Various meetings are set
for this week here in Middlebury.
The Middlebury Business Development Advisory Board will meet this
morning at 11 in the Main Conference Room of the Town Offices. Agenda Items for
this meeting include Fundraising and the Recruitment of a Business Development
Director. The Development Review
Board meets tonight at 7. Various
Public Hearings are on their agenda.
The Finance and Fundraising Task Force of the Town Offices Steering
Committee meets tomorrow in the Small Conference Room. Fundraising is one of the topics to be
covered. Then the Select Board
will hold a special meeting at 7 PM Tuesday in the Main Conference Room. Agenda
Items include Finalizing the FY14 Budget & Warning for Town Meeting. On Wednesday a presentation of a
proposed conservation plan will be made to the Middlebury Planning Commission
by the Winter Term Students at 7 PM in the Ilsley Public Library Community
Meeting Room. For complete agendas
and details on all of these meetings just visit the Town’s Website.
At last Tuesday’s Select
Board meeting a Public Hearing on the FY14 Budget was held. The Board will
finalize the budget based on comments received at the public hearing at its
next meeting tomorrow. The Board has reviewed the draft Warning for Town
Meeting on March 4th and 5th, which included customary articles on accepting
the reports of the Town Officers, approval of the budget, a request for
borrowing for vehicles and equipment and setting tax due dates. Susan Shashok
reported that the River Task Force discussed the Army Corps of Engineers'
letter authorizing the Town to go ahead with its proposed plan for restoration
of the Middlebury River in the spring, subject to review by State and Army
Corps officials. Meanwhile Town
Manager Kathleen Ramsay reported on the meeting on the railway bridge
replacement project held by Local Project Manager Bill Finger for property and
business owners in the project area on January 10th. The group will be
recommending a firm to the Select Board for the project at the Board's first
meeting in February.
Last week Middlebury
Energy Committee member Laura Asermily updated the Board on the Town's
participation in Efficiency Vermont's Home Energy Challenge. Towns meeting the
challenge of energy efficiency improvements to 3% of residences as part of the
initiative are eligible for a $10,000 grant to support energy efficiency work.
Residents can find out more about the Challenge or get visit a free home energy
visit by e-mailing the Energy Committee at middenergy@gmail.com.
Addison residents
concerned about the recent wave of burglaries in Addison and the surrounding
area have scheduled a Community Crime Forum for Thursday, February 7th
from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Addison Central School Multi-purpose Room. The
intent of the forum is to have an open discussion about crime in Addison,
brainstorm ideas on how you can help law enforcement and themselves to be more
aware, and determine if there is a potential to start a neighborhood watch
program and what that might look like. Representatives of the New Haven
Barracks of the Vermont State Police and the Addison Select Board have been
invited to attend and participate in the forum. If you would like more
information regarding the forum, please contact Don Jochum via e-mail at djochum@madriver.net.
Between now and the end of
March, Rural Vermont will host several regional raw milk meetings to help raw
milk producers prepare for inspection by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. The organization has been informed by
the Vermont Agency of Agriculture's Dairy Section and Animal Health Division
that they will be resuming inspections of farms selling raw milk direct to
consumers. The first meeting will
be held in Hinesburg from 11Am – 3PM on Thursday. For exact locations, send an e-mail message to shelby@ruralvermont.org or call 802-223-7222. Rural Vermont members attend
at no charge and there is a $5 fee for everyone else.
Town of Bristol officials have
presented their plan for a new firehouse in town. A VIA architect designed the new station although the
details, and purchase of an expansion property located at 32 North St., is yet
to be determined. The town’s
historic station, considered limited by current standards, would be
incorporated with, and central to the new plan. Voters will have their say on the project on Town Meeting
Day in March. Town Meeting will be held Monday March 4th at Holley
Hall. The Police District Budget
Hearing will be at 6 PM followed by the Annual Town Meeting at 7. Voting will take place on Tuesday the 5th
from 9 AM -7 PM.
Crown Point will celebrate
225 years as a township in 2013 with the publication of a historic guidebook. Crown Point became an incorporated town
March 23, 1788. To mark the anniversary the Penfield Homestead Museum has
published the “Historic Guide to Crown Point, New York – Celebrating 225 Years
– 1788 – 2013.” The 40-page book
took a year to produce. Crown Point was one of the first towns in the North
Country. The historic guide is contains facts, information on people, photos,
sketches, maps and a timeline of Crown Point history. The guide will be
available at Penfield Homestead Museum and at selected area sites throughout
the year.
The amount hasn’t been set
yet, but Essex County is considering a million-dollar bridge bond to replace
more ailing spans. Some of the reasons for that include damages from the 2011
storms delayed their five-year bridge replacement program one to two years. Now
the county has three bridges that the state has said are structurally deficient
and need immediate repairs. Ford Bridge and Martin’s Bridge, both in Schroon,
and Moriah Center Bridge in Moriah are all red-flagged.
The Sentinel Grille’s new
owners have renovated it in the motif of Ticonderoga High School’s purple and
white colors. The restaurant on
Hague Road in Ticonderoga is holding its grand opening at 5 PM this Wednesday with
an inclement weather date of Thursday.
Sharon and Gary Cooke of Port Henry, now own the restaurant formerly
called The Carillon and Tierney’s Restaurant. The chef is still Donald Barber,
who worked for the previous two owners.
Three Vermont teenagers
are facing multiple charges in connection with a pellet-gun vandalism spree
that damaged more than 100 vehicles, business and homes, causing tens of
thousands of dollars in damages. Police
said an 18-year-old from West Rutland and two 17-year-olds, from Castleton and
West Rutland, have been charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of malicious
mischief for allegedly shooting out windows with a pellet gun between 3 AM
Wednesday and Friday afternoon of last week in Rutland and West Rutland. Rutland Police Chief James Baker said
it's the biggest vandalism spree in the city anyone can remember, with at least
111 reports filed in Rutland alone.
Police told the Rutland Herald that the teenagers offered no reason for
the shootings.
Voters at town meeting in
Castleton will decide if they are willing to spend $1 million to construct a
new town office building. The new 4,520-square-foot building would sit on 5
acres of property off Route 30, just south of the current medical center. The
building would be laid out in a way that would allow a new fire station to be
built next to the offices. According to board members, the future vision for
the property, in addition to the fire department, is to construct a helicopter
landing pad and a Babe Ruth baseball field.
Vermont Republican leaders
say they're not impressed with a new report from consultants to the Shumlin
administration outlining some of the financial impacts of the state's planned
single-payer health care system.
The new report says the state would need to raise $1.6 billion in new
taxes, but Vermont employers and individuals will no longer have to pay $1.9
billion in private insurance premiums.
Republican Party Chairman Jack Lindley faults the report for not
recommending how the $1.6 billion will be raised.
A big crowd is expected at
a public hearing this week at the Vermont Statehouse on legislation that would
allow physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of medications to terminally ill
patients who wish to take their own lives. Four legislative committees will be on hand in the main
House chamber to take testimony from the public tomorrow from 5 to 7 PM.
The head of the company
that owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is stepping down this week. J. Wayne Leonard has been chief
executive of Entergy Corp. since 1999, three years before it bought the Vernon
reactor from the group of New England utilities that had owned it before. In honor of Leonard's tenure, Entergy
is creating a $5 million endowment that it says is to address issues of climate
change, poverty and social justice.
Vermont-based ice cream
maker Ben & Jerry's has come out in support of state legislation requiring
labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms, and says it
will stop using such products by the end of this year. The company says 26 of its ice cream
flavors - ranging from Cherry Garcia to Mint Chocolate Cookie - already come
without GMOs. The company's stance
is winning praise from groups supporting GMO labeling, including Rural Vermont
and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. Legislation to require labeling of products with GMOs failed
to win passage last year, but backers are trying again this year.
The Red Cross of Vermont
and the Upper New Hampshire Valley is training perspective volunteer
responders. Yesterday trainees
helped break down a shelter at Burlington's Champlain Elementary School. People
learning to volunteer for the Red Cross take emergency response courses to know
how to best help other people in case of a disaster. Red Cross volunteers have
to respond to a fire or emergency at a moment's notice. If you're interested in volunteering
the Red Cross visit their website and learn more about opportunities and training.
Think gas prices are high
now? Well many Vermont lawmakers want to increase the price at the pump even
more, in an effort to cover road and bridge improvement expenses. The proposed gas tax would make a
gallon of gas five to ten cents more expensive. Lawmakers say there are a few reasons the transportation
budget is in trouble. Vermont
Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding says the reason the revenues are
going down is vehicle miles traveled are going down and fuel efficiency is
going up. There are also
talks of raising fuel, propane and heating oil taxes, but the Shumlin
Administration says it does not support a heat tax.
A Rutland County sheriff's
deputy is recovering from injuries he got over the weekend in a crash involving
his cruiser. State Police say
Deputy Jayson Flood was eastbound on U-S Route 4 when he hit his emergency
lights and veered to the right, trying to make a U-turn. The car behind him tried to drive
around the cruiser, however, and slammed into the driver's side of the patrol
car, according to investigators.
The other driver was not hurt, and the deputy was taken to Rutland
Regional Medical Center with back, neck and head injuries.
Bartonsville has a covered
bridge once more. The historic and
iconic bridge really symbolized the destruction of Tropical Storm Irene when
video shot by resident Sue Hammond showed the span washing away. On Saturday, a new covered bridge was
dedicated, with a crowd of more than a hundred people from the community, and
Governor Peter Shumlin and Congressman Peter Welch joining in their celebration.
A Vermont State Police
trooper will not face criminal charges in the death of a man he used a Taser
gun on. Trooper David Shaffer was
called last June to the home of Macadam Mason, who was 39 and had called a crisis
line, saying he might hurt himself of others. The Vermont Attorney General's office made the announcement
Friday, saying their investigation was only to determine if criminal charges
would be filed, and did not consider any pending civil action or the
possibility of one.
Environmental activist
Bill McKibben is set to speak to the Vermont Legislature on Wednesday about
climate change and how it relates to the state. McKibben has been supporting a campaign to get resolutions on town meeting day
ballots that oppose the shipment of tar-sands oil across northeastern sections
of the state.
Vermont deer hunters will
get a chance this week to weigh in on hunting regulations. The Vermont Fish and
Wildlife Department is holding two public hearings to evaluate the impact that
hunting rules and antler point regulation have had on hunters. The public
hearings will be held at the Kehoe Conservation Camp in Castleton on Wednesday
and at Spaulding High School in Barre on Thursday.
Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie
Sanders is going on record opposing a moratorium on large-scale wind power
projects on Vermont's mountain ridges.
Two Vermont state senators recently filed legislation that would create
a 3-year moratorium on new wind power projects on Vermont's mountains. The senators from Caledonia and
Bennington Counties say the state may be making too big a sacrifice on its
mountain ridges in exchange for too little gain in new green power supply. Sanders says he plans to introduce
legislation in Washington to boost investments in wind and other renewable energy.
New York officials project
the state's prisons will shed 1,000 more inmates over the next four years,
partly because of relaxed drug laws.
That follows a 25% drop since 1999. The prisoner total is expected to fall another 4% in four
years. As a result, the state has
been closing minimum and medium security prisons and camps.
