WVTK Local & State News September 2, 2011

The White House has declared a major disaster in flood-ravaged Vermont, clearing the way for federal aid. President Obama signed the declaration Thursday, making individual assistance available for homeowners in Chittenden, Rutland, Washington and Windsor counties and public assistance for infrastructure in 13 of the state's 14 counties, excluding Grand Isle. Gov. Peter Shumlin said the state applied for individual assistance from FEMA for the four counties initially because that's where damage assessments were completed quickest. He says he expects the aid will be extended to other counties. The individual assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured losses. The public assistance is for reimbursing state and local governments for their expenses in dealing with damage for flooding from Tropical Storm Irene.

Two State Highway workers repairing damage to a bridge in Clarendon that occurred during Tropical Storm Irene were rescued by helicopter Thursday evening. The workers had become stranded on a sandbar in the Cold River during a flash flood. The rescue operation took about an hour.

The crest of the Otter Creek is coming slowly but surely through Addison County, having hit Leicester late Wednesday and now approaching downtown Middlebury. The U.S. Geological Survey projected the crest to reach Middlebury between Midnight and 2AM early this morning. Riverside businesses in downtown Middlebury quickly began taking precautions yesterday morning by protecting various buildings with sandbags.

Bristol Town officials have lifted the boil-water order that has been in effect for the municipal water system since Sunday. The first bacteria test on the town’s water system had come back clean. On Thursday morning the results of the second test also came back clean and officials declared the town’s drinking water safe to drink.

Municipalities and residents damaged by Tropical Storm Irene are being encouraged to submit information to the Essex County Office of Emergency Services. Doing so will expedite the process for obtaining public and private aid. Municipalities should also be prepared to meet with FEMA assessment teams. Local leaders are being asked to come up with a list of approximate damages for preliminary assessments.

An Emergency Operations Center has been established at the Public Safety Building in Lewis where local, state and federal entities are collaborating. New York Emergency Management Assistance Compact has engaged an incident management team from California as a part of a state-to-state mutual aid request to assist with this collaboration. Residents are encouraged to use the Essex County website, for the most up to date information. This site is updated regularly throughout the day.

Granville and Hancock, the only two Addison County towns on the eastern slope of the Green Mountains, were among the communities hit hardest. On Monday Granville made it onto a list of 13 communities statewide with no passable roads in or out, but by Tuesday afternoon officials at Vermont Emergency Management reported that Plunkton Road to the north of the town was open, bypassing affected areas of Route 100. And though Hancock fared slightly better, most points of access by road were out of commission at the beginning of this week.

Town officials in Lincoln said the massive amounts of water flowing through town had raised questions about the Gove Hill Bridge and Burnham Hall. The Gove Hill Bridge over the New Haven River in Lincoln village was surveyed earlier this week. They were looking at the potential for the bridge to act as a dam in future flooding events. Mark Benz doesn’t think drastic measures are needed, nor does he see a need for bridge to be taken down. He simply believes the town needs to have a plan to address rising water levels as a result of the bridge. Meanwhile, local officials consider Burnham Hall’s performance a total success. After a 1998 flood ruined the library in the historic hall, the building was renovated to better weather storms.

We all know Tropical Storm Irene has put a lot of attention on Vermont. However, even businesses without any damage are feeling the impacts. That's why state and local communities are trying to get the message out that the doors to many Vermont business are still open. The Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce is asking people to put together short videos to go along with the theme - "Vermont is Open for Business." You can be a business owner, a resident, or someone visiting from out of state. The videos will be posted to the chamber's Facebook page and YouTube. For more information about the project, click HERE.

With vehicular access to once-stranded towns improving, the Vermont National Guard's airlift operation of food, water and other supplies to isolated communities is winding down. Guard Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Goodrow says 90% of the materials that were delivered by the FEMA for distribution in the aftermath of flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Irene have been given out. But he says National Guard helicopters were still flying supply missions yesterday.

Vermont transportation officials were able to tally up some of the damage to infrastructure statewide Thursday. Flooding closed 31 state bridges and 145 state roads. And as least 163 town roads were closed by flood damage, that number is still being tallied. But highway crews are making rapid progress on repairs. Seven of those closed bridges have reopened. And 69 of the state roads have reopened, 45 of those are back to 2-lanes. Help is getting to communities, but residents in hard hit areas face multiple road closures and will for some time.

Vermont's largest electric utility is continuing to make progress restoring service to its customers. But the scope of the devastation means it will be some time before everyone has their power back. Central Vermont Public Service Corporation says fewer than 5,900 customers were without power yesterday morning.

Congressman Peter Welch is touring flood-damaged areas in Rutland and Killington today. Welch plans to visit a business, a Red Cross staging area and a volunteer center in Rutland before heading to Killington to see the damage there.

Due to damage from Tropical Storm Irene, the Green Mountain National Forest is being temporarily closed due to extensive damage. The order means the public is barred from entering or being in any part of the forest until further notice. Crews wielding chainsaws will work through the holiday weekend to clear roads and trails while others will continue to assess the condition of bridges and other facilities.

Vermonters can expect to pay more at the pump this Labor Day weekend. Gas prices are approaching record highs for this time of year. According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of gas is now $3.63. It's $3.65 gallon in Vermont. The last time national gas prices were this high the Friday before Labor day was in 2008, when prices hit $3.68 a gallon.

It’s opening night for the 166th edition of the Vermont State Fair. The midway and exhibits open at 5PM. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors over age 62, $3 for children age 6 to 12, and free for children under age 6. Parking is $3. Ride all night long with a $20 wristband.

There is some good news for Pittsford’s covered bridges. They did not lose a single one of their four historic covered bridges to the August 28th flash flood caused by tropical storm Irene. According to Town Clerk and Treasurer Helen McKinlay, all of their covered bridges, which include the Hammond, Depot, Cooley, and Gorham bridges, are intact. High water reached and covered decking of three of the four 19th-century bridges. The lowest bridges, the Depot and Cooley bridges, will probably be the last to dry out as the floodwater recedes in the coming weeks.

While many communities throughout Vermont are recovering from tropical storm Irene, no CCV facilities were damaged and fall semester classes will start as scheduled the week of Tuesday, September 6th. CCV’s 12 academic centers throughout the state continue to register and enroll students and answer questions. Students are encouraged to contact their local center, or to come in and register as soon as possible. Academic center staff is available at each CCV location to work with those impacted by Irene to accommodate special storm-related academic issues as they put their lives back together. Please don’t hesitate to call local CCV centers with any questions or concerns.

The state of Vermont is asking a court to dismiss a lawsuit by seven employees of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant who claim the state's efforts to close the plant could cost them their jobs. The Brattleboro Reformer reports the Vermont Attorney General's office argues the plant operators' claims have no merit.

Central Vermont Public Service has completed the purchase of the Vermont Marble Power Division of Omya. The transaction was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Vermont Public Service Board. The purchase price of approximately $29.25 million includes Vermont Marble’s hydroelectric facilities and other assets. Included in the sale are rights to serve all customers in Proctor, including the Omya industrial facility in Florence, which will become CV’s single-largest customer.

Proctor Town officials will begin going door to door within the next two weeks to collect income data that could trim thousands of dollars off repayments on a $6.1 million project. Approved by a narrow town wide vote a year ago, the project calls for multiple upgrades to the water system and a switch from surface water to groundwater. The hefty expense for those changes will be paid for by borrowing from the state Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund over a 30-year period.

The Town of Shoreham is set to celebrate its 250th anniversary this weekend! The celebration will include lawn tractor pulls, food, face-painting, a tag sale, the Select-Board Dinner, photography contest, an auction, street dance, classic cars, pre-festival Texas Hold'Em poker, parade, a visit from the schooner Lois McClure, and tons more. There will be fireworks at dusk. There No town wide sales this year, instead there will be a tag sale at the Shoreham Firehouse. The popular cemetery tour, under the auspices of the Historical Society, will highlight people and events over our 250 years. For more info click HERE.

Most of the regular vendors are expected to appear at the Saturday farmers’ market in Rutland. The market was open as normal Tuesday, and market manager Greg Cox said the standard 15 vendors turned out. At least two vendors who were affected by the flooding would be showing up with less produce than usual, and some may not make it Saturday due to transportation issues.