Based on lessons learned
in Irene and other emergencies, the Middlebury Police Department is preparing
for potentially heavy and prolonged rain and wind associated with Hurricane
Sandy. Police officials have
contacted the Fire Department, Vermont State Police, Vermont Emergency
Management, CERT, MVAA, the Public Works Department and the Humane Society to
coordinate response to the storm.
The emergency shelter at the Municipal Gymnasium is also on standby for
storm evacuees, if needed. If
storm conditions warrant, an Emergency Operations Center will be set up in the
Police Department, with representatives from the Dept of Public Works and the
Fire Department on-site to provide a coordinated response to emergency
conditions. Police will be
monitoring weather, including river levels, over the weekend. Currently, it
looks like the storm will hit the east coast early Tuesday, so at this point
Town Officials are planning to touch base first thing on Monday morning to
assess the situation. Updates on
preparations on the storm and emergency alert notices are available on the Middlebury
Police Department's Facebook page.
Members of the Essex
County Office of Emergency Management spent this morning talking to agencies
from throughout the region and state preparing for Frankenstorm. Jay Supervisor
Randy Douglas, who also chairs the Essex County Board of Supervisors, said he
is preparing for a direct impact event.
Emergency response
officials across Vermont are gearing up for Hurricane Sandy's expected landfall
early next week. Vermont is well
away from the coastal areas expected to bear the brunt of the storm, but
officials are still recovering from last year's Tropical Storm Irene, which devastated
the state after causing less-than-expected damage in the New York City area. Experts are now predicting that Sandy
will smack the East Coast harder and wider than Irene did last year, but its
inland impact is unclear. But
Emergency Management officials, the National Guard and the state's dominant
electric utility, Green Mountain Power, are all preparing for a worst-case
scenario and hoping it doesn't come to pass.
South Street will be closed to through traffic this
Saturday starting at 7 AM. The closure
will be at #3 South Street, which is the College President's home. Work is to
install a new water service and fire sprinkler line. All traffic must use Porter Field Road from Main St / Route
30 to get to South Street. The
street will be closed until the work is done, possibly into the late afternoon.
Omya North America is
relocating a laboratory from Proctor to its company headquarters in
Cincinnati. According to the
Rutland Herald, the lab has 24 employees, and it's too early now to know how
many of those jobs will move to Ohio with the lab. The relocation process begins next year.
Vermont Gas Systems and
the Town of Middlebury will hold a public informational meeting on Thursday
November 8th at 7:00 PM at the VFW on Exchange Street in Middlebury. Vermont Gas Systems will present the
latest plans for construction of the planned natural gas pipeline to Middlebury
in 2014 and 2015 including the proposed general areas of service, and routes of
proposed future extensions to Rutland and Ticonderoga. Vermont Gas will also have information
on the procedure for permitting and right of way acquisition. For additional information citizens may
call: Steve Wark, Director of Communications, Vermont Gas Systems, Inc. (802)
951-0373, wark@vermontgas.com. Fred Dunnington, Middlebury Town
Planner 388-8100 x 208, dunnington@townofmiddlebury.org.
The Middlebury Maple Run
and The Mad Marathon and Mad Half are pleased to announce a co-operative
promotion, the MadMiddDoubleHalf, to challenge participants in both races.
Individual runners and two-person relay teams in five categories run both
events and those with the lowest total times will be eligible for ski- and
golf-related awards. The
Middlebury Maple Run—The Sweetest Half is scheduled for Sunday, May 5, 2013. Just miles away on the other side
of the Green Mountains, the third edition of the Mad Marathon and Mad Half will
take place on Sunday, July 7, 2013. The Middlebury Maple Run was started in
2009 by a group of local runners to raise funds for charity and to create an
event that brought visitors to the Middlebury area during a time of year when
there are fewer tourists. This year the Middlebury Maple Run will distribute
race proceeds to several Addison County non-profit organizations. The event
website is www.middleburymaplerun.com.
Vergennes Union High
School will host an opening ceremony and public demonstration of their new
composting facilities November 3rd from 1 - 3 PM. Community members
and VUHS families are encouraged to come with bags of leaves, which students
will add to the pile to contribute carbon to the compost. Vergennes students now
have a new opportunity to learn about food systems and waste management. The
school will start converting all of its food scraps and organic waste into fertilizing
compost this week now that it has complete a new composting facility at the
school.
On Sunday October 14th,
the Vermont State Police responded to a report of vandalism to a motor vehicle
owned by Mark Little of Sanford Road in Orwell. Someone had put a foreign
substance in his fuel tank of his truck.
The vandalism rendered the vehicle inoperable. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Vermont
State Police at the New Haven Barracks (802) 388-4919. Information can also be
submitted anonymously online at www.vtips.info or text CRIMES (274637) to
keyword VTIPS.
After nearly 20 years of
debate over approval for a Wal-Mart in St. Albans, the developers are holding a
ceremony tomorrow to thank supporters. Construction started this fall. The
Burlington Free Press reports some downtown businesses that opposed the store
now think the area can support the Wal-Mart and city businesses.
Authorities say a small
earthquake has rattled parts of New York's northwest corner and neighboring
Canada. The U.S. Geological Survey
reports that a quake with a magnitude of 2.5 was recorded around 12:35 AM
today. Its epicenter was 4 miles northeast of Olcott, on Lake Ontario 30 miles
northeast of Buffalo. Some people
said they felt their homes shake. There
are no reports of injuries or damage.
A magnitude 2.5 earthquake is the smallest generally felt by people.
Railroad companies are
joining forces to reinstate passenger service from New York City to Lake Placid
along a historic railway. The new railroad
excursion would utilize the Lake Placid to Remsen corridor. Yesterday, Adirondack Rail Preservation
Society announced an agreement to develop the tourist option and other railway
uses with Iowa Pacific Holdings LLC.
