Due to the presence of ice jams on the Middlebury River, in
both East Middlebury and easterly up the mountain, the potential exists for
flooding as a result of the warmer weather and heavy rain currently forecast
for this coming weekend. East
Middlebury residents whose properties are prone to flooding should
initiate the appropriate precautions.
Both Route 125 and Route 7 in the area of the river may also be impacted
by flooding. The Middlebury Police
Department will continue to monitor
conditions closely over the next several days. The Public Works Department and
Vermont Emergency Management (VEM) have also been alerted.
Ticonderoga is getting a second opinion
on the Water Project. New Supervisor Bill Grinnell, who made the water project
a central part of his campaign for office, asked the town board to reconsider
the project in his first meeting. The key issue in the water project debate is
whether the town should continue to use its present surface water sources —
Gooseneck Pond and Lake George — or convert to
groundwater wells. New York State
has ordered upgrades and/or new water sources be in place by 2016. Grinnell agrees Ti needs a water project, but
it may not need new sources of water.
The administration of Governor Peter Shumlin wants to almost
quadruple the amount of electricity that small renewable energy projects can
send on to the grid while receiving credit on electric bills for that power. Currently, net metering is capped at 4 percent
at a utility’s peak capacity, but most of the state’s utilities have reached
that limit. Officials want to raise the cap to 15 percent of peak demand for
three years while a more permanent solution is found.
Vermont
lawmakers are looking into whether the use of salt brine on the roads is
causing unintended consequences. For the
past couple of years, VTrans has been pre-coating highways with the liquid salt
mixture to get ahead of storms. But some truckers and mechanics have complained
the brine is accelerating corrosion on the underside of vehicles. VTrans maintains that brine has the exact
same chemical makeup of regular salt and that by using the brine the total
amount of salt on the roads has actually been reduced.
The Legislative Breakfast Series is starting back up
soon. Staring in February area residents
will have the chance to sit down with lawmakers and ask questions about what is
happening in
Montpelier. The first one for 2014 will take place on
February 3 at the Grange Hall in Bridport.
All of the breakfasts start at
7 a.m.,
with the program beginning at
7:30 a.m.
and ending at
8:45 a.m. The series
this year will also feature two lunches, both beginning at
noon and ending at
1:45
p.m. In addition to the March 24 Governor’s Luncheon at the
American Legion in Middlebury, the series will feature an Ag Lunch on March 31
at the Community Hall in Bridport. Purchase of breakfast or lunch is not
required to attend but helps the hosts to defray the cost of opening their
hall. The legislative breakfast series will finish on June 2 with a
post-session wrap-up at the Bridport Grange Hall.
