WINOOSKI, Vt. -
Things got heated in Winooski Thursday night over the National Guard's push to bring the new F-35 fighter jet to Vermont.
Retired Army Staff Sergeant Steven Vuley didn't hold back his feelings when he saw dozens of protesters.
"We need the highest most valuable equipment that's accessible to us to maintain our freedom and our security. Our troops deserve to have the best equipment that is out there," said Steven Vuley.
But protesters worry the louder jets will not only be a disruption but will hurt their home values and town economy.
"To be told 'no you have to take this devaluation, you have to take this loss of property values because we want to bring this program here' is just not fair," said protest organizer Eileen Andreoli.
"I'm concerned for individual property owners it's also a concern for the city I think because it's going to be a decrease in the tax base," said Winooski homeowner Horace Shaw.
Shaw says there is a potential economic impact on Winooski alone since millions of dollars has been spent on the downtown.
"There's a lot of new places coming in like restaurants with outdoor seating and we're concerned about what impact the noise in particular would have on that kind of development," Shaw said.
Amongst the noise concerns and noise being made, a silent onlooker was taking in the scene. Paul Dufresne is a lifetime resident of Winooski and looks at this situation in a different light.
"I see what happened 1959 when the Ethan Allen airfield closed. It really hurt home value and I'm afraid it's going to hit the same thing right now if we do not accept the F-35s," said Dufresne.
The protest comes the same day Major General Michael Dubie held his first press conference on the F-35. Dubie outlined why the Air Guard believes it's critical to its future.
"The people most at risk are the people who have legacy weapon systems, that's us. We have old fashioned F-16s. We are at risk," said General Dubie.
Dubie says the F-16 jets are going to hit their ends between 2018 and 2020 leaving the F-35 as their only option.
"If we don't get a fighter aircraft, and the F-35 is the fighter prescribed for the F-16 replacement, my professional opinion is we'll be much smaller," General Dubie said.
Much smaller in the sense of less money and fewer jobs. The way the National Guard and General Dubie see it, there is no plan B if F-35s don't land in Vermont.
A heated debate will likely continue until the Air Force makes its final decision on where the F-35 will land.
Related Story:
Gen. Dubie: F-35 not as loud as critics fear
Steven Vuley
Paul Dufresne
Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie
