Granite Chips June 15, 2011
We started with the usual song, pledge & grace.
Roy jumped up right away with a Happy Dollar. He was carrying out an errand for wife Elizabeth, and delivered three hard-bound copies of the Barre City Annual Report to Mario Bonacorsi. The annual report was dedicated to Vergilio Bonacorsi, Mario’s father, former Barre City Mayor and Barre Rotarian.
Ron passed around the sign up sheets for this year’s Rotary Breakfast, which will be Saturday, July 30th. It’s the 28th year the Club will be holding the breakfast on the library lawn. He said we crack 3,500 eggs for our “gourmet” breakfast – and don’t you dare use the word “pancake”!
Somebody proposed a fine on somebody else, and Ron paid a dollar for something. I was too busy signing up for the breakfast.
Bertil gave a Happy Dollar – SBA is holding an event tomorrow evening, and they will be honoring three Barre business people, including Valerie Beaudet (Emslie’s & Ladder 1 Grill), Mollie Brault-Binaghi (Copy World) and Cecile Johnson (CVCAC).
Tess gave a Sad Dollar – she recently saw the movie “Super 8” (which she recommends, by the way). When she was discussing the movie with a younger co-worker, the woman said she didn’t “get” the title. Ah, to be young again!
President Claire said dessert today will be hot fudge sundaes. Then she asked for the secretary’s report – a move that shocked and surprised us all.
Secretary Sue said we had one guest and invited Elizabeth to introduce her. Our guest was Samantha Hammarstrom, who is our RYLA candidate this year. Samantha said she is finishing her junior year at Spaulding, and is a member of JROTC. She is excited about attending RYLA and the leadership training she will be getting there. We wished her all the best at RYLA and invited her to come back afterwards as our speaker.
Karen said this week’s Author at the Aldrich is Richard Phillips, the captain who became world renowned when his ship was captured by Somali pirates.
Joe introduced our speaker today – Tony Klein. Tony is a legislator from East Montpelier and is Chair of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee. He spoke about the ongoing news surrounding Vermont Yankee, and the legislature’s recent actions related to VTY’s licensing.
Tony said VTY was originally built in the early 1970’s to provide ratepayers of Vermont with inexpensive power. It was sold in 2002 to Entergy, and when they bought it, they ramped it up to 120% of production capacity.
They went to the legislature for permission to expand their storage capacity for spent fuel. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in 2005 that allowed Entergy to use expanded storage. Conditions on the expanded storage included looking at the plant as if it were a new plant should they seek to expand their license beyond 2012. Such approvals required approval of the Public Safety Board (PSB) followed by approval of the legislature. In 2006, the legislature revised the approval process so that legislative approval would come first, and PSB approval was dependent upon the proposal having received legislative approval. Entergy is claiming the 2006 change in law is not applicable, and is using this as the basis for a lawsuit.
Tony said the concern has been the lack of a contract for affordable power between Entery and Vermont electric providers (like GMP). He said there is broad support for such a contract, and most legislators, the governor and former governor oppose continued operation of VTY without such a contract.
Tony said the legislature cannot take safety issues into concern when addressing VTY, only economics. He said safety issues are the purview of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Roy asked about alternative energy sources. Tony said there is tri-partisan support for the policy of generation of sustainable energy. He said alternative sources currently account for about 10% of Vermont’s energy needs, and if all of the proposed wind farms are built, they will add another 10%.
The Club thanked Tony for joining us and giving us another side of the nuclear power picture.
Joe reminded us that next week’s speaker is Dr. Deb Richter, who will be speaking about health care reform legislation.
George held the winning raffle ticket. Mine wasn’t even close.