Berlin Community News

STORY TIME AT BERLIN FOUR CORNERS FIRE STATION 6/20/12 10:30am
FLOOD SURVIVORS SUPPORT GROUP AT BERLIN ELEM. 6/20/12 5:30pm
CIRCUS SMIRKUS AUGUST 15 & 16
SHELBURNE MUSEUM
LOTUS LAKE TO CELEBRATE 60 YEARS
A NEW RESTRICTION PROTECTS BERLIN POND BASS
BERLIN WATER SYSTEM IN LIMBO


Books, music, songs for kids of all ages! Join us for a special summer story time on Wednesday, June 20th, at 10:30am at the Fire Station in Berlin.  Come hear stories and check out those fire trucks! Don’t miss the fun!
Remember, because of the continued financial support from the town on Town Meeting Day, all Berlin residents (with proof of residency) may get a "free" library card and make use of all the resources at our community library.  The Kellogg-Hubbard Library located on Main Street in Montpelier. http://www.kellogghubbard.org

FLOOD SURVIVORS SUPPORT GROUP, Wednesday June 20 at 5:30pm at the Berlin Elementary School offered by Starting over Strong VT and staffed by Christina Ducharme and Ellia Cohen. Come on in, we'll be in the room in back of the library to the left! I look forward to seeing all of our regular attendees and invite all who would like to come. This is a place to share where you're at, connect with others, and learn a mindfulness or stress-reduction skill to take home. If you have any questions please call, Christina Ducharme at 279-4670.

CIRCUS SMIRKUS under the big tent in Montpelier on AUGUST 15 & 16.   Montpelier High School, 4 shows:  2 & 7 pm - Wednesday & Thursday.  Get your tickets in advance, last time we tried to go they had sold out, it was such a bummer.  http://www.smirkus..org



LOTUS LAKE TO CELEBRATE 60 YEARS
  WILLIAMSTOWN — Lotus Lake, a family-owned day camp in Williamstown, will celebrate 60 years of summer camp July 6 and 7 with an awards ceremony, old photos, many activities and a picnic.
  Alumni and friends are invited to camp at 3 p.m. July 6 for the awards ceremony and from 4 to 7 p.m. for camp activities and a BYO picnic supper. On July 7 the celebration will continue from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with camp activities, old photos, lunch and a sing-along. Camp activities will include swimming, hiking, tennis and games, so participants should dress appropriately. Please RSVP to 433-5451 or 793-4895.
  Starting with five campers in 1952 on the site of the former Lotus Lake Farm, this central Vermont mainstay was the brainchild of Proctor Martin. His family had owned the 300-acre property since the 1800s and he — with his wife, Helen, and his brothers Raymond and Hildreth — imagined using the former Cutter Pond and the farmland as a day camp where local children could learn swimming and outdoor skills.
  Martin’s daughter Dorothy and her husband, John Milne — one of the first campers — took over the camp in 1968, after Martin’s sudden death and have run it since, with help from his other daughter, Becky Watson, and her daughter Beth Allen.
  The camp has grown to about 160 campers each week for the eight-week season, with many staffers who began as campers and are now teachers, as well as college students and some high school students who trained with Beth Allen as counselors in training. The camp is at 4785 Route 14.


Staff Report
  BERLIN — Largemouth and smallmouth bass in Berlin Pond will be protected by a new catch-and-release “Test Water” designation being adopted by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.
  A recent Vermont Supreme Court decision regarding Berlin Pond clarified that fishing is currently allowed on the pond, after being restricted for decades. Much of the shoreline around the pond is posted against trespass, so would-be anglers must access the pond only where allowed.
  Studies of unexploited fish populations, like those in Berlin Pond, suggest these populations often have a high proportion of old, slow-growing fish which are very vulnerable to angling when opened to fishing.
  “Research from other states indicates that when bass populations are open to fishing for the first time, quality sized bass can be quickly reduced,” said State Fisheries Biologist Rich Kirn. “It is our goal to maintain a quality bass fishery in Berlin Pond for the long-term. To do that, we will need time to study its fish population and newly developing fishery. The temporary catch-and-release designation will provide the time we need to do this while still allowing anglers to enjoy catching this popular sportfish.”
  Based on fisheries surveys done on Berlin Pond by Fish & Wildlife in 1979 and 1995, the pond contains largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, pumpkinseed, and brown bullhead. According to a 2010 Vermont Angler Survey largemouth bass and smallmouth bass are among the top five most-popular fish species sought by Vermont anglers.
  Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Patrick Berry has signed the test water designation which takes effect on June 15, six days after the opening of bass season on June 9.
  “Unfortunately, the reporting requirements for the Test Water designation did not allow us to have the regulation in effect for opening day. We encourage anglers to limit their harvest during this time until our biologists have the time to better understand the bass population,” says Berry. “The department is also eager to work with the City of Montpelier and Town of Berlin to find common ground to cooperatively manage future fishing and boat access to help protect the area.”
  The Berlin Pond Test Water Restriction will remain in effect until Nov. 30, 2015.

BERLIN WATER SYSTEM IN LIMBO (pub 6/19/12)
By David Delcore, Staff Writer Times Argus
  BERLIN — Nobody ever said that developing a municipal water system would be easy or inexpensive and members of the Select Board were told this week they could add “predictable” to that list.
  Berlin’s bid to create a community water system serving the Four Corners area has been fraught with surprises, according to resident Tom Willard, who has served on the town’s water supply committee since it was created in 2007.
  Five years and nearly $300,000 later Willard told board members that the committee’s preferred option – relying on a series of groundwater wells that were developed at the town’s expense – is now Plan B. Plan A is to purchase water from neighboring Montpelier – an alternative that was once considered prohibitively expensive and is currently in limbo.
  Willard said the decision to try and do business with Montpelier was precipitated by Central Vermont Medical Center. The regional hospital, which consumes roughly 65,000 gallons of water per day, was initially viewed as the future anchor of the well-fed system that was being planned in Berlin.
  According to Willard, hospital officials “agreed in writing” to participate in the Berlin system if they could be assured that the cost and quality of the water was comparable to that which Montpelier has historically supplied the hospital complex.
  However, Willard said hospital officials subsequently expressed some reservation about shifting from filtered surface water that Montpelier draws from Berlin Pond to untreated groundwater from Berlin’s now-state-approved wells. That concern, he said, coincided with Montpelier’s angst over the potential for losing a high-volume customer and the two communities were encouraged to work together on a solution.