WVTK Local & State News November 4, 2011 (Afternoon Update)

The Lake Champlain Bridge will re-open on Monday, November 7th! Construction of the span between West Addison and Crown Point is nearly complete and will once again link Vermont and New York over Lake Champlain. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 2:30 PM. Sources indicate that Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is slated to attend the ceremony. New York's Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy is also expected to attend the event.

A Poultney man is dead after his tractor rolled on top of him. According to reports, Gary Miller was widening his driveway off of Lewis Farm Road when the tractor slipped on an embankment and rolled over. The 69-year-old was home alone at the time. Miller's wife found him when she arrived home.

Teachers in the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union, who threatened to strike last February before accepting a short-term contract imposed by the school board, have taken contract negotiations to the next level. The Addison Northeast Education Association teachers union has called for an impasse in the negotiations. This means the union feels a third-party mediator is necessary. Teachers have been working without a negotiated contract since June 30, 2010.

The Addison County Regional Planning Commission board will vote on an updated regional plan that includes a complete re-write of the natural resources section next Wednesday. The county’s regional plan maps out transportation, housing, natural resources, economic, land use and utilities/facilities priorities. By state statute, the document must be revised every eight years.

Salisbury residents have given their municipal planners some ideas as they prepare revisions to the community’s town plan. T he Salisbury Planning Commission is currently interpreting the results of a town-wide survey that sought residents’ opinions on issues ranging from the future of the municipal landfill to the health of Lake Dunmore.

It looks like Middlebury’s hydro plan will finally advance. A family seeking to install a small-scale hydroelectric project at Middlebury’s Otter Creek falls has won permission to take advantage of a streamlined federal review of the plan. They are currently looking for investors to help finance eventual construction.

Vermont wildlife officials say the hunting preserve where a popular moose named Pete lived and died is to close. State Fish and Wildlife Board member Walt Driscoll said that preserve owner Doug Nelson has decided to close the preserve and convert it to cornfields.