Friday, July 13, 2012
News to Know July 13th
BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW JULY 13TH , 2012
Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted at http://socialenergy.blogspot.com
Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
***
Included below please find:
BERLIN OLD PHOTOS
ANNUAL LIBERTY STREET YARD SALE IN MONTPELIER - SATURDAY 7/14
CVWMD FREE Friday Collections - this summer in Barre
SCHOOL NATURE TRAIL IS NOW "THE BOBCAT TRAIL" - HELP NEEDED!
BERLIN MALL SUMMER SIDEWALK SALE
BEN & JERRY'S FREE OUTDOOR MUSIC FESTIVAL - NEXT SHOW 7/14
"WASABI, A DRAGON'S TALE" No Strings Marionettes -SOUTH ROYALTON
"JACK AND THE BEANSTALK" No Strings Marionettes - BROOKFIELD
FRESH TRACKS FARM ARTICLE link
BIKE TOUR AROUND BERLIN POND link
BERLIN PROPERTIES FOR SALE link
REGIONALIZATION COMMITTEE SEEKS $40,000 TO CONTINUE WORK
BERLIN PUSHES FORWARD ON REGIONALIZATION
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CAROUSEL AT WILLIAM MORRIS PARK IN SARANAC LAKE
***
BERLIN OLD PHOTOS
Check out the postcard of the Berlin pond from the early 1900s showing several rowboats in the water, it's posted on the town website http://www.berlinvt.org Keep checking back there for more interesting photos and postcards to come!
***
ANNUAL LIBERTY STREET YARD SALE IN MONTPELIER ON SATURDAY, JULY 14, 10AM – 4PM Onion River Exchange's Yard Sale is at the brown house at the corner of Main St. & Liberty St. This is one of ORE's major fundraisers. Browse through some great items and take home what you know you need!! If you have quality items that you’d like to donate to ORE’s yard sale, please bring to the site the morning of the event. If you're not familiar with ORE, please be sure to look at their website for information: http://www.orexchange.org
***
CVWMD FREE Friday Collections - this summer in Barre!
Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District is offering seasonal collection of a wide variety of items in their BARRE CITY FACILITY (3 Williams Lane) each Friday from June 15th-August 31st, Noon - 6PM. Berlin residents may make use of this collection. Items include: food scraps, cheese packaging, books, documents for shredding, textiles, beauty product packaging, CD's & DVD's (and cases), VHS & audio cassettes, drink pouches, floppy discs, inkjet cartridges, MP3 players & GPS units, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, digital cameras, propane canisters, bottle caps, corks & lids and cereal bags. http://www.cvswmd.org/free-friday-collections.html
If you would like more information regarding CVSWMD, check out their on-line newsletters. You can also subscribe to these newsletters. http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs022/1102176317481/archive/1102443419735.html
***
SCHOOL NATURE TRAIL IS NOW "THE BOBCAT TRAIL"
Next work session is Monday, July 30th at 5:00pm. Bring tools.
Hello Nature Enthusiasts,
Yesterday afternoon the Boyd Family, the Frazier Family, the Parton Family and I worked for a couple of hours on the trail... and it looks AWESOME!!!! You can easily walk from one end of the trail, off the parking lot, to the other end of the trail, near the soccer field. We have renamed it the Bobcat Trail. The Bobcat Trail is clearly marked with yellow paw prints on green circles at eye level along the trail, the path is raked and the bridges are "sort of" in place.
BUT, there is still work to do:
Several folks from yesterday were going to do some emailing, make phone calls and ask at the Berlin Town office to work on getting donations of money or supplies. Feel free to join in, perhaps you know someone who would love to see Berlin students appreciating the natural beauty that is right in our back yard.
We need donations... so we can purchase supplies to:
build and repair the bridges and railings,
build and repair the board walks.
We also need to remove some of the "Ropes Course" structures that are not safe. One of the structures was partially taken apart a few years back and reused to build a bridge. The remaining part of that structure is attached to a tree that is dead and ready to fall over. Travis, we need your input on what to do on the ropes course.
Another important part of bringing The Bobcat Trail into use as an educational resource is realizing its potential in learning opportunities. I have not yet looked at The Common Core with the Bobcat Trail in mind but I know there must be strong links to math, literacy, sustainability, natural sciences, art, physical well being, music, technology.... Wouldn't it be great to have a guide linked to the school's website with kids talking about the wonders that they are observing and the links to the Common Core, teachers and families at Berlin and around the world could access the guide using all sorts of technology... the sky is literally the limit!
Elizabeth, Could you think about the technology piece and how we might move forward with this?
We are planning to meet and work for a few hours on Monday, July 30 at 5:00pm. That evening we can dismantle the unsafe structure and cut that dead tree(Craig, will you bring the chainsaw again?). We can also see if anyone has been able to get donations and plan to GET THIS WORK DONE BEFORE FALL!!!!
Dave Wilcox has agreed walk the Bobcat trail with teachers in the fall, to share his WEALTH of knowledge. Dave, Sorry, I know Mondays don't work for you but I expect we'll have another time at some point that will be more convenience.
Stay tuned for future updates :)
~ Cindy Gauthier, July 10th, 2012
***
BERLIN MALL SUMMER SIDEWALK SALE
Berlin Mall's annual Summer Sidewalk Sale will be held Thursday, July 26th - Sunday, July 29th.
***
BEN & JERRY'S FREE OUTDOOR MUSIC FESTIVAL
http://www.benjerry.com/scoop-shops/factory-tours - go to the EVENTS page
Saturday movies in Waterbury start at dusk
7/14 - The Muppets
7/21 - Smurfs
7/28 - Kung Fu Panda 2
8/4 - Cars 2
8/11 - Hugo
8/18 - Dolphin Tale
8/25 - Zookeeper
Bring your camp chairs and / or blankets
Bring a snack or buy a treat there
Nothing like an outdoor movie at Ben & Jerry's
***
"WASABI, A DRAGON'S TALE" No Strings Marionettes -SOUTH ROYALTON on Tuesday, July 17th at 12 noon on the Green in South Royalton http://www.nostringsvt.com Barbara Paulsen & Dan Baginski
"In this modern-minded fairy tale, Princess Aja happily contemplates her upcoming marriage to Prince Olaf. Aja's perceptions promptly vanish when fire-breathing Wasabi swoops from the sky, reduces the palace to ashes and carries off her betrothed! You will be delighted as the spunky princess, with a little help from her wise fairy friends, outwits Wasabi to save the kingdom and the day. Eleven exquisitely crafted marionettes perform amidst sumptuous story-book scenery. A transforming sprite, a fashionable knight, and a seven foot dragon weave this newfangled fable, where the stage has no boundaries."
***
"JACK AND THE BEANSTALK" No Strings Marionettes - BROOKFIELD
Brookfield Town Hall, Friday, July 20th 7pm - 9pm http://www.nostringsvt.com Barbara Paulsen & Dan Baginski
"A well loved tale retold with all the magic and mischief our marionettes can muster! The stage is hardly big enough to contain all fifteen lovingly hand crafted marionettes, let along one ravenous, rummaging giant! A sense of adventure, optimism and three magic beans catapult Jack high into the sky. Enter a world where imagination is your guide, and suspended reality is the reward."
***
FRESH TRACKS FARM ARTICLE link
http://www.bostonglobe.com/2012/06/02/winery/kUcAVMSTnR38bACZwcScBN/story.html
***
BIKE TOUR AROUND BERLIN POND
http://www.central-vt.com/visit/biketour/bikeBerl.htm
***
BERLIN PROPERTIES FOR SALE: http://www.heneyrealtors.com/berlin/
***
REGIONALIZATION COMMITTEE SEEKS $40,000 TO CONTINUE WORK
(pub 7/3/12 Times Argus)
MONTPELIER — At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, councilors accepted a plan for invoicing four central Vermont towns to continue work on developing a single public safety authority.
On Town Meeting Day in March, Barre, Berlin and Montpelier asked voters to approve spending $15,000 each, as the regionalization committee requested. For some reason, Barre Town asked for just $10,000.
The money is expected to cover the potential costs associated with continuing to study what it would take to create one public safety entity for all four communities.
Three towns passed the measure, but a nonbinding voice vote failed in Berlin.
Now the regionalization committee plans to invoice each municipality for $10,000 to keep the process going.
According to the invoice letter, “These funds should significantly advance our ability to determine the feasibility of a unified public safety authority.”
Committee member and Montpelier City Councilor Tom Golonka said the committee might not spend the entire $40,000, but “if we want to go forward we’re going to need to spend some money.”
The committee, which has been researching the issue for two years, is made up of two Montpelier city councilors, representatives from each of the other communities, and the executive director of the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Members of the committee have said they will need outside expertise to carry the research further.
The money is to be spent bringing in experts as needed to address specific issues relating to public safety regionalization.
According to a letter to the four towns, “Priority issues are an operating cost-allocation formula, and a workable system design — deployment and operations of personnel and equipment.”
While the nonbonding voice vote failed on Town Meeting Day in Berlin, the Select Board included the money in the budget.
Berlin Town Administrator Jeff Schulz said the vote kind of put the Select Board in an awkward position.
When the regionalization committee requested $15,000 from each of the four towns, it also asked that the expenditure be approved by voters on Town Meeting Day.
Voters in Montpelier and Barre approved the $15,000, and because Barre Town approved allocating just $10,000, Golonka said the committee decided to invoice each town for $10,000.
The Montpelier City Council was the first of the four towns to discuss the matter. Schulz said he sent the information to the Select Board, which could take up the matter at the next meeting.
***
BERLIN PUSHES FORWARD ON REGIONALIZATION (pub 7/5/12 Times Argus)
By David Delcore
BERLIN — It doesn’t appear that the Select Board is going to let a nonbinding vote on the floor of a poorly attended town meeting get in the way of their investing in further exploring the possibility of regionalizing public safety services in four central Vermont communities.
Although board members took no action on the issue this week, one wondered aloud whether any was actually necessary, and the rest sounded prepared to honor a committee’s looming request for $10,000 of the $15,000 Berlin budgeted for its share of the four-town study.
Town Administrator Jeff Schulz set the stage for the board’s discussion, noting that some in the community have questioned how much weight should be placed on a vote that occurred without much discussion at a sparsely attended town meeting.
“Some folks felt that at … town meeting … that voice vote might not have been truly representative of the town,” Schulz said.
Bob Wernecke was one of them.
A former chairman of the town board, Wernecke told its current members it would be a “terrible mistake” to abandon an effort that was started nearly three years ago based on the far-from-unanimous Town Meeting Day vote.
“Less than 20 people participated in that vote,” he said.
From where Wernecke sat the results were too close to call.
“We probably should have insisted on a hand count,” he said.
According to Wernecke, both he and former board Chairwoman Patricia MacDonald believed that voters’ lopsided approval of the town budget, which included funding for the study, was a more compelling measure of their support for a concept that has been kicking around for many years.
“We talked about regionalization when I was on the Select Board (and) when your father was on the Select Board,” Wernecke told Chairman Brad Towne. “We need to bring it to some kind of conclusion.”
Like MacDonald, who was unable to attend the meeting but sent a letter outlining her views on the subject, Wernecke argued the board could not afford to bail on a study given the economics of emergency services.
“The cost of our police and fire (departments) has been escalating and, very frankly, we can’t keep up this pace of escalation on the cost of these services,” he said. “I think we need to start looking intelligently at other ways of getting this done, and I think this (study) offers one of the best opportunities.”
For more than two years representatives of Berlin, Barre, Barre Town and Montpelier have explored the potential of creating a single public safety authority that could potentially provide police, fire, ambulance and emergency dispatch services for those — and possibly other — central Vermont communities.
George Malek, executive vice president of the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, has helped moderate the committee’s discussions and told members of the Berlin board Monday the frugal group has yet to come across any “deal-breakers.”
Malek conceded the committee had yet to come up with a mutually acceptable way to fund the proposed authority. That, he said, would be the first question tackled by a consultant hired with the $10,000 the group is requesting from each of the four communities.
According to Malek, the exercise will have been worthwhile even if the idea of a centralized public safety authority is ultimately deemed out of reach.
“I will be very surprised if at the completion of this committee’s work that there isn’t $10,000 in value for each town even if nothing is ever done,” he said.
Board members also heard from two former fire chiefs and the newly elected president of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department.
Although the latter organization was blamed by some for lobbying against the nonbinding question on Town Meeting Day, Mike Sweeney said volunteers are not averse to the idea.
“We support anything that’s going to provide better service to the town of Berlin,” he said. “The fire department wants to be a partner in the discussion.”
Former fire chiefs Bob Simon and Albie Lewis both spoke in favor of a concept that they once opposed.
“Times are changing and we can’t still be operating with a square wheel,” Simon said. “I’m for regionalization, and a few years ago I wasn’t.”
According to Lewis, who is now employed as a coordinating officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, communities around the country are being forced to consider the sort of consolidation that Barre, Barre Town, Berlin and Montpelier are voluntarily looking at.
Lewis predicted a regional dispatch service — an idea that never completely came together when the Capital West system was launched more than two decades ago — was a logical first step.
“The next step in this process is what you’re talking about, and I think it’s worth the investment,” he said.
Given that voters approved the budget that included funding for Berlin’s share of the study, Select Board member Pete Kelly said there was no reason not to grant the request.
“I don’t see why we have the right or the privilege to stop it,” he said.
Kelly started to offer a motion approving the appropriation, but Towne said the board would simply wait for the invoice to come in and deal with it as part of the warrant approval process.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
***
Letters to Editor in Times Argus
Thoughts on Berlin Pond (pub 7/7/12)
1. Berlin Pond serves as the safe water supply for Montpelier.
2. The pond is ecologically intact and should be protected.
3. Many people value and use the pond for its natural state and serenity.
4. There are sufficient ponds, lakes and rivers nearby for multipurpose use.
5. The land trust participates in the protection of open land. Should some water bodies receive the same protection?
6. Not all mountains are open to skiers or trails to ATVs. Should some water bodies not be open for recreational use?
7. If open for recreational use, the effect on wildlife is unknown, but some changes will occur.
8. Changes of use will alter the ecological state and cannot be reversed.
9. We need to think long and hard about any changes we make.
10. Please get involved. This will affect you.
Barbara White, Montpelier
***
Pond despoilers know no shame (pub 7/5/12)
Some people do not see beauty. Some people cannot tolerate serenity, and some people destroy for the sake of destruction. A well-used phrase states, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” and now it is being changed to say, “If it ain’t broke and looks pretty good let’s just smash it up a bit; tread down the grasses; drive over the brush and shrubbery, and leave all the trash we can.”
These are the people who are selfishly attacking Berlin Pond so they can put their fat bottoms in kayaks, wave a fishing pole and sneer at all the caring people who, for many years, have appreciated and enjoyed the magnificence of this pristine pond.
The “elite” as you refer to those living near the pond, are not the only people who care. There are hundreds of people who enjoy hiking, walking and biking; and other hundreds throughout this area who would like to keep at least one special quiet spot. Does every natural place have to be ruined?
Who are you anyway?
In the central Vermont area there are so many streams, lakes, rivers and ponds already open to the public. Must you spoil one of the last beautiful places?
Letters have already mentioned loss of the loons as a possibility. Many other birds will be disturbed as will wild flowers and shrubs, fish, frogs and toads. I recently read that this is one of the last areas where orioles still nest.
You just don’t know shame, do you?
Is the Dix Reservoir your next project?
Joyce Bean, East Montpelier
***
CAROUSEL AT WILLIAM MORRIS PARK IN SARANAC LAKE
Has anybody been over to the William Morris Park in Saranac Lake and ridden the new carousel? This unique merry-go-round has 18 hand carved figures of Adirondack wildlife. The cost to ride is $2 per person. There was a newstory on WCAX back in May: http://www.wcax.com/story/18632184/adirondack-carousel-starts-spinning
Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted at http://socialenergy.blogspot.com
Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
***
Included below please find:
BERLIN OLD PHOTOS
ANNUAL LIBERTY STREET YARD SALE IN MONTPELIER - SATURDAY 7/14
CVWMD FREE Friday Collections - this summer in Barre
SCHOOL NATURE TRAIL IS NOW "THE BOBCAT TRAIL" - HELP NEEDED!
BERLIN MALL SUMMER SIDEWALK SALE
BEN & JERRY'S FREE OUTDOOR MUSIC FESTIVAL - NEXT SHOW 7/14
"WASABI, A DRAGON'S TALE" No Strings Marionettes -SOUTH ROYALTON
"JACK AND THE BEANSTALK" No Strings Marionettes - BROOKFIELD
FRESH TRACKS FARM ARTICLE link
BIKE TOUR AROUND BERLIN POND link
BERLIN PROPERTIES FOR SALE link
REGIONALIZATION COMMITTEE SEEKS $40,000 TO CONTINUE WORK
BERLIN PUSHES FORWARD ON REGIONALIZATION
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CAROUSEL AT WILLIAM MORRIS PARK IN SARANAC LAKE
***
BERLIN OLD PHOTOS
Check out the postcard of the Berlin pond from the early 1900s showing several rowboats in the water, it's posted on the town website http://www.berlinvt.org Keep checking back there for more interesting photos and postcards to come!
***
ANNUAL LIBERTY STREET YARD SALE IN MONTPELIER ON SATURDAY, JULY 14, 10AM – 4PM Onion River Exchange's Yard Sale is at the brown house at the corner of Main St. & Liberty St. This is one of ORE's major fundraisers. Browse through some great items and take home what you know you need!! If you have quality items that you’d like to donate to ORE’s yard sale, please bring to the site the morning of the event. If you're not familiar with ORE, please be sure to look at their website for information: http://www.orexchange.org
***
CVWMD FREE Friday Collections - this summer in Barre!
Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District is offering seasonal collection of a wide variety of items in their BARRE CITY FACILITY (3 Williams Lane) each Friday from June 15th-August 31st, Noon - 6PM. Berlin residents may make use of this collection. Items include: food scraps, cheese packaging, books, documents for shredding, textiles, beauty product packaging, CD's & DVD's (and cases), VHS & audio cassettes, drink pouches, floppy discs, inkjet cartridges, MP3 players & GPS units, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, digital cameras, propane canisters, bottle caps, corks & lids and cereal bags. http://www.cvswmd.org/free-friday-collections.html
If you would like more information regarding CVSWMD, check out their on-line newsletters. You can also subscribe to these newsletters. http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs022/1102176317481/archive/1102443419735.html
***
SCHOOL NATURE TRAIL IS NOW "THE BOBCAT TRAIL"
Next work session is Monday, July 30th at 5:00pm. Bring tools.
Hello Nature Enthusiasts,
Yesterday afternoon the Boyd Family, the Frazier Family, the Parton Family and I worked for a couple of hours on the trail... and it looks AWESOME!!!! You can easily walk from one end of the trail, off the parking lot, to the other end of the trail, near the soccer field. We have renamed it the Bobcat Trail. The Bobcat Trail is clearly marked with yellow paw prints on green circles at eye level along the trail, the path is raked and the bridges are "sort of" in place.
BUT, there is still work to do:
Several folks from yesterday were going to do some emailing, make phone calls and ask at the Berlin Town office to work on getting donations of money or supplies. Feel free to join in, perhaps you know someone who would love to see Berlin students appreciating the natural beauty that is right in our back yard.
We need donations... so we can purchase supplies to:
build and repair the bridges and railings,
build and repair the board walks.
We also need to remove some of the "Ropes Course" structures that are not safe. One of the structures was partially taken apart a few years back and reused to build a bridge. The remaining part of that structure is attached to a tree that is dead and ready to fall over. Travis, we need your input on what to do on the ropes course.
Another important part of bringing The Bobcat Trail into use as an educational resource is realizing its potential in learning opportunities. I have not yet looked at The Common Core with the Bobcat Trail in mind but I know there must be strong links to math, literacy, sustainability, natural sciences, art, physical well being, music, technology.... Wouldn't it be great to have a guide linked to the school's website with kids talking about the wonders that they are observing and the links to the Common Core, teachers and families at Berlin and around the world could access the guide using all sorts of technology... the sky is literally the limit!
Elizabeth, Could you think about the technology piece and how we might move forward with this?
We are planning to meet and work for a few hours on Monday, July 30 at 5:00pm. That evening we can dismantle the unsafe structure and cut that dead tree(Craig, will you bring the chainsaw again?). We can also see if anyone has been able to get donations and plan to GET THIS WORK DONE BEFORE FALL!!!!
Dave Wilcox has agreed walk the Bobcat trail with teachers in the fall, to share his WEALTH of knowledge. Dave, Sorry, I know Mondays don't work for you but I expect we'll have another time at some point that will be more convenience.
Stay tuned for future updates :)
~ Cindy Gauthier, July 10th, 2012
***
BERLIN MALL SUMMER SIDEWALK SALE
Berlin Mall's annual Summer Sidewalk Sale will be held Thursday, July 26th - Sunday, July 29th.
***
BEN & JERRY'S FREE OUTDOOR MUSIC FESTIVAL
http://www.benjerry.com/scoop-shops/factory-tours - go to the EVENTS page
Saturday movies in Waterbury start at dusk
7/14 - The Muppets
7/21 - Smurfs
7/28 - Kung Fu Panda 2
8/4 - Cars 2
8/11 - Hugo
8/18 - Dolphin Tale
8/25 - Zookeeper
Bring your camp chairs and / or blankets
Bring a snack or buy a treat there
Nothing like an outdoor movie at Ben & Jerry's
***
"WASABI, A DRAGON'S TALE" No Strings Marionettes -SOUTH ROYALTON on Tuesday, July 17th at 12 noon on the Green in South Royalton http://www.nostringsvt.com Barbara Paulsen & Dan Baginski
"In this modern-minded fairy tale, Princess Aja happily contemplates her upcoming marriage to Prince Olaf. Aja's perceptions promptly vanish when fire-breathing Wasabi swoops from the sky, reduces the palace to ashes and carries off her betrothed! You will be delighted as the spunky princess, with a little help from her wise fairy friends, outwits Wasabi to save the kingdom and the day. Eleven exquisitely crafted marionettes perform amidst sumptuous story-book scenery. A transforming sprite, a fashionable knight, and a seven foot dragon weave this newfangled fable, where the stage has no boundaries."
***
"JACK AND THE BEANSTALK" No Strings Marionettes - BROOKFIELD
Brookfield Town Hall, Friday, July 20th 7pm - 9pm http://www.nostringsvt.com Barbara Paulsen & Dan Baginski
"A well loved tale retold with all the magic and mischief our marionettes can muster! The stage is hardly big enough to contain all fifteen lovingly hand crafted marionettes, let along one ravenous, rummaging giant! A sense of adventure, optimism and three magic beans catapult Jack high into the sky. Enter a world where imagination is your guide, and suspended reality is the reward."
***
FRESH TRACKS FARM ARTICLE link
http://www.bostonglobe.com/2012/06/02/winery/kUcAVMSTnR38bACZwcScBN/story.html
***
BIKE TOUR AROUND BERLIN POND
http://www.central-vt.com/visit/biketour/bikeBerl.htm
***
BERLIN PROPERTIES FOR SALE: http://www.heneyrealtors.com/berlin/
***
REGIONALIZATION COMMITTEE SEEKS $40,000 TO CONTINUE WORK
(pub 7/3/12 Times Argus)
MONTPELIER — At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, councilors accepted a plan for invoicing four central Vermont towns to continue work on developing a single public safety authority.
On Town Meeting Day in March, Barre, Berlin and Montpelier asked voters to approve spending $15,000 each, as the regionalization committee requested. For some reason, Barre Town asked for just $10,000.
The money is expected to cover the potential costs associated with continuing to study what it would take to create one public safety entity for all four communities.
Three towns passed the measure, but a nonbinding voice vote failed in Berlin.
Now the regionalization committee plans to invoice each municipality for $10,000 to keep the process going.
According to the invoice letter, “These funds should significantly advance our ability to determine the feasibility of a unified public safety authority.”
Committee member and Montpelier City Councilor Tom Golonka said the committee might not spend the entire $40,000, but “if we want to go forward we’re going to need to spend some money.”
The committee, which has been researching the issue for two years, is made up of two Montpelier city councilors, representatives from each of the other communities, and the executive director of the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Members of the committee have said they will need outside expertise to carry the research further.
The money is to be spent bringing in experts as needed to address specific issues relating to public safety regionalization.
According to a letter to the four towns, “Priority issues are an operating cost-allocation formula, and a workable system design — deployment and operations of personnel and equipment.”
While the nonbonding voice vote failed on Town Meeting Day in Berlin, the Select Board included the money in the budget.
Berlin Town Administrator Jeff Schulz said the vote kind of put the Select Board in an awkward position.
When the regionalization committee requested $15,000 from each of the four towns, it also asked that the expenditure be approved by voters on Town Meeting Day.
Voters in Montpelier and Barre approved the $15,000, and because Barre Town approved allocating just $10,000, Golonka said the committee decided to invoice each town for $10,000.
The Montpelier City Council was the first of the four towns to discuss the matter. Schulz said he sent the information to the Select Board, which could take up the matter at the next meeting.
***
BERLIN PUSHES FORWARD ON REGIONALIZATION (pub 7/5/12 Times Argus)
By David Delcore
BERLIN — It doesn’t appear that the Select Board is going to let a nonbinding vote on the floor of a poorly attended town meeting get in the way of their investing in further exploring the possibility of regionalizing public safety services in four central Vermont communities.
Although board members took no action on the issue this week, one wondered aloud whether any was actually necessary, and the rest sounded prepared to honor a committee’s looming request for $10,000 of the $15,000 Berlin budgeted for its share of the four-town study.
Town Administrator Jeff Schulz set the stage for the board’s discussion, noting that some in the community have questioned how much weight should be placed on a vote that occurred without much discussion at a sparsely attended town meeting.
“Some folks felt that at … town meeting … that voice vote might not have been truly representative of the town,” Schulz said.
Bob Wernecke was one of them.
A former chairman of the town board, Wernecke told its current members it would be a “terrible mistake” to abandon an effort that was started nearly three years ago based on the far-from-unanimous Town Meeting Day vote.
“Less than 20 people participated in that vote,” he said.
From where Wernecke sat the results were too close to call.
“We probably should have insisted on a hand count,” he said.
According to Wernecke, both he and former board Chairwoman Patricia MacDonald believed that voters’ lopsided approval of the town budget, which included funding for the study, was a more compelling measure of their support for a concept that has been kicking around for many years.
“We talked about regionalization when I was on the Select Board (and) when your father was on the Select Board,” Wernecke told Chairman Brad Towne. “We need to bring it to some kind of conclusion.”
Like MacDonald, who was unable to attend the meeting but sent a letter outlining her views on the subject, Wernecke argued the board could not afford to bail on a study given the economics of emergency services.
“The cost of our police and fire (departments) has been escalating and, very frankly, we can’t keep up this pace of escalation on the cost of these services,” he said. “I think we need to start looking intelligently at other ways of getting this done, and I think this (study) offers one of the best opportunities.”
For more than two years representatives of Berlin, Barre, Barre Town and Montpelier have explored the potential of creating a single public safety authority that could potentially provide police, fire, ambulance and emergency dispatch services for those — and possibly other — central Vermont communities.
George Malek, executive vice president of the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, has helped moderate the committee’s discussions and told members of the Berlin board Monday the frugal group has yet to come across any “deal-breakers.”
Malek conceded the committee had yet to come up with a mutually acceptable way to fund the proposed authority. That, he said, would be the first question tackled by a consultant hired with the $10,000 the group is requesting from each of the four communities.
According to Malek, the exercise will have been worthwhile even if the idea of a centralized public safety authority is ultimately deemed out of reach.
“I will be very surprised if at the completion of this committee’s work that there isn’t $10,000 in value for each town even if nothing is ever done,” he said.
Board members also heard from two former fire chiefs and the newly elected president of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department.
Although the latter organization was blamed by some for lobbying against the nonbinding question on Town Meeting Day, Mike Sweeney said volunteers are not averse to the idea.
“We support anything that’s going to provide better service to the town of Berlin,” he said. “The fire department wants to be a partner in the discussion.”
Former fire chiefs Bob Simon and Albie Lewis both spoke in favor of a concept that they once opposed.
“Times are changing and we can’t still be operating with a square wheel,” Simon said. “I’m for regionalization, and a few years ago I wasn’t.”
According to Lewis, who is now employed as a coordinating officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, communities around the country are being forced to consider the sort of consolidation that Barre, Barre Town, Berlin and Montpelier are voluntarily looking at.
Lewis predicted a regional dispatch service — an idea that never completely came together when the Capital West system was launched more than two decades ago — was a logical first step.
“The next step in this process is what you’re talking about, and I think it’s worth the investment,” he said.
Given that voters approved the budget that included funding for Berlin’s share of the study, Select Board member Pete Kelly said there was no reason not to grant the request.
“I don’t see why we have the right or the privilege to stop it,” he said.
Kelly started to offer a motion approving the appropriation, but Towne said the board would simply wait for the invoice to come in and deal with it as part of the warrant approval process.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
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Letters to Editor in Times Argus
Thoughts on Berlin Pond (pub 7/7/12)
1. Berlin Pond serves as the safe water supply for Montpelier.
2. The pond is ecologically intact and should be protected.
3. Many people value and use the pond for its natural state and serenity.
4. There are sufficient ponds, lakes and rivers nearby for multipurpose use.
5. The land trust participates in the protection of open land. Should some water bodies receive the same protection?
6. Not all mountains are open to skiers or trails to ATVs. Should some water bodies not be open for recreational use?
7. If open for recreational use, the effect on wildlife is unknown, but some changes will occur.
8. Changes of use will alter the ecological state and cannot be reversed.
9. We need to think long and hard about any changes we make.
10. Please get involved. This will affect you.
Barbara White, Montpelier
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Pond despoilers know no shame (pub 7/5/12)
Some people do not see beauty. Some people cannot tolerate serenity, and some people destroy for the sake of destruction. A well-used phrase states, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” and now it is being changed to say, “If it ain’t broke and looks pretty good let’s just smash it up a bit; tread down the grasses; drive over the brush and shrubbery, and leave all the trash we can.”
These are the people who are selfishly attacking Berlin Pond so they can put their fat bottoms in kayaks, wave a fishing pole and sneer at all the caring people who, for many years, have appreciated and enjoyed the magnificence of this pristine pond.
The “elite” as you refer to those living near the pond, are not the only people who care. There are hundreds of people who enjoy hiking, walking and biking; and other hundreds throughout this area who would like to keep at least one special quiet spot. Does every natural place have to be ruined?
Who are you anyway?
In the central Vermont area there are so many streams, lakes, rivers and ponds already open to the public. Must you spoil one of the last beautiful places?
Letters have already mentioned loss of the loons as a possibility. Many other birds will be disturbed as will wild flowers and shrubs, fish, frogs and toads. I recently read that this is one of the last areas where orioles still nest.
You just don’t know shame, do you?
Is the Dix Reservoir your next project?
Joyce Bean, East Montpelier
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CAROUSEL AT WILLIAM MORRIS PARK IN SARANAC LAKE
Has anybody been over to the William Morris Park in Saranac Lake and ridden the new carousel? This unique merry-go-round has 18 hand carved figures of Adirondack wildlife. The cost to ride is $2 per person. There was a newstory on WCAX back in May: http://www.wcax.com/story/18632184/adirondack-carousel-starts-spinning
# posted by Corinne's blog of Berlin and area happenings @ 2:42 PM 
