Current News

The City of Burlington responded yesterday to a lawsuit filed by Citibank over Burlington Telecom, calling the financier "disingenuous" and even going so far as to blame it for some of Burlington Telecom's troubles. Citibank filed the action in Federal District Court Monday saying the situation was "irreparable."
Burlington's response was swift and sharp. The city stated that Citibank knows very well, through agreements it signed, that it cannot simply repossess the BT equipment. The city also charges that Citibank had agreed to continue financial assistance through the process of BT's buildout. Citibank never came through with that support and the city maintains that without it BT's buildout was stunted and its business model suffered.

Lead developer Adam Winstanley of Winstanley Enterprises announced today that the company has entered into a joint venture agreement with Weston Solutions, Inc of Concord, NH, and West Chester, PA, for the development of a 25-35 megawatt woodchip-burning electric generating plant in the North Springfield Industrial Park. The companies filed a petition earlier today for a Certificate of Public Good from the Vermont Public Service Board for the project, which is known as the North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project (NSSEP). The project has been in the planning stages for several years.

At a meeting on December 6, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board presented funding awards to the Addison County Community Trust and the Central Vermont Community Land Trust to create affordable rental housing in the towns of Hancock and Barre. The Windham and Windsor Housing Trust will rehabilitate two properties with 12 apartments in Chester and Gageville. Grants to the network of HomeOwnership Centers and non-profit housing organizations will provide financial counseling and homebuyer education to households who lost their homes in Hurricane Irene and assist communities in rebuilding after Irene. The Upper Valley Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy, the Stowe Land Trust, and the Vermont River Conservancy will use VHCB funding to conserve 413 acres of agricultural land, recreational land and wildlife habitat.

January is Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month, and there is no better place to experience the thrill of learning to ski or ride than in its original state. Here in Vermont, we have the best, and most experienced instructors in the world, and plenty of terrain specifically for those starting out. Best of all, first-timers can learn for as little as $29. This unprecedented offer is only in January; only in Vermont.
‘In a state that welcomes seven times its population in skier visits annually, we’ve truly earned our reputation as being the premiere learn to ski and ride destination,’ Ski Vermont President Parker Riehle said. ‘Newcomers to these sports can appreciate Vermont’s iconic landscape, its esteemed ski heritage and highly certified professional instructors.’

The Vermont Community Foundation and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture announced that the Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund has awarded $897,300 to 126 farmers affected by Tropical Storm Irene in the fund’s fourth round. To date, the grant committee has received applications from 210 farmers and has awarded grants to 171 farmers totaling in excess of $1.5 million. As of December 22, total contributions received or pledged to the fund exceeded $2.25 million.

The Pulp Mill covered bridge connecting the Towns of Middlebury and Weybridge is scheduled to be closed for rehabilitation starting January 3, 2012 and will remain closed through November 16, 2012. This span that crosses Otter Creek was built in 1820.
The pedestrian bridge adjacent to the Pulp Mill bridge is scheduled to remain open for the majority of the construction period but will experience occasional weekday closures to protect the public while crane work is being done in close proximity to the pedestrian bridge.
Rehabilitation of the Pulp Mill Covered Bridge consists of replacing the deteriorated bridge members, installation of new siding and metal roof, substructure repairs, installation of approach railing and reconstruction of roadway approaches. The work will be done by Alpine Construction, LLC of Schuylerville, New York at a cost of $1,638,629.

Vermont’s congressional delegation ‘ US Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) ‘ announced today the release of $3.6 million for Vermont under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
‘As Vermont’s winter settles in, another installment of home heating aid helps. This allocation will keep many seniors and families with small children from going cold this winter,’ the delegation said in a joint statement. ‘But at a time when heating oil costs are rising and we’re in the midst of a major recession, we must do more. We must at least restore funding at last year's level for this critically important program.’
Sanders, Leahy and Welch are cosponsors of legislation to provide level funding for LIHEAP at $4.7 billion. Sanders and Leahy have called on Senate leadership to bring up the measure as soon as Congress reconvenes in January.

The leading international sign industry source magazine, Sign of the Times, featured Wood & Wood, Inc, of Waitsfield, Vermont, in the December series of traditional handcrafted-sign case studies entitled ‘From These Hands.’ The article showcased the company’s innovative branding solutions for Jay Peak Resort’s Tram Haus Hotel and Aroma Café, Tower Bar and Alice’s Table restaurants. Completed in December 2009, this project was Phase 1 of Jay Peak’s three year resort development plan.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation today announced that two accelerated bridge replacement projects on Route 12A in the Town of Roxbury have been completed and the roadway is now open to all traffic.
‘These are the final two bridge closures resulting from Tropical Storm Irene,’ noted VTrans’ Secretary Brian Searles. ‘We are very close to reaching our Irene Response mission of opening all our damaged roads by the end of the year.’ The final closed road under construction, Route 107 in Stockbridge, remains on track for opening at the end of next week.

The Vermont Department of Health Laboratory analysis of a water sample from the Connecticut River has again detected tritium. This sample was taken from the river on November 3 and had a tritium concentration of 1,120 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). No other radionuclides were detected. The VDH announced the finding today.
The Connecticut River samples were pumped from a hose below the surface of the water next to the shoreline where the plume of tritium-contaminated groundwater is moving into the river. River water samples obtained on July 18, July 25, and August 8, 2011 from the same location were also positive for tritium. Tritium concentrations in those samples were 534 pCi/L, 611 pCi/L, and 565 pCi/L respectively. To date, no other radionuclides that could have originated from Vermont Yankee have been detected in river water.

US Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) today praised the Environmental Protection Agency for forcing coal- and oil-fired power plants to reduce emissions.
Leahy Statement:
"I commend the Environmental Protection Agency for doing the right thing, under tremendous special interest pressure, in standing up for the public's interest. The Utility Air Toxics Rule to control toxic air pollutants such as mercury is a health and environmental breakthrough for the American people, and especially for Vermonters. Finally, after 20 years of dodging regulation, coal- and oil-fired electric power plants, the largest contributors of these toxics, will be held accountable for the pollution they emit, just as many other industries are.

The Vermont Economic Progress Council authorized $8.3 million in incentives under the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) program in 2011, which will encourage the creation of 988 new jobs in Vermont.
The Vermont Economic Progress Council met throughout the year to review and authorize the incentives. No incentives are paid when the companies are authorized. The authorization means that the companies met statutory requirements to be authorized to earn a certain level of incentives.
Overall, these projects will create 988 new jobs and about $40 million in new payroll for Vermonters, and the companies will make $302 million in capital investments in Vermont, between 2011and 2015. The jobs must be new, full-time, permanent, non-owners, and pay more than 160 percent of the Vermont Minimum Wage (about $13.04/hour) and provide benefits.