Archive - Aug 27, 2007
CASSANDRA CORCORAN AND her son, Liam, peek through corn growing in their Monkton garden. The family has been eating locally for years and will participate in September’s Eat Local Challenge sponsored by the Addison County Relocalization Network.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
August 27, 2007
By MEGAN JAMES
ADDISON COUNTY — Cassandra Corcoran has eaten and advocated for organically certified food for many years. But if she had to choose between a nonorganic tomato from down the road and an organic one flown in from Italy, she would always take the local, she said.
The Monkton resident considers herself a localvore, someone who tries to fill her diet primarily with foods grown and produced within a 100-mile radius of her home. Corcoran does it to reduce her carbon footprint, she said, though even she makes exceptions.
“We go farther afield for bananas and avocados,” she said.
Next month, she and her family will try to cut out those imported indulgences and live only on local foods.
August 27, 2007
By ANDY KIRKALDY
FERRISBURGH — Ferrisburgh selectmen last week voted unanimously to ask the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) to hold hearings on the Vermont Electric Power Co.’s proposal to use a 24-acre Route 7 parcel near Ferrisburgh town offices for a staging area for its power line project. That site could be in use as soon as next month if the PSB approves the plan.
Selectmen went on record in the spring as opposing VELCO’s use of the site, which is just south of the burned-down Ferrisburgh Roadhouse and across Route 7 from the Little Otter General Store. They said they were concerned about traffic safety, noise, appearance and possible contamination by PCBs, toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of some transformers and capacitors.
Town zoning officials do not have jurisdiction over the VELCO proposal, however. The PSB oversees all public utilities, including the VELCO power line that will run through Ferrisburgh and other county towns, and has the final say over the worksite and other project details.
August 27, 2007
By MEGAN JAMES
WHITING — Since the Agency of Natural Resources last May determined the Whiting Village School’s septic system has failed, the school board is proposing a new mound system to be built on the southern end of the Quesnels’ Holsteins Farm, 4,000 feet from the school.
If district voters approve, the board plans to lease the Quesnels’ village lot for $1,000 a year on a perpetual basis and issue a $100,000 bond for the construction of the system, which would begin this fall.
The board will hold a public meeting at the school on Monday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m., and district voters will be asked to decide on the $100,000 project by Australian ballot at the Town Hall the following day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The school district may be eligible for a 30 percent reimbursement from the state if the current sewer system is deemed an imminent health and safety problem.
