By MICHAEL FRETT
Islander Staff Writer
ALBURGH – Voters approved Alburgh’s school district budget in a special election on Tuesday.
According to Donna Bohannon, Alburgh’s town clerk, voters approved the school district’s revised annual budget 85 to 58 in an election that saw a low turnout typical for special elections in Alburgh.
“For a revote, that’s pretty normal,” Bohannon said of the relatively low turnout seen Tuesday.
Voters in Alburgh originally defeated a previous budget proposal on Town Meeting Day, voting 170 to 152 against the annual budget funding both the Alburgh Community Education Center and affording tuition for high schoolers taught outside of Alburgh.
Following the budget’s defeat in March, school officials trimmed the school district’s proposed budget by $100,000, thinning the school’s annual operations and maintenance budget.
The revised $6.8 million education budget included funding for a new math interventionist position and for expanding a part-time guidance counselor position into a full-time position, as well as funding to cover the 10% increase in teacher health insurance premiums seen statewide.
In an interview with The Islander earlier this year, Alburgh’s school board chair, Michael Savage, said the revised budget would still likely be able to cover periodic maintenance needs at the school as well as programming needed to address COVID-19’s impact on Alburgh students.
Despite a lower equalized per pupil count and common level of appraisal, two variables in the complicated formula used by Vermont to determine education tax rates, the education tax rate in Alburgh is estimated to fall to just shy of $1.50 for every $100 of assessed property value.
In all, 192 elementary and middle school students are currently educated in the Alburgh Community Education Center.

By MICHAEL FRETT
Islander Staff Writer
 
GRAND ISLE – Grand Isle’s selectboard on Thursday backed an effort to explore potentially developing an outdoor ice skating pavilion doubling as a summer sports and performance space in Grand Isle, agreeing unanimously to endorse a grant application seeking funding to study the pavilion.
 
Brought by Grand isle residents Roth Perry, Levi Kraemer, Ralf Schaarschmidt and Ashley White, the proposed pavilion is only in an exploratory phase, currently working on fundraising for an engineering study exploring the feasibility of developing such a space in Grand Isle.
 
The selectboard asserted as much during Thursday’s hearing, stressing the hearing was regarding only a $60,000 planning grant the nonprofit organization formed to develop the pavilion needed selectboard support to access. The nonprofit would fundraise to cover the grant’s 10% match.
 
“I don’t believe we were considering a binding commitment at all,” selectperson Eric Godin said. “This was just to make these guys could get their paperwork rolling with these grants.”
 
Perry, a volunteer coach, said the idea for the pavilion stemmed from a lack of a reliable public skating rink in Grand Isle. A natural outdoor rink had been set up locally in the past, but according to Perry, inconsistent winter weather made it difficult to plan classes and programming for the rink.
 
“You’d go and you’d prep it, and then you’d have a warm-up that weekend,” Perry told The Islander after Thursday’s hearing. “You couldn’t have any programming.”
 
Initially looking at an artificially chilled rink covered with a pavilion, Perry said the idea “snowballed,” eventually evolving into a year-round space that would include a stage for performances and the ability to convert the rink into courts for other sports like pickleball and tennis during the warmer months.
 
According to the group of residents floating the pavilion idea, surveys distributed over social media and through several local organizations have pointed to there being overwhelming support for the pavilion project, with around 90% of the 290 responding residents signaling some interest in using the facility.
 
Organizers said the positive response seemed to show locals agreed that there was, in Perry’s words, interest among Grand Isle residents for more recreational opportunities on the island and “more opportunities to meet people.”
 
“I think people are really craving community,” White, one of the four organizers pitching the pavilion to Grand Isle’s selectboard Thursday, added during a subsequent interview with The Islander.
 
In the weeks since the idea was first proposed, the pavilion has also drawn support from the Grand Isle Recreation Commission and local pickleball association, as well as the Island Stage Vermont Theater and the Champlain Islands Farmers’ Market, Perry told the selectboard during Thursday’s hearing.
 
“There is a paucity of venues in the islands for theater,” Noni Stuart, the president of Island Stage, told Grand Isle’s selectboard. “Really, the only viable theater is in North Hero, and that’s a wonderful space, but we don’t have anything further south, and I just feel like this might give us an opportunity.”
 
Judy Steacy, speaking for Island Arts, echoed Stuart’s sentiments during Thursday’s hearing.
 
“We have the barn up in North Hero, but we’re looking maybe expand as well and have different performing arts we could bring to other communities,” Steacy said. “If that was something we could expand upon, that would be great.”
 
While initially imagined for either Donaldson Park or the town-owned land abutting Grand Isle’s town office and fire station, Perry and several other residents involved with the nonprofit organization sponsoring the pavilion said they would also be open to building on private property as well.
 
Part of the study sought by the pavilion’s supporters was deciding where the pavilion could ostensibly be built in Grand Isle, something Perry stressed was not explicitly focused on town property, and already town interests in potentially developing land near its offices ruled out housing the pavilion nearby.
 
Focus had fallen on Donaldson Park, however, an area where, in previous meetings, local officials had discussed attempting to drive up traffic to help discourage vandalism in the park and an area, Perry told the selectboard, recreation commissioners hoped more people would regularly use.
 
While the proposed pavilion drew vocal support from some during Thursday’s hearing, others expressed concern with potentially siting the new pavilion on town land, citing in particular the town’s possible responsibility for the project should Donaldson Park come to host the pavilion.
 
Perry and others associated with the project asserted the pavilion’s construction and maintenance would be independently supported through fundraising by their nonprofit organization, the Islands Community Pavilion Organization, pledging new taxes would not be needed for the new pavilion.
 
Josie Leavitt, the selectboard’s vice chair, said any future construction in Donaldson Park would be prefaced by a memorandum of understanding between the town’s government and the pavilion’s nonprofit outlining maintenance responsibilities, insurance liabilities and other details.
 
“There are lots of ways to protect the town in terms of ensuring there is no rise to property taxes and, you know, the tax base in general,” Leavitt said.
 
Announcements regarding the grant application the selectboard endorsed Thursday, a Vermont Community Development Program grant, will likely not be made until this coming June.

By MIKE DONOGHUE
Islander Staff Writer

NORTH HERO -- The Grand Isle County Courthouse in North Hero should be open again five days a week by March 1, according to Scott Griffith, the Interim State Court Administrator.

Griffith on Thursday, in response to the latest series email from Grand Isle State's Attorney Doug DiSabito, wrote that an employee from Securitas, the Judiciary’s private security vendor, will be available to help fill the needs for screening at the courthouse. 

Chittenden County Sheriff Kevin McLaughlin also has made a commitment to help, Griffith wrote.

DiSabito said resuming fulltime operations is great news for Grand Isle County residents that want to have their judicial services delivered in their home county.
 
DiSabito has been helping lead the charge since former Court Administrator Patricia Gabel ordered the historic county courthouse closed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays last August due to staffing shortages for security.

DiSabito, along with the three state senators and two state legislators that serve Grand Isle County, have been among the officials pushing for fulltime service to resume.  The state eventually resumed four-day service last fall, but DiSabito kept pushing for restoration of full service.

He maintained Grand Isle County should never be treated any less than all the other counties in Vermont.
 
"Persistence pays off," DiSabito told The Islander when reached by phone on Thursday.

Griffith said many people have been involved in the talks and he cited John Campbell, executive director for the Vermont State's Attorneys and Sheriffs and his staff in Montpelier. 

State Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle/Colchester and Sen. Corey Parent, R-Franklin/Alburgh, who serve on the Senate Institutions Committee, said Thursday they are continuing to work on securing funds to ensure improvements required due to COVID restrictions can be implemented at several courthouses, including in North Hero.

Mazza said the legislators and judiciary have been working on trying to restore full court services throughout Vermont, but he was especially concerned about Grand Isle County. 

Parent, as part of an email chain, told Griffith that there will be a push to ensure proper funding for the Judiciary in the Capital budget for the upgrades in North Hero.
 
State Senate Minority Leader Randy Brock, R-Franklin/Alburgh upon learning about the increased service, sent a return email to Griffith thanking him.
 
"This is very good news and your continued work to re-open fully the Grand Isle Courthouse is very much appreciated,"  Brock wrote.

Grand Isle Sheriff Ray Allen had notified the state last April that his deputy assigned to courthouse security would be retiring during the summer and the department would not have anybody to replace him.  Allen said the state judiciary would have to take back the security contract at the courthouse.

The state did not take enough constructive steps to fill the void by the time the deputy retired.   Gabel ordered services reduced to two days a week.  The Selectboards in at least three towns in the county became upset by the loss of services and Chairman Jeff Parizo in Grand Isle began to organize a county-wide meeting.  He later punted the organizing to DiSabito and his staff.

Three key figures from the Court Administrators Office came to Grand Isle in September for the county-wide meeting with state legislators, town officials and taxpayers concerned that they could not get legal services in the county.  Among those attending was one judge and one retired judge, who were not impressed by the reduced service for Family, Civil, Criminal and Probate divisions.

By October, Griffith said a temporary plan was developed for security services for 4 days a week.  That has continued on, but DiSabito  and others kept asking when full service would resume.  
 
It now looks like it is just less than two weeks away.

By ISLANDER STAFF
NORTH HERO -- Grand Isle County State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito said Tuesday that the triple shooting leaving two dead and one seriously wounded in Alburgh was pointless.
“This was a senseless shooting of two people after a brief, petty dispute over hunting rights on a certain parcel of land,” DiSabito told The Islander.  The shooting is the first reported homicide case in Grand Isle County since DiSabito was sworn in as its chief prosecutor in February 2015.
DiSabito responded to the scene shortly after the shooting late Saturday night and has continued to work with state police.
He said he is shocked that people are turning more to firearms to settle disputes.
“Shortly after this tragic event occurred, there was a reported road rage incident in Chittenden County where shots were allegedly fired.  And then there was the murder suicide in Lamoille County after that.  All senseless and heartbreaking.  People must keep their tempers in check, and not resort to such devastating violence,” he said.
“Where is all this hatred originating from in our society?  It has no place in our communities,” DiSabito said in his email.
“On a related note, I am incredibly disappointed by the various posts and comments on social media—people are spewing hatred at each other, providing misinformation, disparaging law enforcement, criticizing press releases, and so on.  It is so incredibly divisive and serves absolutely no legitimate purpose.  It just perpetuates more hatred and division, at a time when we should be providing kind words and consolation to the families and friends affected by this tragedy,” he said.
DiSabito reported his office is continuing to work with Vermont State Police, its Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Vermont’s Chief Medical Examiner “with the goal of completing this investigation and finding out every fact that led up to the death of two Islanders.”
He wrapped up his comments: “I extend both my sincere appreciation for all the first responders and law enforcement officers who responded to the scene, and my heartfelt condolences to all the families and friends of the deceased.”

By MIKE DONOGHUE
Islander Staff Writer

ALBURGH --  The deaths of two Alburgh men following a wild shootout outside a home on Cameron Drive have both been ruled homicides by Vermont's Chief Medical Examiner and Vermont State Police.

David Mohamed, 51, died from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, while Larry P. Cameron, 41, died from a single gunshot wound to the torso, according to the autopsies conducted on Monday.    

Cameron’s cousin, Devin Cameron, 27, of Alburgh remains in critical condition at the University of Vermont Medical Center after being struck by multiple gunshots, including critical injuries to his arm. 

The triple shooting happened outside Larry Cameron’s residence and was the culmination of feud that had simmered for about a week on who had the right to hunt on land in North Hero owned by an out-of-stater.

It reached a boiling point on Saturday evening and ended with shots flying shortly before 10 p.m. on the private single-lane dead end road.

Friends of the three men had told The Islander that there had been some public feuding and threats on social media leading up to the shooting.

State police also confirmed that shortly before the shooting a fistfight between Devin Cameron and David Mohamed had happened at Dillenback Bay fishing access in Alburgh.  

Mohamed got the losing end of that fight and the two Camerons left the access, according to police.

Police said Mohamed then drove to Larry Cameron's home in an apparent search to continue the dispute.  He was accompanied by two friends -- a 23-year-old man and 25-year-old man, both from North Hero -- in a separate vehicle. 

State police outlined the shooting in the following way:

"Investigators learned Larry Cameron then came out of the garage area of his home carrying a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and fired multiple shots into the air in an effort to prompt Mohamed to leave. By this time, Devin Cameron, who was unarmed, had joined Larry Cameron beside the driver’s door of Mohamed’s pickup truck while Mohamed remained seated inside," police said.

"Mohamed then brandished a .308 rifle. A struggle ensued over the rifle, and there was an exchange of gunfire from the armed men. Mohamed was struck multiple times by rounds from the handgun. Larry Cameron was struck once by a rifle round.  Devin Cameron sustained multiple gunshot wounds," police said.

State police said the investigation is continuing and that when completed they will ask Grand Isle County State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito to determine whether to file any charges on the shooting or any events leading up to it. 

DiSabito, who arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting, has worked with police over the past 3 days.

Law enforcement got involved when 911 calls about the shooting began shortly before 10 p.m.  The U.S. Border Patrol due to the agency's close proximity, was the first with officers at the scene about 10:17 p.m.  The Border Patrol  eventually secured the site and offered first aid to the wounded and by 10:21 Alburgh Rescue was cleared to come down the road.

State troopers arrived at 10:25 p.m. and began the investigation.  It was about 10:45 p.m. before Alburgh Rescue was able to leave the scene with Devin Cameron.

Missisquoi Valley Rescue and Grand Isle Rescue also responded.

The Islander will update this story for the print edition.

By MIKE DONOGHUE
Islander Staff Writer

*Updated 11/28/2021, 6:10 p.m.*

ALBURGH --  The names of the victims in the triple shooting that left two people dead and one critically injured in Alburgh have been released by authorities.

David Mohamed,  51, of Alburgh and Larry P. Cameron, 41, of Alburgh were found dead on Cameron Drive shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, state police said.

Cameron’s cousin, Devin Cameron, 27, of Alburgh remains in critical condition at  the University of Vermont Medical Center.

The triple shooting happened outside Larry Cameron’s residence and centers on a simmering feud over the past week or so on who had the right to use land for hunting.  It reached a boiling point on Saturday evening.

State police said they do not expect to rule on the types of shootings in each of  the three cases.  That is expected to come after the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington completes autopsies.
​
State police spokesman Adam Silverman said the department expects to issue an update following the autopsies on Monday.

*Updated 11/28/2021, 1:32 p.m.*

ALBURGH --  Two men are dead and a third man is in serious condition following a triple shooting outside a residence on Cameron Drive, south of route 78 in Alburgh late Saturday night.

Names of the three local men are being held pending further investigation and notification of their families, Vermont State Police said.

At a press conference held Sunday afternoon, Captain Scott Dunlap, head of the Major Crimes Squad said the shooting appeared to center around an “ongoing dispute regarding hunting on some property, hunting access.”

He later said the dispute had been ongoing for about a week.

“One man was in his early 40’s. One man was in his early 50’s” Dunlap said.

The wounded man is in his late twenties and listed in critical but stable condition according to Dunlap.

The report of a triple shooting was received about 10 p.m. and the U.S. Border Patrol was able to secure the scene so that the Alburgh Rescue squad could reach the victims, officials said. Missisquoi Valley Rescue and Grand Isle Rescue also responded to the initial call.

The initial plan was to airlift the wounded man to a hospital, but eventually an ambulance rushed him to the UVM Medical Center where he underwent emergency services, officials said.

Grand Isle County State's Attorney Doug DiSabito also responded to the scene to assist state police, who eventually arrived.
 
The shooting is believed to have involved just the three men and no gunman was on the loose.

"All the people involved are accounted for," DiSabito told the County Courier at the scene.
 
DiSabito, who helped secure a search warrant for the property, said there were two other witnesses at the scene during the shooting.

Detectives and members of the Major Crime Squad were asked to respond to work with the initial responding road troopers. 
 
By Sunday morning investigators were waiting for the Vermont State Police Mobile Crime Lab to be driven to the scene.  The daylight allowed for the crime scene specialists to better comb the area for clues.  The area was sealed off with yellow police tape.

There is no ongoing threat to public safety, police said.   

Following the initial investigation, the plan was to transport the bodies of the two dead men to the morgue in Burlington for autopsies by the office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the specific cause and manner of death for each.

The two bodies remained at the scene Sunday afternoon until after the Crime Scene specialists had a chance to look for evidence.  
 
Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact state police at (802) 524-5993.

**********

11/28/2021 - 12:27 p.m.

ALBURGH --  Two men are dead and a third man is in serious condition following a triple shooting outside a residence on Cameron Drive in Alburgh late Saturday night.

Names of the three local men are being held pending further investigation and notification of their families, Vermont State Police said.

The shooting appears to be related to a dispute over deer hunting. 

The report of a triple shooting was received about 10 p.m. and the U.S. Border Patrol was able to secure the scene so that the Alburgh Rescue squad could reach the victims, officials said. Missisquoi Valley Rescue and Grand Isle Rescue also responded to the initial call.

The initial plan was to airlift the wounded man to a hospital, but eventually an ambulance rushed him to the UVM Medical Center where he underwent emergency services, officials said.

Grand Isle County State's Attorney Doug DiSabito also responded to the scene to assist state police, who eventually arrived.

The shooting is believed to have involved just the three men and no gunman was on the loose.

"All the people involved are accounted for," DiSabito told the County Courier at the scene.

Detectives and members of the Major Crime Squad were asked to respond to work with the initial responding road troopers. 
 
By Sunday morning investigators were waiting for the Vermont State Police Mobile Crime Lab to be driven to the scene.  The daylight allowed for the crime scene specialists to better comb the area for clues.  The area was sealed off with yellow police tape.

There is no ongoing threat to public safety, police said.   
 
Following the initial investigation, the plan was to transport the bodies of the two dead men to the morgue in Burlington for autopsies by the office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the specific cause and manner of death for each.

The Vermont State Police along with DiSabito is expected to hold a press conference this afternoon at the Alburgh Fire Station.
 
Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact state police at (802) 524-5993.

By MICHAEL FRETT
Islander Staff Writer
SOUTH HERO – As South Burlington’s Doreen Ingham scoured White’s Beach in late October for driftwood, she noticed something peculiar poking out from beneath a beached log and other debris.
She dug around, she said, and pulled out from beneath the log a small liquor bottle. Inside was a letter, written to someone identified only as “Sam” and signed by someone known only as “M.”
“It’s a beautiful letter and I’m kind of sad to see there was no date on it,” Ingham told The Islander. “When I opened it and started reading it, it was so heart felt.”
The letter, as Ingham noted, was undated. There are no obvious clues about where the letter came from and where it was supposed to wash up. Lake Champlain flows north, meaning the letter had almost an entire lake and numerous tributaries it may have been sent from before washing ashore in South Hero.
“Is it for somebody here during the summer? Somebody who lost someone?” Ingham asked. “It gives me goosebumps.”
The letter itself describes a relationship its author summarizes curtly as “very special,” recalling adventures, book dates and nights beneath the stars.
“From the love letters you’ve written to me, to the flowers you picked for me on the side of the road, you’ve made it hard not to fall in love with you,” reads one line.
According to Ingham, all signs point to the letter having been buried on White’s Beach for some time. 
The plumbing tape used to secure its bottle had started to fail and mold had formed on parts of the letter by the time Ingham dug it out from beneath a log. She had found the letter’s bottle further up the beach as well, closer to where water levels might sit in the spring rather than the fall.
For Ingham, it was another treasure that had come from years of casing South Hero’s shoreline. Only a recent transplant to the South Burlington area, Ingham said she had, for years, walked South Hero’s beaches in search of driftwood and other items she and her partner would reclaim for art.
Sold as “BooCat Designs,” their work ranges from ornaments to rain chains and mobiles, all framed with driftwood and colored with other treasures recovered from Lake Champlain’s shores. One ornament shared with The Islander displayed sea glass and pearls within the grooves of a chip of wood.
Walks on the beach were also something, Ingham said, she could do with her son, a 14-year-old who had joined Ingham on South Hero’s shores ever since he was three.
“It’s the one thing we do that really bonds us, the one thing we can do for hours,” she said.
As for the letter, Ingham is holding onto the original copy for the time being. She said she wonders about the couple the letter described, adding that she hopes they had eventually found one another at some point after the letter was sent.
“To put it on paper, it’s so permanent,” she said. “I hope they hooked up somewhere along the line.”

By MIKE DONOGHUE, Islander Staff Writer
NORTH HERO - The Vermont Court Administrator’s Office has developed a temporary plan that would allow the Grand Isle County Courthouse to be open four days a week beginning later this month.
Under the plan, the courthouse would be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, according to Scott Griffith, the chief of planning and court services for the state.
The new system could begin as early as Oct. 18 and “will remain in place until a more permanent solution to the security shortage can be found,” Griffith told The Islander in an email this week.
Court Administrator Patricia Gabel ordered the historic courthouse closed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays beginning Aug. 1 because her office was unable to find a law enforcement officer or a suitable screener to work at the front door.
Grand Isle County Sheriff Ray Allen had notified Gabel’s office in April that he would not renew the security contract because of the retirement of a deputy sheriff.  Allen said he was short on personnel and nobody in his department was willing to take a pay cut to fill the court job.
Gabel’s office was unable to find a solution over the 3 months and locked the doors starting Aug. 1.
Griffith said the judiciary will be “temporarily reassigning management personnel who are authorized to perform courthouse security functions to be onsite at the Grand Isle courthouse on these days.” 
It is believed that State Court Security Chief Rob Schell, who also is a deputy sheriff in Grand Isle, will be helping to fill in on the extra days.
The courthouse has limited access on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  People are allowed to drop off items at the front door with the security officer. 
The new plan was good news for some of the officials that have been leading the charge to get the courthouse fully re-opened.
“This is a start,” said State Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle/Colchester.  The state’s senior senator said more work needs to be done by the judiciary and legislature to try to ensure the needs are addressed. 
Mazza said Tuesday he was alerted Monday evening that a possible plan was ready.  He said he is interested in moving forward and not looking back on who is to blame.  He has been talking regularly with Chief Administrative Judge Brian Grearson on the issue.
Grand Isle County State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito said he was unaware of the settlement until contacted by The Islander on Tuesday morning.    
“I want to thank all the residents and government and state officials that rallied.  This is a step in the right direction,” DiSabito said.
He frequently maintained -- at meetings and in emails to Gabel and others -- that Grand Isle county residents were not getting equal access to justice -- something the Vermont Constitution requires.
The Grand Isle Selectboard initially proposed a county-wide meeting on the closing issue and DiSabito later helped organize and moderate the session last month. Gabel did not attend the two-hour meeting, but sent three high-level officials from her office to field questions from town officials, state legislators, law enforcement and local taxpayers.
“We are exploring the helpful suggestions that were offered at the recent meeting and are preparing a detailed memo as a follow-up,” Griffith said.
“Our assessment of these suggestions is that they would be longer-term to implement than the security solution we have identified, though they may be needed in the future,” he said. 
Teri Scott, director of trial operations, Gregg Mousley, chief of finance and administration and Schell were assigned to attend the meeting and help deliver a possible plan.
Griffith stressed Vermonters have access to justice available in Grand Isle through a variety of means, including by phone and email.
That is the message that the Court Administrator’s Office has been pushing since closing the courthouse, but one current judge, Ned Spear, and one retired judge, Ben Joseph, were among those that offered pushback at the public meeting last month.
During the county-wide meeting it was explained to the state court officials that abused women running from their abusers may flee to the courthouse for safety, but could find the doors locked three days a week.  The women would have no place to turn -- especially if they don’t have transportation or computers, the court officials were told.
Some Grand Isle officials and residents had said they have little faith in getting the Court Administrator’s Office to re-open the courthouse again fulltime.  Some saw the security issue as a way to move to a regionalized court system, which was proposed in the early 1990s and eventually rejected.

​By MIKE DONOGHUE
Islander Staff Writer
GRAND ISLE -- Three staff members from the Vermont Court Administrator’s Office provided few solid answers for area legislators, local officials and residents during a two-hour meeting on how to re-open the Grand Isle County Courthouse with fulltime service.
Gregg Mousley, chief of finance and administration said he along with Teri Scott, director of trial operations and Rob Schell, state court security manager, would bring back to Montpelier the comments they heard to try to find a solution.  He did say he doubted there would be any immediate action.
The Grand Isle Selectboard had proposed the regional meeting after Court Administrator Patricia Gabel ordered the North Hero courthouse closed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays due to the judicial branch not having any contracted security beginning Aug. 1.  Grand Isle residents at a couple of meeting expressed the lack of access to the courthouse.
Some like State Sens. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle/Colchester and Randy Brock, R-Franklin/Alburgh, Rep. Michael Morgan, R-Grand Isle/West Milton and Selectboard Chairs Josie Henry of Alburgh and Jeff Parizo of Grand Isle tried to be taskmasters at the meeting.  They pressed for specific answers on solving the issue last Thursday night, but came away empty handed.
Mazza said he was less interested in the mis-steps by the judicial branch as he was in getting the courthouse doors open 5 days a week.  He said he wanted to know if the issue could be solved with more trained personnel and/or more money.
Morgan and Henry, who are both retired from the Air Force, said in the service objections are identified and answers found. What could be done? they asked.
Grand Isle County Sheriff Ray Allen notified Schell in late April that the uniformed deputy sheriff that has served at the courthouse in North Hero was retiring this summer and the department had nobody to fill the spot.  No deputies were interested in taking a pay cut to leave road patrols to work the courthouse details, Allen has said.
Mousley said even if somebody is found to screen people at the door, there was no guarantee the court would be fully open.  He blamed COVID-19 and said there is an issue with ventilation at the historic courthouse in North Hero.
Vermont Superior Court Judge George “Ned” Spear and retired Judge Ben Joseph said public access to the judiciary is needed -- and not over a phone or having to drive to St. Albans.  Joseph said some people don’t have phones, computers or email.  Spear said he sometimes does not have phone access at home.
Mousley disputed the claim a few times during the night.
“Well, you know, as time passes, as I said, we don’t need a courthouse to provide justice,” he said.
The groans and grunts from the audience was clear they did not agree with his assessment.
State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito, who served as moderator for the night, said he thought that was the quote of the night.
South Hero Selectboard Chair David Carter, a retired lawyer, said it was clear Scott, Mousley and Schell do not understand the importance of local justice. 
“They don’t get it.  It’s white privilege.  If they understood they would know how poor people are throughout Vermont,” he said.
Carter said he thought the three were “arrogant and Pat Gabel is as guilty as any of them.”
Gabel was invited to the meeting, but did not attend.  Gabel’s delegation did not say why she was missing or offer any comments on her behalf.
Mousley did say this is not part of a long-sought effort to close some courthouses and going to a regionalization.  He said there are now 7 out of 23 courthouses in the state that are facing closures or reduced hours due to lack of security personnel or ventilation questions that surfaced from COVID.
He did say Grand Isle County has become the most vocal.
The others are the Essex County courthouse, Franklin civil in St. Albans, Orleans criminal and civil in Newport, Windham civil in Newfane, Washington civil in Montpelier, and possibly Windsor criminal in White River Junction.
The turnout filled the conference room at the sheriff’s office.  Local officials were part of the audience, including a large number of selectboard members, including two towns with quorums.  Four of the 5 selectboard members from Grand Isle attended, while 3 came from North Hero.  Isle La Motte was the lone town with no representation.
Franklin County Sheriff Roger Langevin said he attended the session because he is concerned about future contracts for the two courthouses in St. Albans that he provides security.
He said he almost did not renew his contract the last time, but after a weekend of thinking agreed.  Langevin said he later was hit with a 5.8 percent increase in the retirement system that he is now paying out of his pocket.
“I’m losing money,” he said.  “We need to pay our people.”
He said the courthouse contract is $29 an hour, while other contracts, including patrols in a half dozen towns are at $56 an hour.
It was clear that nobody was happy with the way Gabel’s office handled the case -- and some remain unhappy with how the court is operating.
Grand Isle County Assistant Judge Joanne Batchelder noted that in 3 relief from abuse hearings earlier in the day, the court had trouble conducting the remote hearings.  She said the presiding judge was in Barre and there were issues with people unable to submit documents.  At one point the court computer system, called Odyssey, shutdown, she said.
She also said she likes to see the faces of the people and not just listen over a phone.
“It’s not the way justice should be done,” Batchelder said.
DiSabito said he was concerned that the Court Administrator’s Office had set up a contract with a private communications company led by Denise Casey that has cost $59,000 over 10 months and is still in place.  He said the money might be better spent on improving security contracts instead of expanding the court’s communications committee.
Casey also serves on the Vermont Judicial Nominating Board, he said.
Carter said after the meeting he is concerned that the court Administrator’s Office is going to use the ventilation system issue to close the courthouse permanently.
“I don’t think the suits from Montpelier have been in there to look at it,” Carter said.