City fire station needs upgrades

The Vergennes City Council last week heard why the city’s Green Street fire station needs about $2.2 million in upgrades.

Vergennes is applying for a $119,337 grant through the Agency of Transportation that city officials hope will allow a long-awaited new stretch of sidewalk to be installed between Macdonough Drive and the north side of the Otter Creek bridge.

In a unanimous decision followed by a standing ovation from both councilors and about 15 meeting attendees, the Vergennes City Council on May 9 confirmed interim Vergennes Volunteer Fire Department Chief David DiBiase as the head of the department. 

In 2022, backers of a proposed 9,600-square-foot covered pavilion to the rear of the Vergennes recreation park off East Street saw the $309,000 Phase One of their dream come true. 

In addition to appointing David DiBiase as the city’s fire chief, the Vergennes City Council on May 9 voted unanimously to appropriate $3,000 from the city’s Watershed Fund to support a proposed nine-hole Disc Golf course in Falls Park.

When the Memorial Parade in Vergennes steps off at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 29, the parade route will once again be filled with thousands of people coming to experience a tradition spanning more than 60 years.

Imagine a mural; imagine a sculpture; imagine raising the bar of artistic attraction to the Little City’s downtown.

The city-owned Falls Park in Vergennes could in the near future be home to a nine-hole disc golf course that would be free for all to use.

After two years of seeing the municipal portion of the Vergennes property tax rate remain level at 91 cents, early indications are that city taxpayers could be looking at a significant tax hike this year — perhaps more than 10%. 

In an abbreviated April 25 meeting, the Vergennes City Council approved a zoning amendment officials said was intended to correct a mistake in the update to the Vergennes zoning laws the city adopted in January. 

The Vergennes City Council has adopted a new policy that will charge restaurants a fee for the privilege of setting up tables in city streets during warm-weather months.

Brooke Bertrand of Whiting and Spencer White of Vergennes were recently chosen to receive Ray E. Davison scholarships from The Addison County Firefighters Association.

Police cited a minor for allegedly walking out of the Vergennes Maplefields while refusing to pay for goods he had taken off its shelves — twice.

Look who the Vergennes Lions are supporting with donations.

Vergennes residents and their neighbors this summer will be paying more to use the city’s pool, and it will only open after a series of repairs to the facility that the city council agreed last week to finance with $34,050 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARP … (read more)