WVTK Local & State News February 15, 2011

The Agency of Transportation has announced the temporary closure of the Bridge on Vermont Route 74 over the Lemon Fair River between Shoreham and Cornwall. A hole in the bridge deck was discovered by district maintenance early Monday morning, at which time the bridge was closed to one lane for the safety reasons. Subsequent inspections revealed additional concerns with the concrete decks, and all traffic across the bridge was detoured as of 5 PM yesterday. The bridge will remain closed for further inspection and analysis. During this time, Vermont Route 74 will be closed to through traffic from its intersection with Quiet Valley Road in Shoreham to its intersection with North and South Bingham Street in Cornwall. Local traffic only will be permitted.

The Addison Central Supervisory Union will soon be looking for a new superintendent. The board voted against renewing or extending the contract of current Superintendent Lee Sease. That will end his employment with the district on June 30. The vote by the Supervisory Union Directors was made after a lengthy closed-door meeting. The board could not discuss details of what led to the vote because it was a personnel matter.

Town officials and the Holm family are once again exploring a small-scale hydroelectric operation at the Otter Creek Falls in downtown Middlebury. They have been seeking to install a water turbine that would generate electricity from the creek under a building that borders the south side of the Otter Creek Falls. The original proposal would have produced around 1 megawatt of electricity per year for sale to area homes, businesses and the town of Middlebury. They sidelined the project for various reasons in 2009. Now, Holm and the Middlebury select-board Chairman confirmed last week that the two sides have re-entered discussions about the hydro project.

Officials in Monkton are once again addressing the issue of a lack of space in the town offices while also making more room for the town library after a bond was defeated last year. They will discuss their plans and seek feedback at a meeting this Thursday evening. The Municipal Building Committee is now studying the idea of picking up the town hall and moving the whole thing to the town owned land on Monkton Ridge and setting it on a new foundation.

Vergennes aldermen have unanimously adopted a city ordinance that allows Vergennes police to write civil tickets for the possession of drug paraphernalia. Unless a petitioned, it will take effect 60 days from February 8th. Vergennes police will be able to issue a $100 ticket to anyone found in possession of equipment used to inhale, ingest, produce or cultivate illegal drugs.

Drivers in New York who are caught talking on a cell phone will now face points on their driving records. The NY Department of Motor Vehicles says the new rules will go into effect starting this Wednesday. Previously, two points were assigned for texting while driving but now two points will also be assigned to talking and driving.

North Country schools are dealing with the largest reduction in state aid in New York history. For local districts that means more bad news. Peru Central School Superintendent Paul Scott says this is the hardest budget he's worked on in the more than 30 years at the school. That's because his school faces losing $2.5 million in state aid. Peru already cut $1.7 million from its budget last year and reduced employment by nearly 20%.

According to Rutland Police Chief Anthony Bossi expensive future upgrades to the police and fire departments’ dispatch systems could be harder to obtain than they have been in the past. Funding cuts being considered now in Washington could require towns and cities like Rutland to come up with a percentage of the overall cost of technological upgrades to qualify for future federal grants. Based on the cost of the upgrades in the past the city would need as much as $400,000 total for the police and fire departments.

The Burlington City Council voted last night to restructure Burlington Telecom. Councilors said it would make the company more efficient, but would require the city to layoff six workers. The plan will save $400,000 a year, and would cut jobs in customer service, installation and marketing.

Officials say a pickup truck ran a stop sign and hit a school bus transporting about 30 students in Barre. Superintendent John Bacon says two students from the Barre Town Middle and Elementary School suffered bumps to the head when the truck collided with the side of the bus. The crash happened yesterday at about 8:15 AM.Gov.

Peter Shumlin's appointment of a lawyer to chair the Vermont Natural Resources Board is under fire. Ronald Shems, a former assistant attorney general who specializes in environmental and energy law, represented First Wind, the Boston Company now building a wind project in Sheffield. Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, says Shems argued against water quality protections in his capacity as First Wind's lawyer and that it's inappropriate that he'll now chair the Natural Resources Board.

Vermont Congressman Peter Welch says he's pleased with the inclusion in President Obama's proposed budget of 2 items relating to energy efficiency in buildings. The budget proposal includes $1.8 billion for the Home Star program, which Welch says will create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and save homeowners who get help investing in efficiency measures money they're now spending on energy. The president's budget also includes $2 billion for the Better Buildings program, which will promote energy efficiency in office, commercial and industrial buildings.

After several attempts, a scaled-down bond passed through the Essex County Board of Supervisors in earlier this month. The board passed a resolution to bond for $656,000 to purchase equipment and supplies, including two new loaders and a truck for the department of public works.

Vermont Yankee officials said they’d begin testing two of five pipes that could be the sources of tritium found in monitoring wells. In a weekly update to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, plant representatives said the pipes have been identified as potential sources.

Poor ice conditions on Lake Champlain are threatening what is supposed to be the first annual Lake Champlain Pond Hockey Classic in the Vermont town of Colchester. More than 70 teams are schedule to take to the ice next weekend. Organizers say the heavy snow this winter is making it a challenge to skate on lakes.

The new owners of the Cortina Inn in Mendon are preparing for Thursday night's grand opening. The inn has been taking guests for a few weeks, but the Cortina Restaurant officially opens Thursday night. They also plan to open a tavern once they are granted a liquor license. The Vermont Health Department shut down the Cortina in June of 2008 after Legionnaires' disease causing bacteria was discovered in water supply. Right now the resort employs about 15 people but the owners hope to hire more employees as they expand.