Saturday, January 19, 2013
News to Know January 19th
BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW JANUARY 19, 2012
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Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted at http://socialenergy.blogspot.com
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If you're not already receiving this news by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com
*
Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
***********************
Included below please find:
TRYING TO STAY HEALTHY
FIRE GUTS STORAGE BARN AT BERLIN FARM
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
VERMONT'S CITIZEN LEGISLATURE
MORE ON KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY
LETTER TO THE EDITOR RE LIBRARY FUNDING
THOSE FAMOUS GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
SHUMLIN: FEDS TO PONY UP FOR BERLIN FACILITY
BERLIN POND YELLOW PERCH LIMITS REDUCED TO 10
PARKING ISSUE RESURFACES AT BERLIN POND
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***
TRYING TO STAY HEALTHY
It's advice we've all heard before but with the flu making it's rounds, whooping cough rates being up and other icky illnesses going around it bears repeating - get your vaccinations, wash your hands a lot (don't touch your face either), use good cough etiquette by coughing into your elbow or a tissue (and wash your hands either way). Also eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water, get some fresh air and exercise and be sure to get enough sleep. Another tip is to disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as keyboards, doorknobs, and phones. We're all good at taking care of others but be sure to take care of yourself too!
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FIRE GUTS STORAGE BARN AT BERLIN FARM
Pub 1/11/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
BERLIN — A noontime fire that started on the hay-strewn floor of a large barn at the Herring Family Farm on Thursday made short work of the Quonset hut-style structure.
By 12:30 p.m. the walls at both ends of the barn were gone and its contents destroyed. Though its arched metal roof was still standing, firefighters said what remained of the still-smoking building was not structurally sound.
It could have been worse, according to David Lockerby, who works at the farm and spent the last three days moving 600 bales of hay from the barn to the one that was still standing a few yards away.
According to Lockerby, the fire started some time after he’d loaded the last eight bales into his 1994 Ford pickup, which was parked in the barn.
Lockerby said he’s not sure how it happened, but he is sure what he saw when he spotted the fire that was reported moments before noon.
“The ground was on fire,” he said.
It might have been heat from the muffler of his truck or a spark from the idling vehicle, but Lockerby said something ignited hay on the floor of the old storage barn.
“It spread fast,” he said, noting there would have been more fuel for the flames if he hadn’t moved 150 bales of hay that morning.
Berlin firefighters arrived moments after noon and were quickly joined by volunteers from Northfield, Barre Town and East Montpelier, as well as firefighters from Montpelier.
The fire was under control in 20 minutes, though members of the Berlin crew didn’t clear the scene until shortly after 2 p.m.
Fortunately the fire didn’t spread to the nearby barn where Lockerby had moved the hay and where farm owner Mike Herring said he raises pigs and turkeys.
Herring said he let the pigs out when he saw the fire and moved his turkeys to the far end of the barn as a precaution.
He said no animals were hurt, though the old storage barn and its contents — mostly tools and Lockerby’s truck — were destroyed.
“I’m not having a great day,” he said.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
Are you on Anne Donahue's email list to receive Legislative Updates? Remember that with redistricting, Anne now represents Northfield / Berlin. You can request to be added to her email list by contacting her at counter@tds.net
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VERMONT'S CITIZEN LEGISLATURE
SOME VERMONTERS CAN'T AFFORD TO SERVE IN THE "CITIZEN LEGISLATURE"
Seven Days 1/9/13 by Paul Heintz
http://www.7dvt.com/2013some-vermonters-cant-afford-serve-citizen-legislature
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MORE ON KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY
From KH Library Director, Richard Bidnick: "Library's cost money to run and if the Berlin citizens decide that they don't want to support this amount then they are free to pay $40.00 for a library card in 2013. I understand more than anyone the costs of property taxes etc but what are the things you actually get to use for the money that you pay?? I know the library is always there for everyone and costs a fraction in amount to support for such a wonderful cultural center. Currently we are getting a little over $4.00 per capita from Berlin while Montpelier citizens are paying over $37.00 per capita. There is a major shift going on right now in the city concerning all of these issues and why should Montpelier residents subside the costs so communities like Berlin can only pay such a small amount. The bottom line is this. We need the money or I am going to have to cut services, hours and staff. This is the situation I am in. We cannot continue to be inequitable in our approach for funding from the government bodies."
*
*
Currently I don't believe there a Berlin representative on the Kellogg-Hubbard Library Board - anybody interested?
*
Here are some articles that pertain to the request by Kellogg-Hubbard Library for increased funding
*
http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2013/01/city-council-discusses-budget-cuts-shorter-library-hours-degradation-of-city-services-are-possible-effects/
*
http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2012/12/following-the-money-part-two-of-an-interview-with-montpelier-mayor-john-hollar/
*
(part 1 of this article: http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2012/11/following-the-money-mayor-john-hollar-talks-about-city-spending)
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR RE LIBRARY FUNDING
Submitted to Times Argus & World on 1/19/13
The Kellogg-Hubbard Library (KHL) funding request for Berlin is doubling this year. According to the December 2012 letter to the Montpelier City Council (on the KHL website link for info on 2013 funding requests), "A figure of $25.00 per registered library card user has been assessed to the surrounding communities of Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex and Worcester." In the December 14th Times Argus article "Kellogg-Hubbard says it needs more funding" it says "Berlin would have the most drastic change under the proposal, more than doubling its one-year contribution from $12,557 to $26,925"
If you divide $26,925 by $25 that indicates this was determined from having 1,077 Berlin library card users. With the 2010 population of Berlin being 2,887 residents (about 1,100 households), I find it highly unlikely there are over 1,000 active library card users from Berlin. If there are, they are families with multiple card holders who are apt to limit themselves to one card if they are having to pay. Many elementary students were signed up for library cards on school field trips but that does not mean they have become active library users.
If the voters choose not to support this request, Berlin residents will be charged $40 each for a library card. To receive the equivalent of the $12,557 (which voters have previously approved) there would need to be 314 Berlin people getting cards. To receive $26,925, 673 people would need to pay. The last time KHL asked for a substantial increase from Berlin voters it was voted down. I'm not sure how many residents paid for cards that year.
There are other nearby libraries which are already being used by some Berlin residents who happen to live closer to them - the Aldrich Library in Barre ($12 per year for a library card) and the Brown Library in Northfield ($24 per year) and these will probably be turned to more if the KHL request is not approved.
The City of Montpelier and the Town of Berlin each bring unique and complimentary businesses and services that benefit our community as a whole. Our family absolutely loves libraries and book stores and we are fortunate to have many to access. I really wish this funding request were going to be by floor vote so it could be discussed and a more appropriate amount of funding could be agreed upon.
- Corinne Stridsberg, Berlin
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THOSE FAMOUS GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
Local Girl Scouts are now taking orders for Girl Scout cookies, which will be delivered in mid-February. There are eight varieties, which sell for $4 a box, and all of the proceeds support local Girl Scouts and programs.
Girl Scouting is celebrating its 100th anniversary with the lemony Savannah Smiles cookie, honoring the birthplace of the organization. The program teaches the scouts five skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.
If you don’t know a Girl Scout but want cookies, call 888-474-9686, ext. 201, and leave a message including the name of your town, and someone will get back to you.
--Note usually there is a stand in the lobby of the school on Town Meeting Day for those of you who may still be looking for cookies!
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SHUMLIN: FEDS TO PONY UP FOR BERLIN FACILITY
Pub 1/9/13 Times Argus by Peter Hirschfeld
BERLIN — After months of wrangling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Tuesday that the federal government will pick up the lion’s share of a $42.8 million plan to replace the 52-bed psychiatric hospital washed out during Tropical Storm Irene.
At the groundbreaking for a 25-bed mental health facility in Berlin, Shumlin said that FEMA will pick up nearly 75 percent of the cost for a replacement plan that includes facilities in Berlin, Rutland and Brattleboro.
Administration officials had at one point last year anticipated that FEMA would pay for as much as 90 percent of the construction costs. However, Shumlin said he was “thrilled” with the $30 million that federal officials have said Vermont can expect for the projects.
“That means that Vermont taxpayers will be paying for this entire rebuilt system between $12.5 million and $15 million,” Shumlin said. “That is a great victory for Vermont taxpayers and worth celebrating.”
The trials and tribulations of Vermont’s negotiations with FEMA became fodder for gubernatorial politics last summer when news broke that a technical miscue had led to an overly optimistic estimate of what Vermont could expect in federal aid.
Republican challenger Randy Brock chided Shumlin for proceeding with a hospital replacement plan for which he had yet to identify a funding source.
“I have taken some heat over the past months for pushing ahead with this project without knowing exactly how the dollars would flow,” Shumlin said Tuesday. “But I want to remind you that we had no other choice, that with the most vulnerable mental health patients not having a place to go, we didn’t have the option of doing what government does so well: waiting, thinking, planning, deliberating, arguing and hoping for a better day.”
At a cost of $28.5 million, the 25-bed facility now under construction in Berlin will become the centerpiece of a “community-based” mental health system that aims to move away from the more centralized program in place before the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury was evacuated during Irene.
The plan calls for 14 secure hospital beds at the Brattleboro Retreat and six beds at Rutland Regional Medical Center. Each of those projects will cost about $5.5 million.
While construction is under way in Berlin, Brattleboro and Rutland, the state will rely on temporary facilities in Morrisville and Middlesex to alleviate pressure on emergency rooms, which have been forced to accommodate mental health patients who previously would have been admitted to the hospital in Waterbury.
An eight-bed facility in Morrisville opened late last month; a seven-bed facility in Middlesex will be ready in a couple of months. The combined cost of those projects is $3.4 million, all of which will be paid for by FEMA.
The nearly $30 million FEMA figure cited by Shumlin will include any payouts from the state’s insurance policy.
Sen. Robert Hartwell, a Bennington County Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Institutions, said the FEMA funding levels announced Tuesday are “as good as it gets.”
“If I had to pick something to help us with, this is the thing we need to be helped with,” Hartwell said.
Flanked by lawmakers and members of his Cabinet, Shumlin plunged a ceremonial spade into a pile of camera-ready dirt on the Fisher Road parcel on which the new hospital is being constructed. The location, adjacent to Central Vermont Medical Center, has been lauded by mental health advocates who had insisted on proximity to a conventional hospital.
If Irene had a silver lining, mental health advocates have said, it was in expediting the long-running debate over how to replace the state’s century-old psychiatric hospital in Waterbury. The antiquated facility was decertified by the federal government, costing Vermont about $10 million annually in lost Medicaid reimbursements.
Shumlin said he expects that revenue to begin rolling back into Vermont when the Berlin facility opens by April 2014.
“When we get those reimbursements back, we will pay for our entire new system with federal dollars in roughly a year and a half,” Shumlin said.
Mark Landry, federal coordinating officer for FEMA, said that while he can’t officially announce the numbers Shumlin used Tuesday, the documents he provided to the administration “reflect with a high level of confidence the funding that the state of Vermont will receive based on eligible (damage) and eligible funding.”
Shumlin said he expects similarly refined estimates from FEMA on reimbursement levels for the Waterbury office complex in the next 45 days or so.
peter.hirschfeld @timesargus.com
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BERLIN POND YELLOW PERCH LIMITS REDUCED TO 10
Beginning on January 26th the Berlin Pond Yellow Perch limits are reduced to 10 under a revised "Test Waters" designation. The press release can be found on the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources website at the following link:
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/site/cfm/PressRel/Detail.CFM?ID=2148
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PARKING ISSUE RESURFACES AT BERLIN POND
Pub 1/19/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
BERLIN — The onset of ice fishing has reopened a can of worms for the Select Board, which can’t seem to make a decision involving Berlin Pond that doesn’t disappoint someone.
This week was no exception, as board members were again urged to prohibit parking on both sides of Mirror Lake Road. They appear to be headed in that direction, having told police to start warning — if not ticketing — those whose vehicles aren’t parked completely off the traveled portion of the narrow two-lane town road.
Citing congested conditions they witnessed last weekend, board members said they were inclined to ban parking on the south side of the road, having already restricted parking on the north side last year as a safety precaution.
Selectman Ture Nelson said he toured the pond Jan. 12 and counted 55 cars parked on the south side of Mirror Lake Road between Paine Turnpike South and Brookfield Road. Some, he said, were facing in the wrong direction, and most were encroaching on the traveled portion of the road.
Nelson said the number of vehicles was alarming.
“To me this is an issue we never even considered when we thought about the ‘no parking’ ordinance (last year),” he said.
Selectwoman Roberta Haskin, who said she counted more than 40 vehicles on one of several Saturday spins around the pond, said that is a problem.
“I think it’s a safety issue,” she said. “I’m very familiar with this road, and this road cannot support this kind of traffic.”
Those observations came during a 30-minute discussion that began with Town Administrator Jeff Schulz telling the board that Police Chief Bill Wolfe and Fire Chief Miles Silk Jr. weren’t overly concerned after monitoring the situation last weekend.
“(Wolfe) felt based on what he’d seen that folks were able to travel through the area fairly safely,” Schulz said, conceding that both chiefs acknowledged “potential problems” if vehicles parked farther out into the roadway.
Selectman Pete Kelley said the vehicles he saw Jan. 12 were parked “as neat as a pin” but that most were at least partly in the road.
“They did as good a job getting off the road as they could,” he said.
Schulz said roadside parking requirements were something of a gray area. “It does leave a little bit of discretion to the (enforcing) officer,” he said.
Board members heard from some residents who said they were concerned by the spike in traffic that accompanied the ice fishing season and from one sportsman who urged them not to overreact.
According to Nate Smead, the novelty of ice fishing on a pond that was off limits for more than a century, coupled with poor ice conditions elsewhere in the state, were largely responsible for last weekend’s turnout.
Smead said the state Fish and Wildlife Department’s plan to reduce the yellow perch limit — from 50 to 10 starting Jan. 26 — should further ease pressure on the pond.
“It will reduce the impact,” he said.
Smead questioned the wisdom of revisiting parking restrictions that were part of a summer-long debate last year. That began in May after the Vermont Supreme Court said the city of Montpelier could not regulate recreational use of the pond, which serves as its public drinking water supply. The city owns nearly all the land surrounding the pond.
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling a culvert on Mirror Lake Road has been the primary access point, though tracks in the snow suggest some anglers have concluded that isn’t the only location where the public right of way overlaps the shore.
The debate over access to the pond seemingly ended in November when voters overwhelmingly agreed that access should be allowed over a tiny town-owned parcel.
“It was pretty clear that the residents of Berlin want access,” Smead said. “I don’t see why we would rehash something that the board got clear direction on.”
Kathy Hartshorn said the November vote didn’t have anything to do with Mirror Lake Road, and she renewed her call for a parking prohibition.
“I’m a resident, I’m a voter, I’m a taxpayer in this town, and I am asking you yet again to do the responsible thing and stop this while you can,” she said.
According to Hartshorn, few of the people who have taken up ice fishing on the pond live in town.
“Your obligation is to the residents of Berlin, not the fishermen from other communities who are hitting that fish population hard,” she told the board.
Resident Andrea Chandler agreed.
According to Chandler, posting signs prohibiting parking on Mirror Lake Road would be a step in the right direction, while creating an access area on the town-owned land would, in her view, be a step in the wrong one.
“You can’t build your way out of this,” she said.
The board is forming a committee to explore access issues involving the pond.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
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***
*
Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted at http://socialenergy.blogspot.com
*
If you're not already receiving this news by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com
*
Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
***********************
Included below please find:
TRYING TO STAY HEALTHY
FIRE GUTS STORAGE BARN AT BERLIN FARM
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
VERMONT'S CITIZEN LEGISLATURE
MORE ON KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY
LETTER TO THE EDITOR RE LIBRARY FUNDING
THOSE FAMOUS GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
SHUMLIN: FEDS TO PONY UP FOR BERLIN FACILITY
BERLIN POND YELLOW PERCH LIMITS REDUCED TO 10
PARKING ISSUE RESURFACES AT BERLIN POND
***
***
TRYING TO STAY HEALTHY
It's advice we've all heard before but with the flu making it's rounds, whooping cough rates being up and other icky illnesses going around it bears repeating - get your vaccinations, wash your hands a lot (don't touch your face either), use good cough etiquette by coughing into your elbow or a tissue (and wash your hands either way). Also eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water, get some fresh air and exercise and be sure to get enough sleep. Another tip is to disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as keyboards, doorknobs, and phones. We're all good at taking care of others but be sure to take care of yourself too!
***
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FIRE GUTS STORAGE BARN AT BERLIN FARM
Pub 1/11/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
BERLIN — A noontime fire that started on the hay-strewn floor of a large barn at the Herring Family Farm on Thursday made short work of the Quonset hut-style structure.
By 12:30 p.m. the walls at both ends of the barn were gone and its contents destroyed. Though its arched metal roof was still standing, firefighters said what remained of the still-smoking building was not structurally sound.
It could have been worse, according to David Lockerby, who works at the farm and spent the last three days moving 600 bales of hay from the barn to the one that was still standing a few yards away.
According to Lockerby, the fire started some time after he’d loaded the last eight bales into his 1994 Ford pickup, which was parked in the barn.
Lockerby said he’s not sure how it happened, but he is sure what he saw when he spotted the fire that was reported moments before noon.
“The ground was on fire,” he said.
It might have been heat from the muffler of his truck or a spark from the idling vehicle, but Lockerby said something ignited hay on the floor of the old storage barn.
“It spread fast,” he said, noting there would have been more fuel for the flames if he hadn’t moved 150 bales of hay that morning.
Berlin firefighters arrived moments after noon and were quickly joined by volunteers from Northfield, Barre Town and East Montpelier, as well as firefighters from Montpelier.
The fire was under control in 20 minutes, though members of the Berlin crew didn’t clear the scene until shortly after 2 p.m.
Fortunately the fire didn’t spread to the nearby barn where Lockerby had moved the hay and where farm owner Mike Herring said he raises pigs and turkeys.
Herring said he let the pigs out when he saw the fire and moved his turkeys to the far end of the barn as a precaution.
He said no animals were hurt, though the old storage barn and its contents — mostly tools and Lockerby’s truck — were destroyed.
“I’m not having a great day,” he said.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
Are you on Anne Donahue's email list to receive Legislative Updates? Remember that with redistricting, Anne now represents Northfield / Berlin. You can request to be added to her email list by contacting her at counter@tds.net
***
***
VERMONT'S CITIZEN LEGISLATURE
SOME VERMONTERS CAN'T AFFORD TO SERVE IN THE "CITIZEN LEGISLATURE"
Seven Days 1/9/13 by Paul Heintz
http://www.7dvt.com/2013some-vermonters-cant-afford-serve-citizen-legislature
***
***
MORE ON KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY
From KH Library Director, Richard Bidnick: "Library's cost money to run and if the Berlin citizens decide that they don't want to support this amount then they are free to pay $40.00 for a library card in 2013. I understand more than anyone the costs of property taxes etc but what are the things you actually get to use for the money that you pay?? I know the library is always there for everyone and costs a fraction in amount to support for such a wonderful cultural center. Currently we are getting a little over $4.00 per capita from Berlin while Montpelier citizens are paying over $37.00 per capita. There is a major shift going on right now in the city concerning all of these issues and why should Montpelier residents subside the costs so communities like Berlin can only pay such a small amount. The bottom line is this. We need the money or I am going to have to cut services, hours and staff. This is the situation I am in. We cannot continue to be inequitable in our approach for funding from the government bodies."
*
*
Currently I don't believe there a Berlin representative on the Kellogg-Hubbard Library Board - anybody interested?
*
Here are some articles that pertain to the request by Kellogg-Hubbard Library for increased funding
*
http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2013/01/city-council-discusses-budget-cuts-shorter-library-hours-degradation-of-city-services-are-possible-effects/
*
http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2012/12/following-the-money-part-two-of-an-interview-with-montpelier-mayor-john-hollar/
*
(part 1 of this article: http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2012/11/following-the-money-mayor-john-hollar-talks-about-city-spending)
***
***
LETTER TO THE EDITOR RE LIBRARY FUNDING
Submitted to Times Argus & World on 1/19/13
The Kellogg-Hubbard Library (KHL) funding request for Berlin is doubling this year. According to the December 2012 letter to the Montpelier City Council (on the KHL website link for info on 2013 funding requests), "A figure of $25.00 per registered library card user has been assessed to the surrounding communities of Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex and Worcester." In the December 14th Times Argus article "Kellogg-Hubbard says it needs more funding" it says "Berlin would have the most drastic change under the proposal, more than doubling its one-year contribution from $12,557 to $26,925"
If you divide $26,925 by $25 that indicates this was determined from having 1,077 Berlin library card users. With the 2010 population of Berlin being 2,887 residents (about 1,100 households), I find it highly unlikely there are over 1,000 active library card users from Berlin. If there are, they are families with multiple card holders who are apt to limit themselves to one card if they are having to pay. Many elementary students were signed up for library cards on school field trips but that does not mean they have become active library users.
If the voters choose not to support this request, Berlin residents will be charged $40 each for a library card. To receive the equivalent of the $12,557 (which voters have previously approved) there would need to be 314 Berlin people getting cards. To receive $26,925, 673 people would need to pay. The last time KHL asked for a substantial increase from Berlin voters it was voted down. I'm not sure how many residents paid for cards that year.
There are other nearby libraries which are already being used by some Berlin residents who happen to live closer to them - the Aldrich Library in Barre ($12 per year for a library card) and the Brown Library in Northfield ($24 per year) and these will probably be turned to more if the KHL request is not approved.
The City of Montpelier and the Town of Berlin each bring unique and complimentary businesses and services that benefit our community as a whole. Our family absolutely loves libraries and book stores and we are fortunate to have many to access. I really wish this funding request were going to be by floor vote so it could be discussed and a more appropriate amount of funding could be agreed upon.
- Corinne Stridsberg, Berlin
***
***
THOSE FAMOUS GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
Local Girl Scouts are now taking orders for Girl Scout cookies, which will be delivered in mid-February. There are eight varieties, which sell for $4 a box, and all of the proceeds support local Girl Scouts and programs.
Girl Scouting is celebrating its 100th anniversary with the lemony Savannah Smiles cookie, honoring the birthplace of the organization. The program teaches the scouts five skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.
If you don’t know a Girl Scout but want cookies, call 888-474-9686, ext. 201, and leave a message including the name of your town, and someone will get back to you.
--Note usually there is a stand in the lobby of the school on Town Meeting Day for those of you who may still be looking for cookies!
***
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SHUMLIN: FEDS TO PONY UP FOR BERLIN FACILITY
Pub 1/9/13 Times Argus by Peter Hirschfeld
BERLIN — After months of wrangling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Tuesday that the federal government will pick up the lion’s share of a $42.8 million plan to replace the 52-bed psychiatric hospital washed out during Tropical Storm Irene.
At the groundbreaking for a 25-bed mental health facility in Berlin, Shumlin said that FEMA will pick up nearly 75 percent of the cost for a replacement plan that includes facilities in Berlin, Rutland and Brattleboro.
Administration officials had at one point last year anticipated that FEMA would pay for as much as 90 percent of the construction costs. However, Shumlin said he was “thrilled” with the $30 million that federal officials have said Vermont can expect for the projects.
“That means that Vermont taxpayers will be paying for this entire rebuilt system between $12.5 million and $15 million,” Shumlin said. “That is a great victory for Vermont taxpayers and worth celebrating.”
The trials and tribulations of Vermont’s negotiations with FEMA became fodder for gubernatorial politics last summer when news broke that a technical miscue had led to an overly optimistic estimate of what Vermont could expect in federal aid.
Republican challenger Randy Brock chided Shumlin for proceeding with a hospital replacement plan for which he had yet to identify a funding source.
“I have taken some heat over the past months for pushing ahead with this project without knowing exactly how the dollars would flow,” Shumlin said Tuesday. “But I want to remind you that we had no other choice, that with the most vulnerable mental health patients not having a place to go, we didn’t have the option of doing what government does so well: waiting, thinking, planning, deliberating, arguing and hoping for a better day.”
At a cost of $28.5 million, the 25-bed facility now under construction in Berlin will become the centerpiece of a “community-based” mental health system that aims to move away from the more centralized program in place before the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury was evacuated during Irene.
The plan calls for 14 secure hospital beds at the Brattleboro Retreat and six beds at Rutland Regional Medical Center. Each of those projects will cost about $5.5 million.
While construction is under way in Berlin, Brattleboro and Rutland, the state will rely on temporary facilities in Morrisville and Middlesex to alleviate pressure on emergency rooms, which have been forced to accommodate mental health patients who previously would have been admitted to the hospital in Waterbury.
An eight-bed facility in Morrisville opened late last month; a seven-bed facility in Middlesex will be ready in a couple of months. The combined cost of those projects is $3.4 million, all of which will be paid for by FEMA.
The nearly $30 million FEMA figure cited by Shumlin will include any payouts from the state’s insurance policy.
Sen. Robert Hartwell, a Bennington County Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Institutions, said the FEMA funding levels announced Tuesday are “as good as it gets.”
“If I had to pick something to help us with, this is the thing we need to be helped with,” Hartwell said.
Flanked by lawmakers and members of his Cabinet, Shumlin plunged a ceremonial spade into a pile of camera-ready dirt on the Fisher Road parcel on which the new hospital is being constructed. The location, adjacent to Central Vermont Medical Center, has been lauded by mental health advocates who had insisted on proximity to a conventional hospital.
If Irene had a silver lining, mental health advocates have said, it was in expediting the long-running debate over how to replace the state’s century-old psychiatric hospital in Waterbury. The antiquated facility was decertified by the federal government, costing Vermont about $10 million annually in lost Medicaid reimbursements.
Shumlin said he expects that revenue to begin rolling back into Vermont when the Berlin facility opens by April 2014.
“When we get those reimbursements back, we will pay for our entire new system with federal dollars in roughly a year and a half,” Shumlin said.
Mark Landry, federal coordinating officer for FEMA, said that while he can’t officially announce the numbers Shumlin used Tuesday, the documents he provided to the administration “reflect with a high level of confidence the funding that the state of Vermont will receive based on eligible (damage) and eligible funding.”
Shumlin said he expects similarly refined estimates from FEMA on reimbursement levels for the Waterbury office complex in the next 45 days or so.
peter.hirschfeld @timesargus.com
***
***
BERLIN POND YELLOW PERCH LIMITS REDUCED TO 10
Beginning on January 26th the Berlin Pond Yellow Perch limits are reduced to 10 under a revised "Test Waters" designation. The press release can be found on the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources website at the following link:
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/site/cfm/PressRel/Detail.CFM?ID=2148
***
***
PARKING ISSUE RESURFACES AT BERLIN POND
Pub 1/19/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
BERLIN — The onset of ice fishing has reopened a can of worms for the Select Board, which can’t seem to make a decision involving Berlin Pond that doesn’t disappoint someone.
This week was no exception, as board members were again urged to prohibit parking on both sides of Mirror Lake Road. They appear to be headed in that direction, having told police to start warning — if not ticketing — those whose vehicles aren’t parked completely off the traveled portion of the narrow two-lane town road.
Citing congested conditions they witnessed last weekend, board members said they were inclined to ban parking on the south side of the road, having already restricted parking on the north side last year as a safety precaution.
Selectman Ture Nelson said he toured the pond Jan. 12 and counted 55 cars parked on the south side of Mirror Lake Road between Paine Turnpike South and Brookfield Road. Some, he said, were facing in the wrong direction, and most were encroaching on the traveled portion of the road.
Nelson said the number of vehicles was alarming.
“To me this is an issue we never even considered when we thought about the ‘no parking’ ordinance (last year),” he said.
Selectwoman Roberta Haskin, who said she counted more than 40 vehicles on one of several Saturday spins around the pond, said that is a problem.
“I think it’s a safety issue,” she said. “I’m very familiar with this road, and this road cannot support this kind of traffic.”
Those observations came during a 30-minute discussion that began with Town Administrator Jeff Schulz telling the board that Police Chief Bill Wolfe and Fire Chief Miles Silk Jr. weren’t overly concerned after monitoring the situation last weekend.
“(Wolfe) felt based on what he’d seen that folks were able to travel through the area fairly safely,” Schulz said, conceding that both chiefs acknowledged “potential problems” if vehicles parked farther out into the roadway.
Selectman Pete Kelley said the vehicles he saw Jan. 12 were parked “as neat as a pin” but that most were at least partly in the road.
“They did as good a job getting off the road as they could,” he said.
Schulz said roadside parking requirements were something of a gray area. “It does leave a little bit of discretion to the (enforcing) officer,” he said.
Board members heard from some residents who said they were concerned by the spike in traffic that accompanied the ice fishing season and from one sportsman who urged them not to overreact.
According to Nate Smead, the novelty of ice fishing on a pond that was off limits for more than a century, coupled with poor ice conditions elsewhere in the state, were largely responsible for last weekend’s turnout.
Smead said the state Fish and Wildlife Department’s plan to reduce the yellow perch limit — from 50 to 10 starting Jan. 26 — should further ease pressure on the pond.
“It will reduce the impact,” he said.
Smead questioned the wisdom of revisiting parking restrictions that were part of a summer-long debate last year. That began in May after the Vermont Supreme Court said the city of Montpelier could not regulate recreational use of the pond, which serves as its public drinking water supply. The city owns nearly all the land surrounding the pond.
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling a culvert on Mirror Lake Road has been the primary access point, though tracks in the snow suggest some anglers have concluded that isn’t the only location where the public right of way overlaps the shore.
The debate over access to the pond seemingly ended in November when voters overwhelmingly agreed that access should be allowed over a tiny town-owned parcel.
“It was pretty clear that the residents of Berlin want access,” Smead said. “I don’t see why we would rehash something that the board got clear direction on.”
Kathy Hartshorn said the November vote didn’t have anything to do with Mirror Lake Road, and she renewed her call for a parking prohibition.
“I’m a resident, I’m a voter, I’m a taxpayer in this town, and I am asking you yet again to do the responsible thing and stop this while you can,” she said.
According to Hartshorn, few of the people who have taken up ice fishing on the pond live in town.
“Your obligation is to the residents of Berlin, not the fishermen from other communities who are hitting that fish population hard,” she told the board.
Resident Andrea Chandler agreed.
According to Chandler, posting signs prohibiting parking on Mirror Lake Road would be a step in the right direction, while creating an access area on the town-owned land would, in her view, be a step in the wrong one.
“You can’t build your way out of this,” she said.
The board is forming a committee to explore access issues involving the pond.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
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# posted by Corinne's blog of Berlin and area happenings @ 3:43 PM 
