Archive - 2006 - Page
September 21st
By JOHN FLOWERS
ADDISON COUNTY — A soggy spring put an early damper on summer sales for many local businesses, but a strong July and August helped them rebound to close out the season on a strong note.
“It was kind of a slow beginning, but August showed some really good signs,” said Jeff Costello, general manager of the Middlebury Inn. “We saw walk-in business that we hadn’t seen in a few years.”
Costello’s appraisal was echoed not only by several county business owners, but by Vermont Tourism & Marketing Commissioner Bruce Hyde. Hyde is also an inn owner and former Republican House member whose district included Granville.
By JOHN FLOWERS
MIDDLEBURY — People driving in and around Middlebury will need to contend with traffic delays and detours for at least another month as workers push ahead with infrastructure improvements on College Street, a traffic signalization project on Court Street and the repaving of a large section of Route 7.
Workers have spent most of the summer replacing water, sewer and storm drain infrastructure along portions of College Street, ranging from its intersection with Main Street to where the state highway begins at the western base of the hill that leads to the Middlebury College campus on Route 125.
Most of the College Street work has been completed between the Main Street and Weybridge Street intersections, according to Middlebury Director of Operations Dan Werner. Sidewalk work was scheduled this week on the north side of College Street, followed by the next phase of water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure replacement west of the Weybridge Street intersection.
CORNWALL - Two men were killed on Sept. 20, when their Ultra-Lite aircraft crashed in the woods north of Morse Road in Cornwall.
At this time, Vermont State Police have yet to release the names of the two victims from the crash.
A more complete report will be featured in Monday's edition of the Addison Independent.
September 18th
By JOHN FLOWERS
MIDDLEBURY — The developers of a proposed water turbine at the Otter Creek Falls will soon seek permission from the Vermont Public Service Board and the town of Middlebury to put their plans into motion.
Anders Holm, whose family owns property adjacent to the falls where the turbine would be sited, explained on Thursday that high water levels in the Otter Creek this past spring and summer prevented consultants from completing a needed feasibility study for the project. But those waters have receded in recent weeks to a point where officials from the New Hampshire-based firm of Gomez and Sullivan were able to complete their review of the project site.
“They were able to get all the information they needed for the feasibility study,” said Holm, a Middlebury physician. “We hope to have (the study) within a week.”
By ANDY KIRKALDY
FERRISBURGH — Ferrisburgh selectmen on Sept. 5 appointed a committee to study for the second time whether the town should buy a key parcel that abuts both the Ferrisburgh Central School and the planned site of a new town office building and meeting center.
The land, owned by the Hinsdale family of Charlotte, was until recently optioned by a company that wanted to extend sewer service into the area, a plan rejected last month by selectmen at the recommendation of town planners.
The parcel includes 32 acres on which the town already owns a septic easement for the school and planned town hall, plus a smaller lot with a home on it. Now that it is back on the market, selectmen have decided to take another look at buying it. The town first discussed the idea a year ago and another committee looked at the proposal, but officials never acted on it.
September 14th
By JOHN FLOWERS
VERGENNES — Incumbent Rep. Greg Clark, R-Vergennes, and former Little City mayor Kitty Oxholm emerged victorious on Tuesday in a three-way Republican primary that determined who will move on in the race for the Addison-3 district’s two Vermont House seats.
Addison-3 featured the only local contested race on the Sept. 12 primary ballot, but two successful write-in campaigns will add some additional names to the Nov. 7 ballot.
Bristol Republican Nathan Fitzgerald earned 42 write-in tallies to qualify as a late entry into the Addison-4 House race. Fitzgerald ran unsuccessfully in 2004 for one of the two seats in the district, which includes the towns of Bristol, Lincoln, Starksboro and Monkton. Fitzgerald now joins a field of candidates that includes fellow Republican Barb Rainville of Lincoln; incumbent Rep. Mike Fisher, D-Lincoln; and incumbent Rep. Dave Sharpe, D-Bristol.
By JOHN FLOWERS
ADDISON COUNTY — At the same time that Vermont politicians are preparing to take legal action to thwart International Paper Co.’s plans for a two-week trial burn of tire-derived fuel at its Ticonderoga, N.Y., mill, an Addison County-based citizens’ group is recruiting the leaders of major “green” corporations to urge IPC brass not to proceed with the test.
Rich Carpenter, the leader of People for Less Pollution, confirmed his group has reached out to environmentally conscious companies such as Starbucks, Seventh Generation Inc. and Newman’s Own Inc. to put pressure on IPC to cancel the proposed tire burn — or at least postpone it until International Paper updates its pollution control equipment.
September 11th
By HARRIETTE BRAINARD
BRANDON — The Brandon Chamber of Commerce and the Lake Dunmore Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have joined forces to try to raise money to restore the birthplace of 19th century American statesman Stephen A. Douglas and turn it into a visitors’ center as well as a historic exhibit.
The chamber recently received a $25,000 grant from the Walter Cerf Community Fund — the first step toward funding the project. The plans include a public restroom and needed meeting space for Brandon-area residents.
Blaine Cliver, a local architect who has worked on historic buildings, toured the home and informed the owners that it is likely one of the oldest houses in Brandon. Douglas’s mother was from the well-known Arnold family, some of whom built the original house.
