking.”
Jones’s students have used portable computers and digital microscopes to
study and record life inside leaf litter, and have used digital probes to test for
stream acidity. They’ve looked at bear-claw marks on beech trees in the mixedspecies
tree stands on the properties, and have worked to drain leftover logging
ruts.
The town has seen some vandalism on the conserved land — and organizers
hope that involving young people in trail work and signage, along with class
studies, will help to curb that. For the community, forays are planned to study
ferns and mushrooms, along with a youth photography contest.
According to Taylor of the UVLT, “The key words are ‘community enthusiasm.’
This project has resulted in a strong interest in land conservation, as well as
enthusiasm for this specific property.”
Maidenhair Spleenwort (Asplenium
trichomanes) favors calcareous areas (rich
soils), especially ledges, outcrops and
cliffs—such as those found at Devil’s
Den.
30
Mary Sue Henszey, courtesy of the Upper Valley Land Trust
Students explore a rock outcropping on the property.

A Focal Point of Pride
Local Coalition Revives Northfield’s “Gray Building”
Handsome, broad-shouldered,
and cupola-topped, the Gray
Building commands the entrance to
Northfield. It has sat up squarely on its
rise above Main Street since 1877, and
until 1994 it served as a town school.
For all those generations, the heavy
bell that hung in the cupola rang not
just for schoolchildren, but for everyone.
“It just chimed all the way through
the community,” says Karen Gillespie
Korrow, owner of Gillespie Fuels, who
remembers the bell ringing for lunch
and recess when she attended grades
one through five here. “Everybody
could hear the bell.”
A few years ago, the building was in
sad disarray. It was sound structurally,
and its antique floor plan, with highceilinged
classrooms, was still intact
— but windows had been broken by
vandalism, suspended ceilings inside
were shredded, and the floors were
crowded with forgotten school equipment,
junked appliances, and trash.
Local volunteers formed the Gray
Building Coalition to redevelop the
school into a community center. In a
series of meetings, townspeople had
identified the need for such a place
and a feasibility study found the Gray
Building well-suited to new community
use.
A VHCB grant has been blended
with federal funding, Vermont Community
Development Program funds,
foundation support, and a continuing
local fundraising campaign to meet
most of the 1.4 million budget for
transforming the Gray Building into a
multi-purpose community center.
Already, with renovations still in
progress upstairs, the interior’s first
floor is buzzing with activity again.
New hardwood flooring leads to
former primary-grade classrooms that
are now home to the Northfield Boys
& Girls Club, the town’s alternative
middle school, the local Head Start
program, and a dance studio.
“We typically see, after school, 15
to 20 kids — and on the weekends we
get 20-30 a night,” says Angela Potts,
director of the Boys & Girls Club,
which provides after-school activities,
youth mentoring, and weekend
dinners for young people here. Participants
are, Potts expects, “more likely
to take ownership and pride in this
place.”
The renovated basement has new
heating and hot-water systems, the
sturdy exterior has been scraped and
primed, and the coalition is aiming
to complete all the renovations this
coming September. A number of local
families and individuals have supported
the campaign, with 200,000
the largest family gift. Local fundraising
continues in 2005.
“Vermonters hold onto their
money — they don’t just open their
purses and hand it over,” observes local
retiree Libby Hamilton, who went to
school here and now serves on the
fundraising committee. “But I think
people are so happy driving into town
and passing that building. Before it
was kind of caving in; you didn’t want
to see it.”
“It certainly is a focal point of
this community, and a real asset,”
adds Karen Korrow, also a committee
member. “I think our fundraising
efforts have certainly proven that a lot
of people feel that way.”
The old bell, by the way, is still here.
It’s now in the downstairs hallway,
which echoes each weekday with the
sounds of Northfield’s young people
once more.
“This building can easily go
another 150 years, now, without a lot of
change,” reflects Anne Gould, president
of the Gray Building Coalition.
“How many generations is that?”
The Gray Building in Northfield— shown
here circa 1900—served as the town
school for 117 years.
31

32
A Lake That’s a Local Treasure
A Collaboration Conserves North Bennington’s Historic Gem
For North Bennington, Lake Paran
is a community keepsake.
It’s one of the very few sizable water
bodies with a wholly undeveloped
shoreline in southwestern Vermont.
It’s a place where generations of village
residents have learned to swim and
fish. And it’s a living part of local
history: Creation of the lake in the
late 1840s, by damming Paran Creek,
permitted villagers to control the
downstream waterway and develop a
series of industrial sites and mill dams,
most of which still exist as reminders
of the community’s past.
So for townspeople it was a most
important event when a clutch of
people and organizations, including
VHCB, came together to make
possible this year the purchase and
conservation of three parcels that,
together, preserve 56 acres of northern
shoreline along Lake Paran.
Collaborating were the Fund
for North Bennington, a local
nonprofit that owns and will manage
the conserved land; the Sage City
Syndicate, a for-profit group devoted
to acquiring, improving, and
protecting historic local properties,
which donated 4.2 acres that it owned;
landowners David Mance and Ted
McCarthy, who sold lakeside land to
the project; and the Vermont Land
Trust, which assembled the deal and
holds the conservation easement.
“They all came together to work
this out,” says Donald Campbell,
regional director for the Vermont
Land Trust.
“It’s a beautiful spot — you can
look right across to see the Green
Mountains,” says Rob Woolmington,
a local attorney who is president of
the Fund for North Bennington. “So
it’s been a real asset to the community.
But half the shoreline was in private
hands, so there’s always been the risk
that it would be developed.
“This has secured the shoreline of
Lake Paran in perpetuity.”
The project is one of two major
conservation efforts ongoing in the
Bennington community. A separate
group, the New England Tropical
Conservancy, this year purchased
and conserved a 96-acre Bennington
property, with VHCB funding. The
Tropical Conservancy will develop
public trails on the property and
Fishing and swimming are common
pastimes at Lake Paran, where this year
the Vermont Land Trust conserved 56
acres of undeveloped shoreline to ensure
public access in perpetuity. The State
maintains a Fishing Access across the lake
from this public beach.
proposes to build two very large
greenhouses on the land and fill them
with plants gathered in Indonesian
mountain rainforests.
“We are adding one more jewel
into our crown, making Bennington
and southern Vermont a destination
for cultural, scientific, educational,
recreational, and historical activities,”
said Bennington Rep. Joseph Krawcyk
at the October dedication of the
Tropical Conservancy’s 96-acre
Norman Greenberg Conservation
Reserve.
While the Conservancy seeks
approvals for its plans during 2005,
the Fund for North Bennington will
be gathering public input and expert
advice as it develops a management
plan for the Lake Paran property.
Public access will be guaranteed — for
the first time ever, in some parts of the
property.
“This lake is part of this
community,” says Bob Howe, a
retired local businessman involved
with the Sage City Syndicate. “It’s
connected to the sense of place of
North Bennington. And it’s all walking
distance from downtown.”

Federal Funds Supplement VHCB Awards
conjunction with state funds,
In VHCB administers federal
funding for programs to develop
housing, increase affordability, add
support services, provide technical
assistance, and leverage state and
private dollars for land conservation
in Vermont.
Lead-Based Paint
Hazard Reduction Program
With funding from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, this program has been
operating since 1994, administering
13.5 million to reduce lead hazards
in 1,400 homes and apartments
statewide. To read more about the
program, see page 36–37.
AmeriCorps Vermont
Community Stewardship Program
This program has operated for seven
years, cosponsoring AmeriCorps
members to serve with nonprofit
housing and conservation entities
statewide. VHCB has admin-istered
1.6 million in funds for this program
since 1996. Due to cutbacks in
federal funding for the AmeriCorps
program in 2004, VHCB sponsored
an AmeriCorpsVISTA program that
placed 10 members with housing
organizations. In 2005 a fully funded
program has placed 30 AmeriCorps
with housing and conservation
nonprofits statewide. To read more
about the program, see page 34–35.
Agency of Transportation tea-21
VHCB has been awarded 1.8 million
in tea-21 funds to conserve land
in proximity to state highways. The
“transportation enhancement” funds
leverage state funds, providing another
source of funds to conserve farmland
and open land.
HOME Program
Federal HOME Program funds are
aimed at serving low- and very low-income
Vermonters in housing projects
meeting the priorities of the State
Consolidated Plan. These funds help
to cover project development costs, to
create greater affordability in the projects,
and to supplement VHCB funds.
The Board administers the program on
behalf of the Department of Housing
and Community Affairs. VHCB has
administered 37.4 million in HOME
funds since the beginning of the program
in 1992.
Farmland Protection Program
Through the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service, VHCB
administers funds from this federal
program to conserve farmland. These
funds supplement Vermont’s state and
private efforts, increasing the amount
of farmland conserved. The Board has
committed 12.9 million in Farmland
Protection Program funds.
HUD Economic
Development Incentive
Special Project Grants
The Board administers these onetime
federal grants to designated
housing developments in the state to
assist communities in meeting their
housing needs. Last year, Special
Project Grant funds were be awarded
to housing developments in St. Albans,
Brattleboro and Essex Junction. Since
1987, the Board has administered
nearly 12.4 million in Special Project
Grants.
Vermont Farm Viability
Enhancement Program
Housing Opportunities
for Persons with AIDS
HOPWA funds provide rental
subsidies, emergency assistance and
supportive services to persons living
with HIV/AIDS. This program was
developed in collaboration with the
Vermont HIV/AIDS Care Consortium,
the Department of Health, the Persons
with AIDS Coalition, the Vermont
Center for Independent Living, and
the AIDS service organizations. VHCB
has ad-ministered more than 2.9
million in HOPWA funds.
HUD Technical Assistance Funds
VHCB’s Community Housing
Development Organization Technical
Assistance Program has administered
275,000 in various HUD funds to
provide training, operating support
and technical assistance to nonprofit
developers of affordable housing.
VHCB used HUD technical assistance
funds to develop and co-sponsor three
trainings in 2004: Tax Credit Basics
for Nonprofits; Low-Income Housing
Tax Credits: What Happens When Restrictions
End; and Remedies to Mud
& Moisture Conditions in Residential
Construction.
Farm Viability
Enhancement Program
VHCB funding for this new farm
program is supplemented by federal
funding administered by the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation
Service. In 2004 VHCB received a
commitment of 158,000 from NRCS
for this program.
33

34
The Vermont
Community
Stewardship
Program
The Vermont Community
Stewardship Program (VCSP) is
in its seventh year as an AmeriCorps
project of the Vermont Housing and
Conservation Board. AmeriCorps
programs are partially funded by
the Corporation for National and
Community Service and the National
Service Trust.
After cuts in federal funding for
AmeriCorps programs in 2003, VHCB
launched an AmeriCorps VISTA
program in response. During the
2003-2004 service year, VCSP placed
10 VISTA members with affordable
housing organizations to provide
service and assistance to communities
statewide.
With the restoration of federal
AmeriCorps funds in 2004, VCSP’s
AmeriCorps team was resurrected.
Today the VCSP roster includes 30
AmeriCorps members in the field,
getting things done for Vermont. The
members serve with 24 housing and
land conservation nonprofits across
the state.
To date, 89 VCSP members have
involved over 5,000 community
volunteers in grassroots efforts to
improve the lives of thousands more
Vermonters. These volunteers have
served more than 36,000 hours,
exponentially magnifying the positive
impact that AmeriCorps members can
have in their neighborhoods. Nearly
a quarter of graduating AmeriCorps
members have been hired on by the
nonprofits for which they served.
Many others have returned to school
or enrolled for another term of service.
Getting Things Done
Member Abby Hade Terpstra digs in
to help eradicate Japanese Knotweed,
an invasive non-native plant
VCSP AmeriCorps members serving with nonprofit housing
organizations:
• act as role models to youth living in subsidized housing
developments, help children with schoolwork and
organize after-school activities such as art projects and
field trips.
• provide education on the home buying process for firsttime
home owners at NeighborWorks ® HomeOwnership
Centers.
• provide direct services to Vermont’s homeless and
marginally housed population, help to identify permanent
affordable housing, provide case management, and
facilitate workshops and classes on nutrition, budgeting,
health, and resumé writing.
• organize residents in large housing developments to
create community gardens, newsletters, media centers,
community dinners, and a radio station.
• educate residents about their rights and responsibilities
and help connect residents with social services and
educational opportunities.
Members working with conservation organizations:
• organize and lead environmental education and service
opportunities for school-aged youth.
• recruit volunteers.
• serve as group leaders.
• maintain trails and peform land stewardship
responsibilities.

At the Central Vermont Community Land Trust,
Two AmeriCorps Members serve with Distinction
“It’s About Being Involved”
Clare Bootle was working at
a greenhouse in Waitsfield,
thinking about a possible career in
landscape design, when she saw an ad
for an AmeriCorps VISTA member’s
position with the Central Vermont
Community Land Trust (CVCLT).
“That’s what drew me. It was this
organization, the opportunity to work
here,” she says.
Born in England and brought up
in Bennington, Clare studied environmental
design at Goddard College.
In her AmeriCorps VISTA year, she
served as Community and Development
Coordinator for CVCLT. Clare
worked with the land trust’s housing
development manager and with
advocacy groups such as the Montpelier
Housing Task Force, organizing,
performing research for publications,
and working with volunteers. She also
provided logistical support to a volunteer
project committee.
When her AmeriCorps VISTA year
ended in December, Clare re-enrolled
for an additional term of service as an
AmeriCorps member with CVCLT as
Resident Outreach Coordinator. After
this year, she says, her viewpoint and
her career options are broadened and
enriched.
“I’m interested in pursuing further
education in land use planning,”
Clare says. “Working here, I’m seeing
the bigger picture of land use planning
and management, and working
with municipalities. I’m realizing how
people do really make a difference.
It’s about being involved with the
public process in your town. This has
changed my perspective. It’s all about
knowing where to go to make your
voice heard.”
VHCB and CVCLT Staff and AmeriCorps members joined residents for a day of
painting, landscaping and cleaning at CVCLT’s Barre Street properties.
“It was a Great Experience”
“ was interested in working with
I
low-income residents, because I
had grown up outside Philadelphia,
in a neighborhood where there was
low-income housing,” says Vanessa
Sullivan of Burlington, who served as
an AmeriCorps member, and then as
an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer over
a two-year service period. Vanessa
was Resident Services Coordinator for
CVCLT, finishing her year’s commitment
last August.
“I worked with the residents of
several different housing communities.
I tried to get to know them, listen to
their concerns, find out what would
enhance their life and their living
situation. Then I would work with
CVCLT’s property management team,
to see if we could get some of those
needs met. Or we would work on policies
that complied with fair housing
regulations.”
The overall aim of her work, she
adds, was “to make sure that we were
completely fair and open to everyone,
but also that we were trying to enrich
people’s lives by linking them up with
local services and local activities. Just
to make sure everyone was connected.
“CVCLT is probably the best place
I could have gone,” Vanessa reflects.
“The team there is really dedicated to
what they do. It was very clear that
everyone’s heart was into the work. It
was a great experience.”
Now, as Vanessa considers her education
and career options for moving
forward, she believes her AmeriCorps
experience “helped me to grow professionally.
That was probably the best
thing that it did,” she concludes.
35

Knowing About Lead
Program Makes a Young
Family’s New Home Safe
Bob Eddy
36
Derek and Loretta Wilson are
young dairy farmers, milking
about 75 cows that are being certified
organic. Last spring the Wilsons
bought a conserved farm in Barre,
with a new milking parlor and a home
that dates to 1855.
At around the same time, Loretta,
then pregnant with the couple’s second
child, brought their daughter Emily
to her pediatrician for a 15-month
checkup.
“I mentioned that we were buying
a dairy farm, with an old house — and
she said we should have the lead
checked,” Loretta says.
Loretta did some research, and
got in touch with Ron Rupp, director
of VHCB’s Lead Hazard Reduction
Program. She had learned that lead,
an extremely toxic metal that for many
years was used in house paint, is especially
dangerous for children under
six, in whom it can cause behavioral
problems, learning disabilities, and
serious health trouble.
“I struck gold with Ron Rupp,”
Loretta says. “He sent out an application,
we applied and were qualified.
They did the lead testing in May,
before we moved in — and they did all
the lead work in August.”
For qualifying families, the Lead
Hazard Reduction Program tests older
homes for lead content, and contracts
for necessary work at little or no
cost to the homeowner. The Wilson’s
windows, doors, door casings, front
porch ceiling, and exterior trim were
all found to be contaminated.
“The contractor worked pretty
closely with us,” Loretta Wilson says.
Expecting their second child in September,
the family moved into a trailer
on the farm during August while the
lead work was completed.
“Ron pushed to get it done before
the baby was born, so we could get
back in the house,” Loretta says.
And it was done. The farmhouse is
now certified safe. Baby Zack is now
three months old; his sister, Emily, has
been tested and found to be clean of
lead exposure.
“Thank goodness for my pediatrician
bringing it to my attention,”
Loretta reflects.
“I thought Loretta was overreacting,
because I didn’t know about lead,”
Derek Wilson says. “Now, I know.”

Vermont Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Program
The VHCB statewide Lead-Based
Paint Hazard Reduction Program
addresses lead paint hazards in the
homes of low-income Vermonters.
Recognized by HUD as a top
performer, the program is currently
operating under a 3 million renewal
grant awarded in 2003 and expects to
apply for additional funding this year.
Funds used for lead hazard control
generate economic benefits in the form
of payments to contractors, building
supply companies, and related
businesses. Other program activities
require spending on media services,
training and training facilities, and
develop business opportunities in lead
abatement and lead paint safety.
Income-eligible homeowners
and landlords receive evaluation and
design services to define the hazards
and prepare a work plan. Grants and
loans are awarded to pay for work
that is completed by certified lead
abatement contractors. A typical
project includes window replacement,
stabilization of painted surfaces,
removal of lead paint from friction
or impact surfaces (i.e. door jambs
and floors), and specialized cleaning.
Clearance testing is completed prior to
re-occupancy to insure homes are safe
at the end of the project. Since 1994,
the program has helped to reduce lead
paint hazards in over 1,400 homes and
apartments.
The Lead Paint Program also
continues to partner with the
Central Vermont Community Action
Council on a grant to promote job
opportunities in lead paint abatement
and related fields for low-income
individuals.
While the Lead Paint Program
has been successful on many levels,
Vermont has a long way to go to
eliminate the risk of lead poisoning
for our children. The nature and
extent of lead contamination in our
environment requires both diligence
and innovation to address. VHCB will
continue to work with the Vermont
Department of Health and our other
partners to significantly reduce the
number of children affected by this
preventable condition.
For more information,
contact us at
1-800-290-0527
or visit the web site:
www.leadsafevermont.org
All children should
be screened for lead
poisoning at ages one
and two. To learn
about free lead
screening, contact the
Department of Health
at 1-800-439-8550.
Healthy Homes Project Eliminates Asthma Triggers
The Healthy Homes project conducts assessments in the homes of
asthmatic children to reduce or eliminate environmental asthma
triggers like moisture, dust, animal dander, carbon monoxide, dust
mites, environmental tobacco smoke, pests, and radon. Building
and maintenance professionals are educated on the use of healthier
building techniques and materials. This project is being completed
in partnership with the City of Boston and New England’s Asthma
Regional Council, a coalition of government and private sector
agencies working to address the increasing rates of asthma among
children in New England.
37

Housing Awards July 2003–June 2004
Butterfield Common, Dover. 792,723 award
for construction and related expenses of 40
units intergenerational housing: 33 units
elderly and family rental housing and 7 homeownership
units. 425,000 HOME Program
award. Total project cost: 6,724,269.
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. 20,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 525,558.
38
In Vergennes, the Addison County Community Action Group used VHCB and federal
HOME funds to rehabilitate 19 apartments in 2 historic buildings on Main Street.
On Grove Street in Rutland the Housing Foundation, Inc. is rehabilitating and
constructing 4 units of transitional housing using VHCB and HOME Program funds.
The housing will be managed by Rutland County Housing Coalition.
Addison County
Community Action Group
Elinor Sanchez Supportive Housing, Middlebury.
120,000 award for acquisition and
construction of 6 rental units for homeless
persons with disabilities. 241,000
HOME Program award. Total project cost:
995,525.
Creek View Housing, Vergennes. 100,000
award for rehabilitation and related expenses
of 19 affordable units in a 36-unit
family rental development in five buildings
near downtown Vergennes. Total project
cost: 3,716,725.
Smallest City Housing, Vergennes. 83,500
Special Project Grant for rehabilitation of 19
apartments in 2 historic buildings on Main
Street. Total project costs: 3,370,427.
Organizational Development Grant. 19,500
for organizational development costs. 15,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 600,000.
Addison County Community Trust
Organizational Development Grant. 19,500
for organizational development costs. 4,250
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 320,750.
Battered Women’s Services
and Shelter, Inc.
Washington County Shelter, Barre. 20,500
Transitional Housing award to complete
construction of an addition to the 6-room
shelter. 13,500 HOME Program award. Total
project cost: 591,693.
Brattleboro Area Community Land Trust
Vernon Senior Housing, Vernon. 415,000
award for construction and related expenses
of 17 independent apartments for elderly
on a 20-acre parcel donated by the Town of
Vernon. 276,500 HOME Program award.
Total project cost: 4,182,349.
Brattleboro Area Community Land Trust/
Putney Cares
Noyes House, Putney. 123,000 award for the
rehabilitation and related expenses of 8 shared
housing units for frail elders in a house listed
on the National Register of Historic Places.
175,530 HOME Program award. Total project
cost: 638,530
Burlington Community Land Trust
City’s Edge Condominiums (formerly known
as South Burlington Neighborhood Homes),
South Burlington. 350,000 additional award
for construction and related expenses of 31
affordable units in a 60-unit homeownership
condominium development. Total project
cost: 8,100,659.
Waterfront Housing, Burlington. 371,470
Special Project Grant for construction of 32 affordable
units in a 40-unit multi-family rental
development on Burlington’s waterfront. Total
project cost: 6,088,922.
Organizational Development Grant. 48,000
for organizational development costs. 20,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 1,640,000.
Cabot Commons, Inc.
Cabot Housing, Cabot. 75,000 award for
construction of 8 units rental housing for the
elderly. 111,656 HOME Program award. Total
project cost: 1,261,991.

Housing Awards July 2003–June 2004
Cathedral Square Corporation
Whitcomb Woods New Housing, Essex.
400,000 award for acquisition, construction
and related expenses of 16 affordable
units in a 19-unit integrated rental housing
development for individuals of all ages with
disabilities. 135,000 HOME Program award.
Total project cost: 2,685,693.
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. Total
organizational budget: 626,832.
Central Vermont Community Land Trust
River Station Apartments, Montpelier.
580,000 award for acquisition, construction
and related expenses of 29 affordable units in
a 36-unit multi-family rental development
on Barre Street. 430,000 HOME Program
award. Total project cost: 5,902,813.
Mad River Meadows, Waitsfield. 175,000
award for acquisition, rehabilitation and
related expenses of 12 family and 12 senior
rental units in Irasville Village to include
energy efficiency improvements. Total project
cost: 1,915,204.
Mad River Valley Affordable Housing.
25,000 project-related capacity award to
identify a site, conduct feasibility analysis
and predevelopment tasks to create affordable
housing in the towns of Warren, Waitsfield,
and Fayston. Total project cost: 65,000.
Stonebridge Inn, Poultney. The Town of
Poultney used VHCB local conservation
funds to rehabilitate this former inn.
In 1999 the fire-damaged building was
donated to the town by the inn keepers.
The building will be occupied by child
care service providers, an adult learning
program, the food shelf, the Natural
Resources Conservation District office,
and travel and tourist information
services operated by the local chamber.
Located at the gateway to the town, the
building was constructed in 1808 and is
listed on the National Historic Registry.
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. 20,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 625,000.
City of Burlington
Waterfront Housing, Burlington. 426,500
Special Project Grant for construction of 32
affordable units in a 40-unit multi-family
rental development on the waterfront. Total
project cost: 6,088,922.
Converse Home
Converse Home, Burlington. 378,000 award
for construction and related expenses of
21 affordable units for elderly in a 67-unit
residential care facility with dementia care
services in the heart of downtown Burlington.
Total project cost: 9,300,709.
Gill Terrace Retirement Apartments, Inc.
Gill Terrace Senior Housing II, Ludlow.
200,000 award for construction and related
expenses of 36 units of rental housing for the
elderly. Total project cost: 3,128,965.
Gilman Housing Trust
Groton Community Housing, Groton.
300,000 award for acquisition, construction
and related expenses of 18 rental units.
204,200 HOME Program award. Total
project cost: 3,038,352.
White Drive Replacement Homes, Derby.
64,000 Special Project Grant for the construction
of two replacement homes for
seniors in the Shattuck Hill Mobile Home
park.
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. 20,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 800,000.
Good Samaritan Haven, Inc.
Good Neighbors Transitional Housing,
Barre City. 45,734 HOME Program award
for rehabilitation and construction to add 3
units transitional housing to existing transitional
housing project. Total project cost:
490,750.
39

Housing Awards July 2003–June 2004
Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity
& Burlington Housing Authority
New North End Homeownership, Burlington.
200,000 award for construction of 8
single-family homes on 2 acres donated by
the Burlington Housing Authority. Additional
10-acre natural area conserved. Total project
cost: 1,053,000.
Highgate Housing, Inc. &
Housing Vermont
Highgate Apartments, Barre. 25,000 additional
HOME Program award for rehabilitation.
Total HOME Program award: 720,000.
Total project cost: 6,565,376.
Homestead Design, Inc.
Stony Creek, Hartford. 250,000 HOME
Program award for construction and related
expenses of 18 rental units. Total project cost:
2,905,890.
Housing Foundation, Inc
Grove Street Transitional Housing, Rutland.
26,000 transitional housing award for
construction and related expenses of 4 units
of transitional housing. 124,000 HOME
Program award. Total development costs:
751,850.
In Manchester, the Regional Affordable Housing Corporation developed 16 affordable
apartments close to town shops and services. Intravest Corporation, owner of Stratton
Mountain Resort, is contributing funds from the sale of resort units towards the
Manchester Commons Development.
40
Housing Vermont
Thayer House, Brandon. 49,990 additional
award for rehabilitation of 9 rental units
in a historic building. Total project cost:
220,000.
Saxton’s River Family Housing, Rockingham.
100,000 additional award for debt reduction
and stabilization of a 17-unit multi-family
rental development. Total project cost:
330,000
Lake Champlain Housing
Development Corporation
Waugh Opera House, St. Albans. 350,000
award for acquisition, rehabilitation and
related expenses to develop 16 affordable
units in a 20-unit rental, including historic
preservation of the downtown building. Total
project cost: 3,787,721.
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. Total
organizational budget: 1,000,000.
Lamoille Housing Partnership
Stowe Community Housing, Stowe. 264,000
Special Project Grant for the construction and
related expenses of 42 units on Sylvan Road.
Total project cost: 6,433,674.
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. 20,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 326,000.
Lund Family Center
Lund Family Center Expansion, Burlington.
324,000 award for construction and related
expenses in 18 transitional housing units.
Total development costs: 3,163,000.
Norwich Housing Corporation
Norwich Senior Housing, Norwich. 151,683
award for capital improvements and refinancing
of 24 rental units for seniors. Total
development costs: 1,369,800.
Randolph Area Community Development
Corporation & Housing Vermont
Branchwood Apartments, Randolph. 50,000
HOME Program award for development of 12
units of family housing on 2 sites in downtown
neighborhoods. Total development
costs: 1,974,193.

Housing Awards July 2003–June 2004
Regional Affordable Housing Corporation
Manchester Commons, Manchester. 424,003
award to develop 16 units family rental housing
(15 new construction). 400,000 HOME
Program award. Total development costs:
2,109,081
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. Total
organizational budget: 352,000.
Rockingham Area Community Land Trust
140,00 Technical Assistance loan for organizational
redevelopment.
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. 20,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 700,000.
Rutland County Community Land Trust
Mussey Street Mobile Home Park, Rutland
City. 105,000 award for acquisition and infrastructure
improvements to add 7 affordable
lots. Total development costs: 371,000.
Colonial Apartments, West Rutland. 258,000
award for the acquisition, rehabilitation and
related expenses of a 14-unit senior rental development
including energy related improvements.
Total project cost: 1,057,500.
Tuttle Block, Rutland City. 265,000 Special
Project Grant for acquisition, rehabilitation,
and development of 13 apartments in a historic
downtown building with commercial
space on the ground floor. Total development
cost: 4,265,395.
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. 20,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 400,416.
Town of Charlotte
Charlotte Affordable Housing. 25,000 Project
Related Capacity award to identify opportunities
and resources intended to lead to the
creation of affordable housing in Charlotte.
Total project cost: 25,000
Twin Pines Housing Trust
Organizational Development Grant. 39,000
for organizational development costs. 20,000
HOME Program award. Total organizational
budget: 280,246.
STATEWIDE
HOMELAND Program
593,000 recapitalization of program to
provide purchase subsidies, down payment
and closing cost assistance and rehabilitation
loans to 28 home buyers purchasing homes
through nonprofit housing organizations
statewide. 275,000 Federal Home Loan
Bank of Boston Affordable Housing Program
funds. 150,000 IORTA funds granted
by VHFA.
Vermont Center for Independent Living
Home Access Program, Statewide. 300,000
award for program providing accessibility
modifications in homes and apartments
statewide. 20,000 HOME Program award.
Total project costs: 739,014.
Vermont Community Loan Fund
Permanent Capital/Housing Lending Fund,
Statewide. 50,000 award to provide loans
at below market rates to affordable housing
projects.
Organizational Development Grant. 29,000
for organizational development costs. Total
organizational budget: 767,000.
In Cabot, eight affordable units for seniors are under construction, allowing aging
community residents to remain in their community.
41

Housing Awards July –December 2004
42
Addison County Community
Action Group
Creek View Housing, Vergennes. 100,000
Special Project Grant for rehabilitation and
related expenses of 19 affordable units in a
36-unit family rental development in five
buildings near downtown Vergennes. Total
project cost: 3,716,725.
Smallest City Housing, Vergennes. 124,500
additional Special Project Grant for rehabilitation
of 19 apartments in 2 historic buildings on
Main Street. Total project costs: 3,370,427.
Addison County Community Trust
Stone Hill Apartments, Middlebury. 260,000
award for acquisition, construction and
related expenses of 22 affordable units in a 27-
unit multi-family rental development close to
downtown. 415,000 HOME Program award.
Total project cost: 4,798,143.
Lindale Mobile Home Park, Middlebury.
340,000 award for acquisition and infrastructure
rehabilitation of a 67-lot park within
walking distance to downtown, schools and
services. 50,000 HOME Program award.
Total Project cost: 1,590,000.
Brattleboro Area Community Land Trust
Brattleboro Transitional Housing, Brattleboro.
375,000 award for acquisition and
rehabilitation of 3 multi-family rental properties
to provide permanent and transitional
housing for 15 low- and moderate-income
single and expectant mothers with supportive
services. 383,360 HOME Program
award. Total project cost: 2,502,160.
Central Vermont Community Land Trust
Evergreen Place, Waitsfield. 254,000 award
for acquisition, construction and related
expenses for the conversion from shared
housing to 18 affordable independent rental
apartments for the elderly. 263,000 HOME
Program award. Total redevelopment cost:
2,632,750.
HallKeen Real Estate Investment
Winooski Falls Riverfront Downtown Project,
Winooski. 1,500,000 HOME program
award to be disbursed over a four-year
period for the construction and related
expenses of 118 affordable units in a 228-
unit development in the Central Block of
the downtown Winooski redevelopement
project. Total project costs: 49,255,811.
Housing Foundation, Inc.
School Street Apartments, Plainfield. 320,000
award for the redevelopment of 8 senior and
5 family rental units in the village center.
190,000 HOME Program award. Total project
cost: 1,092,000.
Laurendon Apartments, Greensboro.
190,000 award for acquisition and rehabilitation
of a 10-unit senior rental housing
development near the village center. Walking
distance to services and public access area
for Caspian Lake. 120,000 HOME Program
award. Total project cost: 934,000.
Housing Vermont
East Dorset Housing, Dorset. 300,000 award
for acquisition, construction and related
expenses of 16 affordable units in a 20-unit
multi-family rental development with 4 homeownership
units. 350,000 HOME Program
award. Total project cost: 4,221,985.
Morningside House
Morningside Emergency Shelter, Brattleboro.
25,000 Transitional Housing award
for renovations to add one furnished transitional
unit, consolidate office space, and
add a community room and a play room for
children residing in the shelter. Total project
cost: 115,125.
Rockingham Area Community Land Trust
Gageville Affordable Housing, Gageville.
Additional 75,000 HOME Program award
for further rehabilitation of 4 rental units in
former school building.
Southview Housing, Springfield. 675,000
award for rehabilitation and energy efficiency
improvements for 69-unit family rental
development consisting of 18 buildings on 14
acres. Total project cost: 5,645,600.
STATEWIDE
Vermont Center for Independent Living
Home Access Program, Statewide. 400,000
award for program providing accessibility
modifications in homes and apartments
statewide. 20,000 HOME Program award.
Total project costs: 642,500.
Organizational Development Grants
466,000 for organizational development
grants to 12 organizations. 174,006 HOME
Program awards.
Feasibility Fund Recapitalization
250,000 recapitalization of fund used for
grants of up to 15,000 for project predevelopment
costs such as options, surveys,
appraisals, engineering, energy audits and
marketing studies.
Habitat for Humanity
250,000 recapitalization of fund for land
acquisition and construction costs of 10
homes to be built by Habitat for Humanity
and Vocational Education Programs.
HOMELAND Program
600,000 recapitalization of program to
provide purchase subsidies, downpayment
and closing cost assistance and rehabilitation
loans to at least 36 home buyers purchasing
homes through community-based housing
organizations.

Conservation Awards July 2003–June 2004
Capital Area Land Trust
Canales Park, Barre City. 22,000 award for
acquisition of approximately 2 acres to create
a new City park for public recreation. Total
project cost: 52,650.
Catamount Trail Association
Catamount Trail Access, Bolton. 36,200
award for acquisition of a trail access easement
on 20 acres including 3.23 miles of the
Catamount Trail located in the Bolton Valley
Resort ski area, including the key first leg of
the historic Bolton-Trapps trail. Total project
cost: 40,857.
Cross Vermont Trail Association
Cross Vermont Trail, Plainfield. 13,873
award to conserve 4 acres including a halfmile
section of the multi-use trail. Total
project cost: 16,873.
Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity/Burlington
Housing Authority
Calvary Red Maple Swamp, Burlington.
10,000 award to conserve a 10-acre urban
natural area with a trail system in conjunction
with the development of 8 homeownership
units on an adjacent 2-acre parcel. Total
project cost: 10,000.
Intervale Foundation
Calkins Community Farmstead, Burlington.
92,500 award for the historic renovation
of the Calkins Farmhouse, the last dairy
farmstead in the city. Total project cost:
508,153.
Lake Champlain Land Trust
Shelburne Village River Park, Shelburne.
68,250 local conservation award for the
acquisition of a 1-acre parcel linking townowned
lands upstream and TNC-owned
lands downstream; non-motorized boat
launch; adjacent to proposed bike path
bridge. Total project cost: 140,000.
Vermont Land Trust photo
Jersey trio at the 129-acre Lewis Farm in Tinmouth, conserved by the Vermont Land
Trust.
Middlebury Area Land Trust
Otter Creek Access Project, Middlebury/
Weybridge. 100,000 award to acquire and
conserve 17 acres, creating a public park
with Otter Creek access. Reservation of
one affordable housing lot. Total project
cost: 800,500.
New England Tropical Conservatory
New England Tropical Conservatory Research
and Education Center, Bennington.
85,000 award to acquire and conserve 85
acres at the gateway to Bennington. Walking
trails, nature study stations, 10-acre
development area to include a research
and education center housing classrooms,
offices, botanic gardens and greenhouses.
Total project cost: 444,700.
New England Tropical Conservatory/
Vermont Land Trust
Greenburg Property Stewardship, Bennington.
15,000 stewardship award. Total
project cost: 15,000.
Otter Creek Natural Resources
Conservation District
10,000 match award for District staff to
provide technical assistance to farmers to
complete resource inventories, assessments,
and progressive conservation plans and to
develop farmland conservation applications.
Preservation Trust of Vermont
Calkins Farmstead, Burlington. 7,500 documentation
and stewardship award.
Jacob Davis Farmstead, Montpelier. 7,500
documentation and stewardship award.
Chester Academy Building, Chester. 7,500
documentation and stewardship award.
Martin Covered Bridge, Marshfield. 7,500
documentation and stewardship award.
Roxbury Depot, Roxbury. 7,500 documentation
and stewardship award.
43

Conservation Awards July 2003–June 2004
44
Stowe Land Trust
Nichols Farmland Gateway, Stowe. 100,000
local conservation award to acquire and
conserve 38 acres of agricultural land with
public pedestrian recreational access to the
Little River at the edge of the village. Total
project cost: 312,900.
The Nature Conservancy
Sheridan Mountain, Guildhall. 45,000
award for acquisition of a 66-acre ecological
preserve for addition to a 3,452 acre conservation
project. Century-old red oak stand
of statewide significance. Pedestrian public
access. Total project cost: 59,000.
Town of Chester
Academy Building, Chester. 65,000 award
for restoration of historic detail and rehabilitation
of National Register building for
public use in Chester Village Historic District.
Total project cost: 183,230.
Town of Marshfield
Martin Covered Bridge Restoration, Marshfield.
40,000 local award for restoration of
scenic covered bridge on National Register
of Historic Places. Bridge to become the
centerpiece of a new, 120-acre town park.
Total project cost: 116,600.
Town of Roxbury
Roxbury Depot, Roxbury. 40,000 award
for the restoration and rehabilitation of the
historic c. 1848 Roxbury Depot for accessible
public meeting space and town offices.
Total project cost: 264,018.
Two Rivers Center for Sustainability
Jacob Davis Farmstead, Montpelier. 57,500
award for the renovation of the historic
Jacob Davis farmstead, an agricultural
demonstration center and museum. Access
to trails and Winooski River. Total project
cost: 942,500.
Upper Valley Land Trust
Devil’s Den, Bradford. 47,000 award for the
acquisition of a 60-acre natural area, including
access to unique geological formation.
Habitat preservation and public recreational
access. Total project cost: 80,205.
Lockwood Farm, Springfield. 81,900 award
for the acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions of a 96-acre
family dairy farm located on the scenic
Skitchewaug Trail. 73,000 NRCS grant.
Total project cost: 169,900.
Upper Valley Land Trust photo
Vermont Agency of Agriculture,
Food & Markets
Rainville Farm, Highgate. 77,500 award for
the acquisition of development rights and
conservation restrictions on a 150-acre dairy
farm. 55,000 NRCS grant. Total project
cost: 134,500.
Cassidy Farmland (Rainville), Highgate.
103,500 award for the acquisition of development
rights and conservation restrictions
on 237 acres farmland to be added to the
conserved Rainville home farm. 82,000
NRCS grant. Total project cost: 187,500.
Riendeau Farm, Swanton. 196,619 award
for the acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 318 acres
for addition to a large block of conserved
farmland. 168,000 NRCS grant. Total
project cost: 366,819.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and
Recreation & Vermont River Conservancy
Lower Clarendon Gorge, Clarendon. 74,750
award for the acquisition of 48 acres for
addition to previously conserved 18-acre
parcel. Conserves the entire length of the
gorge, a natural area with public access for
recreation. Total project cost: 100,500.
Vermont Land Trust
Knowles Farm, Charlotte. Additional 8,800
award for the acquisition of development
rights and conservation restrictions on 99
acres farmland. Public trail easement to link
with developing multi-town trail network.
Total project cost: 420,900.
Lewis Farm, Tinmouth. 71,000 local conservation
award for acquisition of development
rights and conservation restrictions
on 129-acre farm with historic farmhouse.
72,000 NRCS grant. Total project cost:
249,325.
The Upper Valley Land Trust conserved
the 96-acre Lockwood dairy farm located
on the scenic Skitchewaug Trail in
Springfield.

Conservation Awards July 2003–June 2004
Reed Farm, Sheldon. 76,500 award for
acquisition of development rights and conservation
restrictions on 130 acres. 54,000
NRCS grant. Total project cost: 132,300.
Devos Farmland, Ferrisburgh. 149,500
award for acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 195 acres
farmland. 246,000 NRCS grant. Total
project cost: 538,400.
Bergmans II Farmland, Ferrisburgh. 43,500
award for acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 65 acres
farmland linked to previously conserved
home farm acreage. 24,000 NRCS grant.
Total project cost: 68,700.
Farr Estate Farmland, Shoreham. 140,750
award for acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 177 acres
farmland with 5,600 feet frontage on Lake
Champlain. Pedestrian public access to
the lakeshore. 204,750 NRCS grant. Total
project cost: 501,500.
Charlestream Farmland, Ferrisburgh.
170,500 award for acquisition of development
rights and conservation restrictions
on 237 acres farmland. Ecological protection
of wetlands. 150,000 NRCS grant. Total
project cost: 323,100.
Nadeau II, Holland. 54,500 award for acquisition
of development rights and conservation
restrictions on 100 acres of farmland
and sugarbush linked to previously conserved
Nadeau home farm. 33,000 NRCS
grant. Total project cost: 89,300.
Hinsdale Farm II, Charlotte. 82,700 award
for acquisition of development rights and
conservation restrictions on 87 acres of
farmland. Trail easement for public access
and linkage to area trail system. 60,300
NRCS grant. Total project cost: 683,000.
Valley Ridge Farm (Phelps/Marshall), Orwell.
52,000 award for acquisition of development
rights and conservation restrictions
on 226-acre sheep and cattle farm with historic
19th century farmstead. 50,500 NRCS
grant. Total project cost: 156,600.
Vermont Land Trust photo
Taber Farm Add-on, Berlin. 28,500 award
for the acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 28 acres
farmland for addition to the conserved
home dairy farm. Visible from Rt. 12 and the
Amtrak passenger trainline. 15,000 NRCS
grant. Total project cost: 45,000.
Maple Tree Farm (Stabile), Pawlet. 18,000
award for acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 130-acre
beef, pork and maple sugaring operation;
18 acres of deer wintering habitat. 104,800
NRCS grant. Total project cost: 286,000.
Korth Farm, Addison. 116,000 award for
acquisition of development rights and conservation
restrictions on 210 acres farmland
with Otter Creek frontage. 90,000 NRCS
grant. Total project cost: 212,700.
Conserved Jones farmland, Hyde Park
Menard Farmland, Cabot. 127,700 award
for acquisition of development rights and
conservation restrictions on 148 acres farmland
with panoramic views of the Green
Mountain Range, including Camel’s Hump.
Organic pasture and hayland and 30 acres
of sugarbush. 177,000 NRCS grant. Total
project cost: 376,700.
Laberge Farmland, Charlotte. 145,500
award for acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 236 acres
farmland. 125,000 NRCS grant. Total project
cost: 700,400.
Johnson Estate Farmland, Williston. 40,000
award for acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 196 acres
farmland located at the edge of Williston.
Adds to a block of conserved land; family
farm for more than 200 years. 104,650
NRCS grant. Total project cost: 456,759.
45

Conservation Awards July 2003–June 2004
The Vermont Land Trust collaborated
with Camp DREAM to conserve 50 acres
in Fletcher. Camp DREAM will create an
environmental education-based summer
camp serving children from low-income
housing developments. Trails on the
property will allow for public access.
Vermont Land Trust/Town of Williston
Hill Property, Williston. 100,000 local
conservation award for the acquisition of
development rights and conservation restrictions,
stewardship and associated costs
of 23-acres to be transferred to the Town.
Less than 3 miles from Taft Corners, with
public access for outdoor recreation, trail
access, open space, wildlife habitat protection
and stabilization of the Sucker Brook
ravine. Total project cost: 298,775.
46
Vermont Land Trust
Camp DREAM, Fletcher. 100,000 local
conservation award for the acquisition of
50 wooded acres bordering Metcalf Pond
with public trail and water access. A portion
of the conserved property will provide
a location for the Camp DREAM summer
program—an environmental educationbased
camp for children from low-income
housing developments. Total project cost:
338,733.
Bump Farm, Orwell. 61,500 award for
acquisition of development rights and conservation
restrictions on 262-acre farm with
Lemon Fair River frontage. 64,000 NRCS
grant. Total project cost: 190,250.
Western Avenue Woodlands, Brattleboro.
93,493 award for the acquisition and stewardship
31 acres woodland near the village
for public recreational access; adjacent to
Brattleboro Retreat Farm. Total project cost:
160,493.
Vermont Land Trust photo
Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association
Windmill Ridge, Phase VII, Athens. 96,600
award for the acquisition, stewardship
and associated costs of 35 acres of wooded
ridgeline with exceptional views connecting
two sections of the ridgetop non-motorized
multi-use trail. Deer wintering habitat. Total
project cost: 111,800.
STATEWIDE
Farmland Affordability Option
120,000 for options to purchase farmland
at agricultural value.
Farm Viability Grants
280,264 awarded to four nonprofits to
provide technical assistance and business
planning for farmers.
Vermont Agency of Agriculture,
Food & Markets
40,000 grant to help support policy
development, stewardship and project development
of the Farmland Conservation
Program.
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
40,000 grant to assist in the development
of long-range management plans for lands
acquired by ANR with VHCB funds.

Conservation Awards July –December 2004
American Precision Museum
Robbins & Lawrence Armory, Windsor.
100,000 award for the restoration and rehabilitation
of historic c. 1846 mill building
to be developed as national center for the
collection, preservation and interpretation
of the history of precision manufacturing in
Vermont. Total project cost: 732,440.
Climbing Resource Access Group
of Vermont
Bolton Quarry Acquisition, Bolton. 42,350
award for the acquisition, associated costs
and stewardship of 31-acre rock-climbing
and winter ice-climbing destination
in Northwestern Vermont, with old logging
roads for hunting, walking, hiking,
snowshoeing, cross country skiing. VAST
trails and wildlife habitat Total project cost:
64,650.
Essex Junction School District
Park Street School Historic Rehabilitation,
Essex Junction. 60,000 award for the restoration
and rehabilitation of historic c. 1873
brick school housing an alternative public
high school for at-risk youth and public
meeting/education space. Total project cost:
800,000.
Franklin Natural Resources
Conservation District
10,000 match award for District staff to
provide technical assistance to farmers in
the completion of resource inventories,
assessments and progressive conservation
plans and preparation of farmland conservation
applications.
Jericho Underhill Land Trust
Casey’s Hill, Underhill. 100,000 local
conservation award for the acquisition,
stewardship and associated costs of a 9-acre
winter sledding hill with views of Mount
Mansfield. Year-round public recreational
use; walking distance from school. Total
project cost: 245,931.
Preservation Trust of Vermont
Robbins & Lawrence Armory, Windsor.
7,500 documentation and stewardship
award.
Park Street School, Essex Junction. 7,500
documentation and stewardship award.
Town of Glover
Glover Recreation Area, Glover. 25,000
local conservation award for the acquisition
of 6 acres for a town ballfield and recreation
area. Total project cost: 53,500.
Vermont Agency of Agriculture,
Food & Markets
Bullis/Rainville Farm Add-on, North Hero.
14,625 award for acquisition of development
rights and conservation restrictions on
10 acres farmland for addition to previously
conserved 334-acre home farm. Total project
cost: 14,625.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks &
Recreation
Hatch Parcel, Westmore. 185,000 award
for acquisition and associated costs of a
3- acre inholding in Willoughby State Forest
providing public outdoor recreation
opportunities and lake access. Total project
cost: 185,000.
Vermont Land Trust
Jones II Farm, Hyde Park. 117,500 award
for acquisition of development rights and
conservation restrictions on 173 acres of
farmland for addition to previously conserved
dairy. 99,000 NRCS grant. Total
project cost: 219,000.
Kellogg Farm, Bethel. 176,500 award for
acquisition of development rights and
conservation restrictions on 245 acres of
farmland. Ecological protection zone with
40 acres rare floodplain forest; White River
frontage. 156,000 NRCS grant. Total project
cost: 334,700.
Lake Paran Conservation Project, Shaftsbury.
248,787 award for the conservation
and public access easement on 56 acres with
2,850 feet of Lake Paran shoreline. Total
project cost: 288,787.
Western Avenue Woodlands, Brattleboro.
6,507 additional award for acquisition and
stewardship of 31 acre parcel of woodland
near the village for public recreational access;
adjacent to Brattleboro Retreat Farm.
Total project cost: 160,493.
Troy River Parcels, Troy. 30,700 local
conservation award for acquisition, stewardship
and associated costs of 16 acres for
community gardens, canoe and river access,
camping, river buffer and continued use as
farmland by local organic dairy. Total project
cost: 173,770.
Paquette Farm, Ferrisburgh. 115,200 award
for acquisition of development rights and
conservation restrictions on 108-acre dairy
farm. 97,000 NRCS grant. Total project
cost: 214,600.
Yandow I, II, III, St. Albans/Swanton.
295,600 award for acquisition of development
rights and conservation restrictions on
441-acre dairy for addition to a large block of
conserved farmland. 244,000 NRCS grant.
Total project cost: 544,300.
A&E Underwood Farm, Swanton. 80,500
award for acquisition of development rights
and conservation restrictions on 115 acres
farmland; abuts 1,500-acre block of conserved
farmland. 60,000 NRCS grant. Total
project cost: 140,500.
Village of Barton
Barton Park, Barton. 47,000 award for the
acquisition of a 2-acre community park in
the Village providing for public recreational
use. ADA trails, access from Main Street to
the Barton River, riparian protection. Total
project cost: 108,900.
STATEWIDE
Farm Viability Grants
377,866 awarded to five non-profits to
provide technical assistance and business
planning for farmers.
Organizational Development Grants
281,000 for organizational development
grants to 10 conservation organizations.
47

Partners in Project Development January 2003–December 2004
48
Funding Partners
Bank North
Charter One Bank
Chittenden Bank
Citizens Bank, Nashua, NH
Citizens Housing and Planning
Association, Boston, MA
Community National Bank
Vermont OEO Weatherization Programs
Development Training Institute,
Baltimore
Efficiency Vermont, Burlington
Enterprise Foundation, Columbia, MD
Factory Point National Bank,
Manchester
Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston
First Colbrook Bank, Colbrook, NH
First Community Bank, Rutland
Housing Assistance Council,
Washington, DC
Housing Vermont, Burlington
Institute for Community
Economics, Springfield, MA
Key Bank
Mascoma Savings Bank
Merchants Bank
Morristown Revolving Loan Fund
Neighborhood Reinvestment
Corporation
Northfield Savings Bank
Office of Ecomonic Opportunity
Passumpsic Savings Bank, St.
Johnsbury
Preservation Trust of Vermont
USDA Rural Development
U.S. Dept. Housing & Urban Development
Vermont Community Development
Program
Vermont Community Loan Program
Building Community Fund
Vermont Department of Developmental
and Mental Health Services
Vermont Development Credit Union
Vermont Housing Finance Agency
Foundations
Enterprise Foundation
Freeman Foundation
John Merck Fund
Open Space Institute
Still Point Fund, Stowe
Tommy Thompson Trust
Waterwheel Foundation
Windham Foundation
Thomas Armstrong, Holderness, N.H.
Accountants
Angela Norder, Morrisville
G.W. Osterman & Co., Barre
Gene A. Besaw & Associates, Newport
Hickok & Boardman Financial Services,
Burlington
JMM & Associates, Burlington
Nesseralla & Co., Concord, NH
Otis, Atwell & Timberlake, Portland, ME
Paul Birnholz, St. Albans
Stevens, Wilcox, Baker, Potvin, Cassidy &
Jakubowski, Rutland
Appraisers
Allen & Cable, Inc., South Burlington
Central Vermont Appraisers, Inc., Rutland
Eric Benson, Court St. Montpelier
Everett Real Estate, Brattleboro
James Thetford, Montpelier
Keller, Navin, O’Brien & Kaffenberger, Inc.,
Burlington
Lareau Appraisal Service, St. Albans
Larry Martin, Martin Appraisal Services,
Waterbury
Luce Hill Appraisal Associates, Stowe
Russell Rice, Brattleboro
Sal DeMaio Real Estate Appraisals, St.
Johnsbury
Sandi Murphy Appraisal, Enosburg
Sargeant Appraisal Service, Rutland
Scott Marsh Appraisals, Derby
Architects
Arnold & Scangas Architects, Colchester
Bannister & Greenberg, Putney
Black River Design, Montpelier
Bruno Associates, Inc.
Centerline Architects, Bennington
Duncan Wisniewski Architecture,
Burlington
Gossens Bachman Architects, Montpelier
Gregory Rabideau Architects, Burlington
Jeremy Coleman, Brattleboro
John Q. Doane, Essex Junction
NBF Architects, Rutland
Scott + Partners, Essex Junction
Terra Firma, Burlington
Vermont Arcitects Collaborative,
Montpelier
William Maclay Architects, Waitsfield
Williams & Frehsee, Brattleboro
Ylian Alfaro Snyder & Associates,
Montpelier
Attorneys
Anderson & Eaton, P.C., Rutland
Bauer, Anderson & Gravel, Burlington
Stan Brinkman, Woodsville, NH
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, Burlington
Dot Helling, Montpelier
Fred V. Peet, South Burlington
Gensburg Atwell & Broderick, St.
Johnsbury
Geoffrey M. Fitzgerald, Montpelier
Gravel and Shea, Burlington
Jay C. Abramson, St. Johnsbury
John P. Monette, Derby
Kolvoord Overton & Wilson, Essex
Junction
May & Davies, Barton
Michael Hertz, Brattleboro
Mickenberg, Dunn, Kochman, Lachs &
Smith, Burlington
Molde Black & Govoni, Johnson
Paul Frank & Collins, Burlington
Roesler Whittlesey Meekins & Amidon,
Burlington
Ryan, Smith & Carbine, Rutland
Salmon & Nostrand, Bellows Falls
Unsworth Powell Barra Orr & Bredice,
Essex Junction
Webber, Chapman & Kupferer, Rutland
Zuccaro, Willis & Bent, St. Johnsbury
Consultants
Abide, Inc., East Longmeadow, MA
Adult Services – NCCC, Newport
Amy Wright, Richmond
Associates in Future Planning, Williston
ATC Associates, Richmond
Barden Inspection & Consulting Services,
Hinesburg
Bellows Falls Downtown Development,
Bellows Falls
Building Science Corporation, Westford,
MA
Burlington Community Land Trust,
Burlington
Capital Ideas, Inc., Hinesburg
Catamount Environmental, Wilmington
Cathedral Square, Burlington
Clay Point Associates, Inc., Williston
CPG Enterprises, Inc., Shaftsbury
Curt Albee, South Strafford
Earth Systems Consulting, Colchester
Efficiency Vermont, Burlington
Environmental Compliance Services, Inc.,
Brattleboro
F & M Development Co., Burlington
Future Planning Associates, Inc., Williston
GEM Environmental, North Adams, MA
Goldfield Construction Management,
Burlington
Green Mountain Environmental, Plainfield
Griffin International, Williston
Housing Vermont, Burlington
J. D. Kantor, Inc., Montpelier
JFP Consulting Services, Chester
Joan Peters, Guilford
Kathy Beyer, Hinesburg
K-D Associated, Inc., South Burlington
Keller O’Brien & Kaffenberger, Burlington
Kent Haskell, Groton
Partial list as provided by grant recipients.

Partners in Project Development January 2003–December 2004
Consultants
Liz Pritchett Associates, Montpelier
Lyssa Papazian, Putney
Mad River Research, Waitsfield
Mary Jo Llewellyn, Montpelier
McCain Consulting, Waterbury
MidState Asbestos, Inc., Roxbury
Mirror Consulting, Woodbury
Nathan Kastelein, Newport Center
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.,
Boston, MA and Washington, DC
R.W. Steen Associates, St. Johnsbury
Right-Trak Design, Inc, Weare, NH
RN Culver Consulting, Essex Junction
Robin Snyder, Huntington
Sleeping Lion Associates, Inc., Montpelier
Solbakken Technology Partners, St.
Johnsbury
Star Construction, Castleton
Steve Pitkin, Albany
SVE Associates, Keene, NH
T.J. Boyle & Associates, Burlington
Technology Solutions, Fort Worth, TX
The Johnson Company, Montpelier
The Verterre Group, Inc., Colchester
Tom Dillon Consulting, Burlington
Twin State Environmental, Colchester
University of Vermont, Burlington
UVM Consulting Archeology Program,
Burlington
VOTEC, Tom Rooney, Newport
Ward’s Systems, Morrisville
Wheeler Environmental Services, Barre
William D. DeBonville, Barton
Woodbury Organization, Woodbury
Contractors
AG Frame & Finish, Dublin, NH
Allen Lumber, Barre
Alpha Electric, South Burlington
Amer Electric, Keene, NH
American Construction, Swanzey, NH
American Electrical, Bethel
Ames Electric Service, Inc., Newport
B&H Electric, Morrisville
Barker Steel Company, Canaan, NH
Bazin Brothers, Westminster
Benoure Plumbing, South Burlington
Bernie LaRock & Son, Guilford
Bienvenue & Ackel, Addison
Bill Coutts Construction, Marlborough, NH
Blue Ridge Construction, East Montpelier
Boudreau Electric, St. Albans
Brattleboro Roofing, Brattleboro
Build Tech, Springfield
Bullet Builders, Hinesburg
Burlington Commercial Interiors,
Isle La Motte
C & L Plumbing & Heating, S. Burlington
Carpet Connection, St. Johnsbury
Carroll Concrete, Newport; West Lebanon, NH
Champ Mechanical, Williston
Champlain Well Drilling, Barre
Cheshire Fire Protection, Troy, NH
Cheshire Glass, Keene, NH
Ciampi Construction, Montpelier
Claude Verdon Seamless Gutters,
Newport Center
Closet Concepts, West Lebanon, NH
CMA Carpentry, Ellsworth, ME
CMA Construction, West Chesterfield, NH
Colchester Contracting Services,
Colchester
Cole’s Flooring, West Lebanon, NH
Connor Contracting, St. Albans
D.G. Morin, Richmond
David Manning Inc., Brattleboro
David White, Barton
Delibac Construction, Colchester
DEW Construction Corp., Williston
DiBernardo Electric, Bellows Falls
Donna & Ike Danforth, Groton
Dubois Construction, Middlesex
Ducharme Excavating, Derby Line
Dupont Logging Inc., North Stratford, NH
EC Floor Sanding, Keene and Swanzey, NH
Evans Cabinet Company, Dublin, GA
F. W. Cowan & Sons, Inc., Canaan
Fineline Drywall, Keene, NH
Firetech Sprinklers, Colchester
Flooring Concepts, Marlborough, NH
Fred’s Plumbing & Heating, Inc., Derby
Gagnon Contracting, Burlington
Gallery of Cabinets, East Montpelier
Gate’s Electric Inc., Newport
Genes Electric, Inc., Newport Center
Green Mountain Insulation, Williston
Gregory Building Supply, Burlington
Guyette Roofing, Peterborough & Jaffrey, NH
Harris Heating & Plumbing Inc.,
Lyndonville
Harvey Industries, White River Junction
Hegeman Electric, Essex Junction
Home Energy Assistance Technology,
Newport
Home Partners, Hartford
Home Partners, West Lebanon, NH
Huestis Plumbing, Brattleboro
J. P. Beote, Inc., Gray, ME
John D. Morrie Construction, St. Albans
John Hammer Plumbing & Heating, Cabot
Jonathan H. MacFarlane, Newport
Judd Plumbing & Heating, West
Charleston
Keddy Electric, Ltd., Colebrook, NH
Ketch Green, Chesterfield, NH
Kingsbury Construction Co Inc., Waitsfield
Kreative Window Treatments, Holbrook, MA
Laferrier Construction, Inc., West Danville
Lakewind Construction, Burlington
Lamoille Construction, Inc., Morrisville
Latham Homes, Inc., Waterbury
Luke’s Electric, Inc., Newport
M & M Carpet Service, Barre
Marc Rancourt, West Stewartstown, NH
Mario R. Paul Excavating, Inc., Derby
Mark Fixter, St. Johnsbury
Mark Mudgett & Sons, Glover
Millbrook Building & Remodeling, Inc.,
Essex Junction
Moulton Construction, West Lebanon, NH
Naylor & Breen Builders, Brandon
Neagley & Chase, South Burlington
New England Foam & Coating Inc.,
St. Johnsbury
New England Water Systems, Inc.
Nicom Coatings, Barre
North Country Career Center, Newport
North Country Welding, W. Chesterfield, NH
Northeast Propane Service, St. Johnsbury
Northwoods Excavating, Inc.,
Thetford Center
Nudd Electric, East Hardwick
Ouellette Plumbing, Williston
Pearson G. Carr, Canaan
Peck Electric, South Burlington
Perkins Lumber, West Chesterfield, NH
Phillip Caron Trucking & Backhoe,
Colebrook, NH
Phoenix Roofing, Townshend
Pinette Mechanical, Cabot
PJD, Stoddard, NH
Powers Plumbing & Heating, Groton
Pride Builders, Canaan Nelson’s Welding,
Alstead, NH
Puffer Excavating, Groton
Randall Contracting, Barre
Reliance Steel, Colchester
Rich Beam, Stoddard, NH
Richard Bergeron, Keene, NH
Richard E. LaClair Sr., Barton
Robert Langlands, North Troy
Ron Chase & Sons Plumbing & Heating,
Concord
Round Hill Fence, Irasburg
Ruggco Inc., Barnet
Rumery Land Surveys, Newport
Russell Construction Services, Rutland
Ryan Brothers Electric, Burlington
S & J Electric, Williston
S & R Electric, Milton
S & S Painting, West Swanzey, NH
Sanders Drywall & Painting, Jay
Sanville Building Construction, Morgan
Scherer’s Plumbing & Heating, Derby
SEVCA/Best Energy, Westminister
Sherwin Williams, Keene, NH
Simon Operating Services, Inc.,
Waterbury
Southern Vermont Sprinkler, Brattleboro
Steve’s Septic, Vernon
Stewart Construction, Essex Junction
STS Construction, East Hardwick
Sunapee Flooring, Newport, NH
Sweeney & Belisle, Jeffersonville
T. J. Water Works, Derby
Technol, Newport
The Home Decorating Store, W. Lebanon, NH
49
Partial list as provided by grant recipients.

Partners in Project Development January 2003–December 2004
50
Tri State Sprinkler
Trombly Electric, Washington
Trombly Plumbing & Heating, Inc.,
St. Johnsbury
True Builders, Westford
Truline Land Surveyors, St. Johnsbury
TSJ Foundations, Brattleboro
Twin State Roofing, South Royalton
Twin State Sitework, St. Johnsbury
Vermont Concrete Cutting, Barre
Vermont Correctional Industries, Windsor
Vermont Offender Work Programs,
Waterbury
Vern Crawford, Canaan
Wamsley Painting, Barre
Wesfield Construction, W. Chesterfield, NH
Wilbur Electric, Pittsford
Willey’s Seamless Gutters, Newport
Center
William B. Curtis, Newport
WR Painting, Ashuelot, NH
Wright & Morissey, South Burlington
Yankee Electric, Winooski
Engineers
Bannon Engineering, Warren
Bill Bissell, Jericho
Black River Mechanical, Ludlow
Champ Mechanical, Williston
Champlain Consulting Engineers,
Colchester
Chenette Associates, Barre
Civil Engineering Associates, Inc.,
Shelburne
Construction Materials Testing, Whitefield, NH
Criterium-Lalancetter Engineers, Rutland
Cross Consulting Engineers, St. Albans
David A. Lawes Engineering, Inc., Barton
Dick Culver, Essex Junction
Downing Engineering, Harrisville, NH
Dubois & King, Randolph
Dufrense & Associates, Windsor
Dufrense-Henry, Springfield
Engineering Ventures, Inc., Burlington
Eric Morse, Guilford
Greg Dubois, L.S., Berlin
GWR Engineering, Shelburne
Hallam Associates, Burlington
Hardy Structural Engineering, LLC,
Enosburg Falls
I.C.E., East Montpelier
Ina Hladky, Essex Junction
Innovative Consulting Engineers, North
Montpelier
John F. Penney Consulting Services,
Chester
Kirick Engineering Associates, Colchester
Knight Consulting Engineers, Williston
Krebs & Lansing, Colchester
L.N. Consulting, Burlington
Lawes Engineering, Barton
Lawes Engineering, Williston
Little River Survey Co., Stowe
Northern Environmental Services,
Piermont, NH
Otter Creek Engineering, East Middlebury
Peter Stevenson, Middletown Springs
Provan & Lorber, Montpelier
Richard Drew, Lyme, NH
Roberts and Franzoni, Rutland
Ruggles Engineering, St. Johnsbury
Short Surveying, Inc., Middlebury
South Mountain Surveying, Bristol
Southern Vermont Engineering,
Brattleboro
Speath Engineering, Manchester
Stephen Booth, Shelburne
Stevens & Associates, Brattleboro
Stewart Structural Engineering, Barnet
Summit Engineering, South Burlington
SVE Associates, Brattleboro
Thomas Mechanical, South Burlington
Trudell Engineering, Williston
Wolbach Engineering, South Burlington
Wright Engineering, Ltd., Rutland
WV Engineering Associates, Keene, NH
Landscapers
Broadleaf Landscape Architecture,
Waitsfield
Distinctive Landscaping, Charlotte
Ed Hough’s Snowplowing & Excavation,
Rutland
Goldleaf Enterprises, Burlington &
Swanton
Heartwood Landscape Design &
Maintenance, Essex Junction
Jean E. Vissering Landscape, Montpelier
KRG Land & Tree Services, Woodbury
Maple Hill Landscaping
North Country Landscaping, Williston
Vermont Offenders Work Program
Wagner McCain, Burlington
Lead Paint Contractors
CPG Home Safe Paint & Construction LLC,
Winooski
Environmental Hazards Management,
Inc., Williston
Heritage Environmental Projects, Inc.,
Burlington
Lighthouse Environmental & Construction
LLC, East Middlebury
Services
A-1 Sewer & Drain Services, Inc., W. Rutland
Acadia Insurance, South Burlington
A-Cross America Moving & Storage,
Keene & Chesterfield, NH
Advance Sprinkler, Essex Junction
Advance Technology Answering Service,
Rutland
Advanced System Resources, Rutland
AFI, Jericho
Agway Energy Products, South Burlington
Alderson, Inc., Burlington
All Aspects Demolition, Burlington
All Lines Communications Ltd., South
Burlington
All Paint & Stain, Inc., Montpelier
Allen Lumber, Barre
Alpine Building Restoration, South
Burlington
Alpine Sprinkler, South Burlington
American Health Value, Boise, ID
Aspen Publishers, Inc., Frederick, MD
Associated Insurance Agencies, Newport
Austins Rubbish & Roll Off Services, W.
Charleston
Avery’s Cafe, Lyndonville
B & B Rubbish Removal, Rutland
Bard Flooring, Burlington
Barden Inspection & Consulting Services,
Hinesburg
Bay Sate Elevator, Essex Junction
Bazin Brothers Trucking, Westminster
Beldon Company, Inc., Rutland
Bendig, Rutland
Best Energy Saving Technologies,
Bellows Falls
Bienvenue & Ackel, Addison
Blake Jenkins Painting, St. Johnsbury
Blanchard Door & Hardware, Burlington
Blanchard Drywall, Mt. Holly
Blue Mountain Trucking, Groton
BlueCross/Blue Shield of Vermont,
Montpelier
Blueprints Etc., Inc., South Burlington
Bohn & Associates, Hartford
Boise Cascade, Pittsburgh, PA
Bourne’s, Inc., Morrisville
Brattleboro Reformer, Brattleboro
Brattleboro Self Storage, Brattleboro
Brown’s Welding, Bristol
Bugbee Insulation, Jericho
Burlington Electric Department,
Burlington
Burlington Public Works, Burlington
Burrell Roofing, Williamstown
C & C Painting, Shelburne
Cacicio’s Heating, Inc., Barre
Caledonian-Record Publishing,
St. Johnsbury
Carlene Paquette, Dummerston
Carpet Barn, Newport
Carpet Warehouse, Inc., Rutland
Carter Fire Protection, South Barre
Casella Waste Management, Montpelier
Cellular One, Colchester
Central Vermont Public Service Corp.,
Rutland
Central Vermont Communications,
Rutland
Champlain Sprinkler, Inc., St. Albans
Champlain Valley Weatherization,
Burlington
Partial list as provided by grant recipients.

Partners in Project Development January 2003–December 2004
Services
Charlestown Cornerstone, Charlestown, NH
Charter Communications, Danville
Chase Electric, Williamstown
Cheshire Fire Protection Services, Troy, NH
Chris Lyon, Plainfield
Chuck’s Heating & Air Conditioning,
Colchester
Citizens Energy Services, Newport
Citizens Utilities, Newport
Clark Construction, Fair Haven
Clark’s Moving Service, Barre
Claude Desautels, Richford
Cocoplum Appliance, Brattleboro
Concord Heritage Life Insurance, Concord, NH
Construction Materials Testing, Inc.,
Gilman
Cooper Fence Company, Rutland
Co-Operative Insurance Company,
Middlebury
Countertop & Tub Re-Nu, Inc., Rutland
Country Barrel Marketplace, St.
Johnsbury
Country Home Center, Morrisville
Cowan Surveying, Vergennes
Credit Bureau Service of Vermont, South
Burlington
Credit Bureau Services of Vermont,
Carnegie, PA
CSE, Inc., Williston
CT Group, Utica, NY
Cummings & Son, Brandon
Curt Albee, So. Strafford
Custodial, William J. Allen, Newport
D.G. Roofing, St. Johnsbury
David B. Dwyer, Jr, Newport
David Vadnais, Fair Haven
Denis, Ricker & Brown, Montpelier
Dennis Williams, St. Albans
DeSign Graphics, Rutland
Development Cycles, Amherst, MA
Dibernardi Assoc., Bellows Falls
Dick’s Lock Repair, Brattleboro
Eastern Pipe Service, Merrimack, NH
Eastman’s, Rutland
Edson Painting, South Barre
Elevator Sales & Service, Inc., Dalton, MA
Energy Federation, Montpelier
Eric Morse, Guilford
ESP Security Systems, St. Johnsbury
Evergreen Roofing, Burlington
F & M Development, Burlington
F.W. Webb Company, Williston
Farr’s Tree Service, Waterbury
Federal Kemper Life Assurance, Chicago, IL
Flanders Telephone Service Inc., St.
Johnsbury Center
Flek, Inc., St. Johnsbury
Foster M Whipple, Newport
Fred Blakely Plumbing, Adamant
Fyles Bros., Inc., Orwell
Gallipo Logo Imprints, Rutland
Partial list as provided by grant recipients.
Garwal Lawn Services, Inc., Swanzey, NH
Gary Hall Photography, South Burlington
Gent Communication, Richmond
Giancola Construction Corp., Rutland
Giroux Sign Smith, Burlington
Gordon’s Window Décor, Essex Junction
Gosselin Inc, Derby
Green Mountain Carpet Cleaning,
Lyndonville
Green Mountain Drywall, Wallingford
Green Mountain Electric Supply, Newport
Green Mountain Insulation, White River
Junction, Williston
Green Mountain Messenger, Waterbury
Green Mountain Power Corp., Colchester
Green Mountain Systems & Service, Inc.,
Essex Jct.
Green Mountain Trading Post,
St. Johnsbury
GreenScreen, Rutland
Gregory Supply, Burlington
Gretchen Fadden, Sheffield
Grime Nursery & Landscaping, Waterford
Guyette Roofing & Remodeling,
Peterborough, NH
H.A. Manosh, Corp., Morrisville
Ha Maintenance, Brattleboro
Hank Gadouas Concrete, St. Albans
Harrison Concrete, Georgia & St. Albans
Hartigan Co., Stowe
Harvies Windows, Williston
Hathorn’s Surveys, Wilder
Havreluk Construction, East Fairfield
Hawley’s Florist, Rutland
HCI Craftsmen, Winooski
HOK Masonry, Johnson
Homans Associates, LLC, Williston
Home Partners, Lebanon, NH
Howard Irish Drywall, Cambridge
Howard’s Fire Control, Inc., Rutland
Hubbard Brothers, Inc., Rutland
IKON Financial Services, Macon, GA
J K Lynch Disposal, Inc, Colebrook, NH
J.B. Masonry, Jericho
Jay Landscape & Tree Service, Newport
Center
Jeff Pitts, Rutland
Jeffrey Lanoue, Orleans
Jim Billado Roofing, Colchester
John Douglas Welding, Cambridge
John Ryan, Amherst, MA
John W. Wheeler, Jr., Newport
Johnson Insurance, Montpelier
Juddy’s Septic Tank Service, Morgan
K-D Associates, South Burlington
Kelly Services, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
Kingdom Iron Works, South Ryegate
Kinney Pike Insurance, Rutland
L. Brown & Sons Printing, Inc., Barre
Laberge Building, Hinesburg
Lacillade Lumber, Williamstown
Lajeunesse Interiors, Barre
Lamoille Lock & Key, Waterbury Center
Lee Sturtevant Extinguisher Sales &
Service, Morrisville
Levaggi Environmental, Hyde Park
Life Safety Systems, Essex Junction
Little River Survey Co., Stowe
Loren Hogaboom Masonry, Georgia
Lori’s Cleaning Service, Stowe
Lorman Education Services, Eau Claire, WI
Lyndon Waste Water Department,
Lyndonville
Lyndonville Electric Dept, Lyndonville
Lyndonville Hardware, Lyndonville
Lyndonville Water Dept., Lyndonville
Mad River Research, Waitsfield
Mail Boxes Etc., Rutland & Montpelier
Mansfield Environmental Abatement
Group, Essex Jct.
Mark Valley, Repairs Plus, Sheffield
Mark Woodward, Johnson
McBee Systems, Inc., Athens, OH
MCI, Louisville, KY
McLean Electric, Barre
Melanie Webb, Newport
Micro Information Products, Inc., Austin, TX
Mid State Appliances, North Clarendon
MidState Asbestos, Roxbury
Milton F. Lamberton, Groton
Modern Floors, East Barre
Moe Dubois Excavating, Shelburne
Mona Richardson, Putney
Moretown Landfill, Moretown
Moriah Roofing Corp., Essex Junction
Mount Vernon Lodge, Morrisville
Mountain Glass & Lock, Rutland
Mountain Valley Sprinkler System,
Williston
National Flood Services, Deerfield Beach, FL
NCUHS-Culinary Arts Dept., Newport
Northeast Kingdom Board of Realtors,
Montpelier
Nelson & Small, Inc., Portland, ME
Nelson’s Welding, Alstead, NH
New England Floor Covering, Burlington
New England Foam & Coating,
St. Johnsbury
New England Guaranty, Montpelier
New England Testing, Enfield, NH
Newport Daily Express, Newport
North Star Communications, Inc.,
Cumberland, ME
Northeast Delta Dental, Manchester, NH
Northeast Masonry, Penham, NH
Northeast Paging, St. Johnsbury
Northern Community Management Corp.,
St. Johnsnbury
Northern Environmental Service,
Piermont, NH
Northern Petroleum Co., St. Johnsbury
Northern Security Insurance Co,
Brattleboro
Noyle W. Johnson Insurance Agency,
Montpelier
O’Raine & Sun Co., Rutland
51

Partners in Project Development January 2003–December 2004
52
One Beacon Insurance, Boston, MA
One Beacon Insurance, S. Portland, ME
One Star Long Distance, Inc, Evansville, IN
Opulent Interiors, South Burlington
Orleans County Board Realtors, Newport
Orleans County Sheriff Dept, Newport
Ormsby’s Computer Store, Barre
Parker & Sterns, Inc., Johnson
Patrick Lee, St. Johnsbury
Patriot Insulation, Colchester
Peerless Insurance Company, Keene, NH
Pest Control Service Co., Rutland
Peter Wrenn, Brattleboro
Photo Pronto, Lyndonville
Pinnacle Ventures, LLC, Enosburg Falls
Pitney Bowes, Inc., Louisville, KY
Planning Insights, Yarmouth, ME
Plaza Appliance Center, Rutland Town
Ploof Excavating, Salisbury
Poulos Insurance, St. Johnsbury
Power Shift Online, Stowe
Prime Offset, Rutland
Professional Touch Painting, Rutland
Property Management & Maintenance of
Rutland, Rutland
Pulglise Excavating, Underhill
Putnam Investments, Providence, RI
Quick Response Sprinkler Systems,
St. Albans
R & M Maintenance, East Barre
R.J. Weston, Essex Junction
R.K. Masonry, Cambridge
Reed Supply, St. Johnsbury
Reliance Steel, Colchester
Reprographics of New England, Rutland &
Williston
RGF Painting, Barre
Richards Gates Hoffman & Clay Ins.,
Brattleboro
Ricketts & Sons, Warren
RK Masonry, Cambridge
Robert N. Taplin, Inc., Derby
Ron’s Trucking & Rubbish Removal,
St. Johnsbury
Round Hill Fence, Irasburg
Rumery Land Surveys, Newport
Rural Community Transportation,
St. Johnsbury
Rutland Chimney Service, Inc., Rutland
Rutland Contract Cleaners, Inc., Rutland
Rutland Printing Co. Inc., Rutland
Rutland Roofing Co., Rutland
S & M Drywall, Jericho
S.D Ireland Brothers, South Burlington
S.E. Benson, Rutland
S.T. Griswold & Company, Williston
S.T. Paving, Waterbury
SAW Carpentry, South Rygate
Schindler Elevator Corporation,
Springfield, MA
Sears, Chicago, IL
Seeley Earthmoving, Middlebury
ServiceMaster of Central Vermont, Rutland
Seth Rowell, Island Pond
Seven Days, Burlington
Sharon Edson, Barre
Sherwin Williams, Barre & Brattleboro
Signs by Steck, Burlington
Slate Valley Electric, Inc., Fair Haven
Smalley Contractors, Rutland
Smith Bell & Thompson, Burlington
Smitty’s Landscaping, Inc., Morgan
Sovernet, Bellows Falls
St. Albans Glass, St. Albans
St. Jay Hardware, St. Johnsbury
Stabilized Structures, Taftsville
Stairs Unlimited, Richford
Staples, Des Moines, IA
Steve Howard, Rutland
Steve Pitkin, Albany
Stone Envirnmental, Montpelier
Sunapee Flooring & Bedding, Newport, NH
Sundown Corp., Stowe
SymQuest Group, Inc., South Burlington
Taylor’s Color World, Morrisville
Technical Planning & Management,
Waitsfield
The Chronicle, Inc., Barton
The Converse Company, Orleans
The Hardwick Gazette, Hardwick
The Hartford, Philadelphia, PA
The Rutland Herald, Rutland
The Travelers, Chicago, IL
The Vermont Labor Law Poster, Montpelier
The Wall Doctor, South Burlington
The Xpress, Stowe
Tina’s Home Designs, Burlington
Toby’s Sign Shop, Derby
Tom Dillon, Burlington
Toner’s Satellite, Milton
Topnotch Property Maintenance, Orleans
Total Home Center, St. Albans
Travelers Insurance Co, Hartford, CT
Triple T Trucking, Vernon
Tri-State Drilling & Boring Inc, West Burke
Tri-State Sprinkler, Inc., St. Albans
Troll Press, Inc., St. Johnsbury
Tuck Press - Printers, Woodsville, NH
U 1st Plumbing-Heating Co., North
Clarendon
U.S. Postal Service
Unicel Long Distance, Des Moines, IA
Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co.,
Montpelier
VACE, Montpelier
Variable Annuity Life Ins Co., Houston, TX
VeriSign, Inc., Baltimore, MD
Verizon Wireless, Tucson, AZ
Verizon, Inglewood, CA
Verizon, Worcester, MA
Vermont Attorneys Title Corporation,
Burlington
Vermont Color Photo Lab, Bennington
Vermont Electric Cooperative, Johnson
Vermont Gas Systems, South Burlington
Vermont Heritage Distributors, Newport
Vermont Mapping Program, Waterbury
Vermont Mutual Insurance Co.,
Brattleboro & Montpelier
Vermont Offenders Work Program,
St. Johnsbury
Vermont Shade & Blind, Brandon
Vermont Specialty Products, Queensbury, NY
Vermont State Employee Credit Union,
Montpelier
Vermont Tent, South Burlington
Vermont Testing, Moretown
Village of Derby Water & Sewer, Derby
Village of Orleans Electric, Orleans
Village Photography, Morrisville
Vital Signs, Colchester
VMBA, Essex
Vortech Communications, Newport Center
VOWP, Waterbury
Vermont Center for Independent Living,
Montpelier
Vermont Retail Association Insurance,
Essex Jct.
Ward’s Home Repair & Remodeling, East
Arlington
Ward’s Systems, Morrisville
Wayne’s Remodeling, West Rutland
Weber Accessibility Systems, Inc.,
Richmond
Wehse & Kinney Insurance, Rutland
Westbay Drywall, Manchester
Westside Press, Inc., West Rutland
WGMT Magic 97.7 FM Radio, Lyndonville
White’s Heating, Northfield
Wilk Paving, Inc., Center Rutland
Wilk Sealing, Center Rutland
William St. Cyr, Montpelier
Windows & Doors by Brownell, Williston
Wood Lake Title Co., Inc., Rutland
Woody’s Sales & Service, Johnson
WSI of Vermont, Inc., Waterbury
Ziter Masonry, Washington
Suppliers
A.T.D. Signs, St. Johnsbury
Adrien’s Irving, Newport
Allen Lumber Co., St. Johnsbury
Antenna, O’C Satellite Inc., St. Johnsbury
ARM Trucking, Inc., West Stewartstown, NH
Arnold’s Automotive, St. Johnsbury
Aubuchon Hardware, Manchester, NH
Best Software, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Boynton Engraving, Spruce Head, ME
Brandon Lumber, Brandon
Business Essentials, Newport
Canaan Gulf Station, Canaan
Car Laundry, Woodsville, NH
CDW Computer Centers, Inc., Chicago, IL
Cocoplum Appliance, Inc., Brattleboro
Contour Software Inc., San Francisco, CA
Couture Sand & Gravel, Newport Center
Deacon’s Bench Furniture, Littleton, NH
Dell Account, Des Moines, IA
Partial list as provided by grant recipients.

Partners in Project Development January 2003–December 2004
Suppliers
Densmore Electrical Supply, Inc., Rutland
Derby Paint & Paper, Newport
Don’s Carpet One, Newport
DT Supply, Inc., Rutland
E.M. Brown & Son, Inc., Barton
Easton Electronics, Canton, MA
Fire ProTec, Colchester
Flanders Signs, St. Johnsbury
Fred’s Heating Oil & Propane, Derby
Fred’s Propane & Heating Oil, Lyndonville
Gervais Hardware, Island Pond
Gilmore Home Center, Bomoseen
Graybar, Chicago, IL
Green Mountain Electric Supply, Newport
Harvey Industries, Inc., White River
Junction
Home Depot Supply, San Diego, CA
Home Depot/GECF, Macon, GA
Howard Printing, Inc., Brattleboro
Irving Heating Oil, Bangor, ME
Irving Oil & Propane, Lyndonville
Island Pond True Value, Island Pond
J. B. Colton, Orleans
LaPierre’s Decorating Center, Newport
LaValleys Building Supply, Rutland
Lender Support Systems, Inc., San Diego, CA
Lewis Appliance Service & Repair,
St. Johnsbury
Lyndonville Hardware, Lyndonville
Lyndonville Office Equipment, Lyndonville
Mayo’s Glass Service Inc., St. Johnsbury
Micro Information Products, Inc., Austin, TX
Morrisville Lumber, Morrisville
National Foundation Credit Counsel,
Waldorf, MD
NEBS, Groton, MA
Newport Rental Center, Inc., Newport
Noble True Value Hardware, Rutland
North Country Vac & Sew, St. Johnsbury
Northeast Business Equipment, Island
Pond
Northeast Computer Systems, Inc.,
Lyndonville
Northern Petroleum, St. Johnsbury
Nugent Motor Company, Colebrook, NH
Office Quarters, St. Albans
Otter Creek Awnings, Williston
P.A. Hicks & Sons, Inc., Colebrook, NH
Peachtree Business Products, Atlanta, GA
Peck Electric Co., So. Burlington
Perras Ace, Inc., Lancaster, NH
Perry’s Oil Service Inc., Bradford
Persons Concrete LLC, Winnisquam, NH
Pick & Shovel, Newport
Poulin Lumber Inc., Derby
Rapid Forms, Thorofare, NJ
Reed Supply Company, Inc., St. Johnsbury
Register.com, New York, NY
RJ’S Friendly Market, Newport
Rotella, Rutland
Royal Glass & Security Co., Inc., Rutland
Sanborn’s Paint Spot, Rutland
Sears, St. Johnsbury
Sherwin Williams Store 5260,
St. Johnsbury
South Main Body Shop, Inc.,
St. Johnsbury
Spates the Florist, Newport
St. Jay Hardware Inc., St. Johnsbury
St. Johnsbury Paper Company,
St. Johnsbury
Surplus Property, Montpelier
The Carpet Connection, Inc., Lyndonville
The Converse Company, Inc., Orleans
The Front Desk, Newport
The May Store, Lyndonville
The Sign Depot, St. Johnsbury
The White Market, Lyndonville
Toolcraft Rental & Sales Center, Rutland
Viking Office Products, Los Angeles, CA
Wal-Mart, Littleton, NH
Walsh Electric Supply, Rutland
Walter E. Jock Oil Co., Inc., Wells River
Waynes Appliance, Inc., Lyndonville
Yankee Paint, Rutland
53
Partial list as provided by grant recipients.
The Burlington Community Land Trust’s City’s Edge project will
provide 31 affordable homeownership condominiums in a 60-unit
development. The location is convenient to the highway and to
downtown Burlington. Occupancy is expected in March 2005.

Vermont Housing &
Conservation Board
Balance Sheet
June 30, 2004
General Funds Restricted Funds
ASSETS
Cash Accounts $ 11,183,336 $ 1,132,580
Due from Other Funds 114,037 1,440
Receivables 3,752 12,694
Loans Receivable 50,550,887 19,938,585
Administrative Reimbursements Receivable - -
Anticipated Grant Revenues 2,503,000 10,218,208
Repurchase Agreements -
TOTAL ASSETS $ 64,355,012 $ 31,303,507
LIABILITIES and FUND EQUITY
LIABILITIES
Accounts Payable & Accruals $ 168,535 $ 20,072
Due to Other Funds 1,440 114,037
Due to the State of Vermont - 1,984,433
Deferred Revenue – Loans 50,550,887 19,565, 445
Anticipated Grants Committed 2,503,000 8,114,640
Long-term Debt - 398,950
TOTAL LIABILITIES 53,223,862 30,197,577
54
FUND EQUITY
Fund Balance – Committed to Projects 11,036,980 382,783
Fund Balance – Unreserved 94,170 723,147
TOTAL FUND EQUITY 11,131,150 1,105,930
TOTAL LIABILITIES and FUND EQUITY $ 64,355,012 $ 31,303,507
To receive a copy of the audited financial statement, please contact VHCB.

Revenues
$22,603,781
Farms for
the Future
5%
Interest
Income
1%
Loan
Repayments
1%
Other Income
2%
Federal Grant
Revenue
37%
State Property
Transfer Tax
54%
Expenditures
$22,884,758
Other Project
Related Expense
8%
Farms for the Future
Interest Expense
3% Administration
8%
55
Grants and Loans
81%
To receive a copy of the audited financial statement, please contact VHCB.

Housing and Conservation Applications
56
VHCB makes grants and loans to
nonprofit organizations, housing
co-ops, municipalities, and qualifying
state agencies. The Board is able to
respond quickly to assist municipalities
and nonprofits to cope with the
adverse impact of development on
Vermont’s affordable housing stock,
its agricultural land, and its environmental
quality.
The bulk of the Board’s awards
are made for projects associated with
the protection of agricultural lands,
natural areas, public recreational
lands, and historic properties, and for
the preservation, rehabilitation, and
development of perpetually affordable
housing. Special encouragement
is given to projects that meet both the
affordable housing and the conservation
goals of the Fund.
All applicants are required to
show long-term benefit to Vermonters
through deed restrictions or other
mechanisms that ensure the funds
provided will have a lasting effect.
Housing projects must target Vermonters
with incomes at or below
median. Program beneficiaries range
from tenants, potential home owners,
and farmers, to all who enjoy
Vermont’s natural, recreational, and
historic properties.
The Board meets and makes decisions
on applications approximately
eight times a year. Applications are
usually reviewed and decisions made
within five to ten weeks of submission.
Applications are rated according to the
Adopted Rule of the Board. Applicants
are invited to attend the meeting at
which the project is reviewed, and are
informed of the Board’s decision that
same day.
Site visits by VHCB staff are
required prior to submission of housing
applications.
Purchase of Conservation
Easements on Farmland
The Board evaluates farmland conservation
applications in a two-step
process. Pre-applications are reviewed
by the Agricultural Advisory Committee.
This group recommends projects
to be considered by the full Board,
and complete applications are developed
for those projects. Evaluation is
based upon soil quality, location, farm
infrastructure, management, and other
resources brought to the project.
Federal HOME Funds and
Lead-Based Paint Hazard
Reduction Funds
Applications for HOME Program
funds are due on the same dates as
VHCB housing project applications.
Applications for Lead-Based Paint
Hazard Reduction funds are reviewed
as they are received.
Farm Viability
Enhancement Program
The Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement
Program provides funding to
organizations working with farmers
to provide technical assistance and
business planning services. Farmers
may apply to the program by filling
out an application available from
Application Procedures
VHCB, NOFA-Vermont, the Intervale
Foundation, the University of Vermont
Extension Service, or Working Landscapes,
Inc.. Applications are reviewed
as they are received.
Feasibility Funds
The Board provides awards of up to
10,000 to assist with feasibility analysis
for individual projects and up to
15,000 for housing projects involving
more than one building. This program
pays for appraisals, engineering and
environmental studies, options, energy
assessments, and marketing analysis.
These awards are instrumental in
helping grantees bring projects to the
development stage. For a number of
years, the Public Service Department
has provided the Board with funds for
energy efficiency analyses in proposed
housing developments.
Organizational Grants
The Board provides grants to nonprofits
for some of the costs associated
with developing affordable housing
and conservation projects. This crucial
support ranges from up to 15,000 for
new organizations to up to 40,000
for regional groups actively engaged in
developing VHCB projects.
Application deadlines, Board meeting dates and VHCB policies are
available from the VHCB office and are posted on the Board's web
site: www.vhcb.org Applications are available by request. Please call
us for more information or with any questions:
General Information: 828-3250
Housing: 828-3526
HOME Program: 828-5060
Lead Paint Program: 828-5064
Farmland: 828-5066
Other conservation: 828-2117
Farm Viability: 828-0795
AmeriCorps: 828-3253

PROJECT AWARDS BY COUNTY
1987–2004
GRAND
ISLE
16 units
2,980 acres
FRANKLIN
225 units
28,695 acres
ORLEANS
222 units
18,498 acres
ESSEX
13 units
179,432
acres
CHITTENDEN
2,752 units
11,421 acres
LAMOILLE
162 units
14,464 acres
WASHINGTON
664 units
9,191 acres
CALEDONIA
294 units
5,168 acres
ADDISON
505 units
36,181 acres
ORANGE
286 units
9,037 acres
RUTLAND
276 units
14,399 acres
WINDSOR
868 units
8,693 acres
BENNINGTON
321 units
4,173 acres
WINDHAM
511 units
8,135 acres

Since 1987, creating affordable housing,
conserving agricultural and recreational lands,
historic properties, and natural areas.
Vermont
Housing &
Conservation
Board
149 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05602 | telephone: 802 828 3250 | www.vhcb.org