Berlin Community News

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Sent by Corinne Stridsberg and also posted athttp://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
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Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
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NOTES:

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Included below please find:

AMNESTY WEEK AT THE KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY
FLOWER SHOW AT CHAMPLAIN VALLEY EXPO MARCH 1, 2, 3
EXPO RAILROAD SHOW MARCH 16
SOLAR HOT WATER INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION
BERLIN IS ASKED TO PAY FOR WATER SYSTEM WORK
SEMI-PRIVATE AMBULANCE SERVICE PROPOSED FOR BERLIN
BERLIN SCORES BIG FOR HOSTING NEW HOSPITAL
BERLIN POND: PANEL TO CONVENE TO PINPOINT ACCESS
BERLIN BLOCKBUSTER WILL CLOSE
BERLIN TOWN MEETING
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Note the above article requesting funds is in addition to the BVFD article: "Shall the voters of the town of Berlin vote by Australian ballot to appropriate $190,985 for the operation of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department?"
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Return your overdue or billed items to the Kellogg-Hubbard Library from Monday February 25 through Saturday March 2, and no fines will be charged. We will accept all types of materials from the adult or children's sections — including books, DVDs, audiobooks, and magazines — no questions asked.
If your account has been restricted because you received a bill, when you return the billed item we’ll erase the fine and reactivate your account.
Returned items must be in usable condition. Items that are not readable or playable would still have to be paid for.
We will erase fines only for materials returned from February 25 through March 2. The amnesty does not apply to interlibrary loan items.
Adult Library Hours: Monday - Thursday 10am - 8pm, Friday & Saturday 10am - 5:30pm; Children's Library Hours Monday - Saturday 10am - 5:30pm
http://www.kellogghubbard.org

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VERMONT FLOWER SHOW AT CHAMPLAIN VALLEY EXPO MARCH 1, 2, 3
Three days of spring the first weekend in March!!  Take a journey filled with flowers and fragrance, walk through the woods, gardens, and plants galore.  There are seminars and educational workshops included in the admission fee.  The Vermont Railway Society will have a large, landscaped train display.  Hands-on activities for children and scheduled performers to entertain them including the No Strings Marionette performance of Handsome and Gretel at 11am & 2pm on March 3rd.  Cooking from the garden demonstrations will be held on all three days.  There will be lots of vendors too.  Admission $15 for adults, $12 seniors and $3 for children.  Hours are Friday and Saturday 10am m- 6pm and Sunday 10am - 4pm. http://www.cvexpo.org 

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The Northwestern Vermont Model Railroad Association will host Vermont's largest model train show, Saturday, March 16th from 10am - 4pm.  The show will feature multiple operating HO, N, G, and O-scale layouts in addition to exhibits and vendors with model railroading supplies.   There will be a railroad clown to entertain the children with face painting and balloons and hands-on train activities for children.   Here's a video on the event from last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw-vHpGIisw

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SOLAR HOT WATER INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION
This presentation will be on Tuesday, March 12, 6:15 PM TO 7:15 PM at the Berlin Elementary School in the Learning Center (library) and is presented by Energy Co-op of Vermont and sponsored by Berlin's Energy Coordinator. 

Learn:  How solar hot water systems work; What incentives, financing, and rebates are available in Vermont; How the Energy Co-op has partnered with Shelburne-based Sunward Systems, the Vermont State Employees Credit Union for financing, and local installers such as ReSOURCE to make going solar easier and more affordable through the Co-op Solar program; How to get a Free site assessment for your home or business

For more information or to sign up for a free site assessment, go to www.co-opsolar.net or contact Berlin's Energy Coordinator, Andrea Chandler at andreachandler@ymail.com.


Marketing and Communications Manager | www.ECVT.net
t: 802-395-1388 | e: ben@ecvt.net

Questions, comments, etc. can be sent directly to Ben and/or Andrea Chandler, Berlin Energy Coordinator, at andreachandler@ymail.com.

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BERLIN IS ASKED TO PAY FOR WATER SYSTEM WORK
Pub 2/22/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — Town officials are being asked to make a contractual commitment for the final design of a municipal water system that may never be built.
   A week after a sliver of the town’s 1,917 registered voters narrowly approved a bond issue to build a water system to serve the Berlin Four Corners area, the engineer who has been working on the project since 2007 said he needs more than a nod and a handshake to take it to the next level.
   Mark Youngstrom of Otter Creek Engineering told the town’s water supply committee Wednesday that he is eager for the Select Board to approve an amendment to an earlier contract so he can recoup more than $42,000 for work he has already performed “in good faith” and begin the final design of the system.
   According to Youngstrom, the agreement he provided the town months ago includes roughly $20,000 for helping with preparations for last week’s bond vote and lining up financing, as well as $52,500 for fieldwork and $150,000 for the final design.
   However, committee member Gary Beem said he believed Youngstrom’s request was premature, and not just because the 30-day window for petitioning to revote the bond issue won’t close until March 15. The bond was approved 122-108.
   Of greater concern to Beem is that a household income survey, which will help determine whether the $5.5 million project is financially viable, is still weeks away from being completed.
   “I don’t think we have a project yet, and you’re putting the Select Board and the town … out there,” he told Youngstrom, suggesting the risk was unwarranted.
   According to Beem, the income survey, which was recently mailed to residents who live in the area that would be served by the water system, will determine whether the project is eligible for favorable financing and dictate what the town will need to charge for water.
   “I really think the income survey is the key to this project,” he said.
   The data collection phase for the survey is scheduled to conclude March 4, and the committee was told the results should be in hand in about a month.
   However, Youngstrom said his firm has carried the project to this point. At a minimum, he said, he needs to be paid for the work he has already performed, but would “like to get going on the design right now.”
   Although Youngstrom acknowledged the importance of the income survey, he said it wasn’t the only thing that could trip up plans for a municipal water system.
   “There are all kinds of things that can stop this project dead in the water,” he said. “It’s an act of faith to move ahead, and one act of faith is starting the design while you’re working on all these other things too.”
   Ultimately the Select Board must decide how to handle Youngstrom’s request. The plan has been to roll all preconstruction costs — including the now-completed drilling, testing and acquisition of three wells on Scott Hill Road — into the cost of the project, to be paid for by future ratepayers.
   However, if the water system is never built — and town officials have said it won’t be if available financing doesn’t allow them to deliver water to users at an affordable rate — taxpayers at large will be on the hook for any money that has or will be spent on planning and design.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com

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Pub 2/20/12 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — With three competing proposals in hand, Select Board members must now decide whose name will be on the side of the ambulances that transport patients in and around their community come July 1.
   It won’t be an easy decision because there is something to be said for all three proposals — two of which involve services that don’t yet exist and the third submitted by the town’s longtime ambulance provider.
   Just how loyal the Select Board is to Barre Town Emergency Medical Services will be put to the test as the board weighs alternatives that range from investing in their volunteer department’s expansion plans to accepting a no-cost offer that sounds too good to be true but might not be.
   Central Vermont Emergency Medical Services offered an incentive-laden proposal, underscoring the town’s status as home to a regional hospital.
   For the moment, CVEMS is just an acronym for a proposed paramedic-level ambulance service being pitched as part of a public-private partnership that — at least at first blush — is all upside for Berlin.
   Matt George, who briefly outlined the plan for board members Monday night, said Berlin would not be charged any per-capita fee under a proposed five-year contract that could be trimmed to three years if the board preferred.
   Additionally, George said, the town would receive 5 percent of the ambulance service’s annual profits and be given four seats on its governing board, which would also include a representative from Central Vermont Medical Center. As a bonus, he said all Berlin residents would be offered “free subscriptions” to the ambulance service — essentially guaranteeing they would not be billed for costs that weren’t covered by their insurance for the duration of the agreement.
   George, who is the clinical services coordinator for White River Valley Ambulance, would serve as executive director of CVEMS, though he said the proposed service would be run by Jim Baraw, who is director of emergency services in Northfield.
   The semi-private structure of CVEMS coupled with the fact that it would not rely — even temporarily — on a population-based per-capita fee as a source of operating revenue set that proposal apart from the other two — one submitted by BTEMS and the other by the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department.
   Both organizations were represented at a Monday night board meeting that produced no decisions. That day was the deadline to submit proposals.
   At the outset, Town Administrator Jeff Schulz recommended the board take the three decidedly different proposals under advisement so members would have an opportunity to dissect them.
   “It’s a fairly weighty, complicated issue,” he said.
   That may be an understatement given what Berlin’s business means to Barre Town’s stand-alone ambulance service and what it could mean to the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department’s plans to launch a fire and ambulance service that is staffed around the clock.
   Barre Town Manager Carl Rogers told board members that BTEMS is keenly interested in keeping Berlin, and its 1,800 calls for service a year, as a customer of its semi-regional ambulance service. However, he said, that would come at a cost to the town.
   The annual per-capita fee, which has been a feature of the local ambulance contract since BTEMS lured Berlin away from Montpelier in 1996, would start at $26 and increase 5 percent a year over the life of a proposed three-year agreement. The fee would increase to $27.30 per-capita next year and $28.67 in 2015.
   According to Rogers, the per-capita fee would increase 3 percent a year if Berlin exercises an option for two additional years. Under that scenario the fee, which is assessed on all but the Riverton section of Berlin, would climb to $29.52 in 2016 before topping out at $30.41 in 2017.
   If the Select Board decides to stick with BTEMS, it would pay $65,676 for the ambulance service under the first year of the agreement.
   BTEMS is already licensed by the state, fully staffed and has five ambulances that were all purchased in the past year. Two of those ambulances and their paramedic-led crews are assigned to handle Berlin’s sizable call volume. Much of that call volume can be traced to lucrative transfers involving the hospital and two nearby nursing homes.
   Meanwhile, members of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department have renewed their request that the town award them a contract they say will enable them to staff the Four Corners station around the clock, providing swift response to all emergencies — both medical and fire.
   Though the service doesn’t yet exist, Chief Miles Silk Jr. said it will by July 1 if the fire department is awarded the contract. He said the department has been training its members and is ready to move swiftly on a plan to lease two ambulances for the five-year duration of the contract it has proposed.
   Silk and other department officials told the board there would be a per-capita fee to start, but the goal would be to gradually phase it out over the life of the contract.
   According to department officials, the per-capita fee would start at $28 if voters approve a ballot item asking for an additional $180,000 to establish continuous staffing at the Four Corners station. If that request is rejected, the per-capita fee would jump to $89.02 to provide a paramedic-level ambulance service to the entire town of Berlin.
   After listening to brief overviews of the three proposals, Chairman Brad Towne said the board had some reading to do. No decision will be made before the Town Meeting Day vote, but the board is expected to discuss the ambulance contract at its March 11 meeting.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com

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BERLIN SCORES BIG FOR HOSTING NEW HOSPITAL
Pub 2/20/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — The town will receive much more than a payment in lieu of taxes in exchange for hosting the state’s new 25-bed psychiatric hospital.
   On a night when Select Board members hired a new town treasurer and tabled action on a proposed parking ordinance, they were told that negotiations with the state went very, very well.
   According to Town Administrator Jeff Schulz, the state has agreed to pay the town $25,000 a year to offset any costs associated with emergency services responding to the facility that is under construction off Fisher Road. That, he said, will be in addition to the more traditional PILOT installment of $58,000 a year that the town will receive, and it doesn’t include a promise to continue providing free emergency dispatch services for the Berlin Police Department for the next 20 years.
   Schulz has estimated the current value of the dispatch services the town receives at roughly $60,000. Officials have long feared that free arrangement, which dates back to the days when Berlin had a one-member police department, could end as local call volumes have climbed.
   Based on the signed agreement with the state, that won’t happen for another 20 years unless the psychiatric hospital is abandoned before then.
   Given the state’s $12,000 opening offer, board members and at least one resident were pleased with the outcome of negotiations.
   Resident Bob Wernecke commended the board for its efforts in securing $83,000 a year in revenue and free dispatch services for the foreseeable future and urged members to open similar negotiations with officials at Central Vermont Medical Center.
   “I would encourage you to pursue a similar agreement with the hospital,” he said. “I really think it’s in (the town’s) and the hospital’s best interest, and I don’t know why they get off scot-free.”
   Meanwhile, the board tabled action on an ordinance aimed at prohibiting parking on a town road that has become the primary access point for people interested in getting on Berlin Pond.
   Some residents who live around the pond have urged the board to enact and enforce a parking ban on Mirror Lake Road, but Wernecke said he believed that would be an overreaction to a problem that appears to have abated.
   In any event, Wernecke said, pursuing an ordinance that applies exclusively to Mirror Lake Road seemed “punitive” and, he believed, was little more than a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent a Vermont Supreme Court decision that struck down century-old recreational restrictions on the pond last year.
   “Is this about banning fishing and boating on Berlin Pond, or is this about a parking problem?” Wernecke asked, noting local police have indicated cars parked on the side of Mirror Lake Road didn’t pose a safety problem.
   What’s more, Wernecke said, finding cars parked in that same fashion elsewhere — out of the traveled way, but not completely off the road — isn’t hard in Berlin.
   “If this was a yard sale you wouldn’t hear a peep,” he said. “It’s not a yard sale; it’s fishing on Berlin Pond.”
   Board members agreed to wait until a committee that is being led by Wernecke concludes its evaluation of access alternatives at the pond. That committee is scheduled to meet this afternoon with officials from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
   After a brief executive session at the end of Monday night’s meeting, the board voted unanimously to hire Marcie Carver as town treasurer.
   Carver, a self-employed accountant from Bradford, will be the permanent replacement for former Town Treasurer Patti Lewis, who resigned last year.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com

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BERLIN POND: PANEL TO CONVENE TO PINPOINT ACCESS
Pub 2/18/13 by David Delcore
   BERLIN — A newly formed committee has launched its effort to identify optimal areas for outdoor enthusiasts to get on or near the water of Berlin Pond.
   The seven-member committee got off to something of a slow start during its first meeting Thursday, but before it was over participants expressed a shared desire to conduct a swift but thorough analysis of potential access areas and report their findings to the Select Board later this spring.
   Committee members are clearly of two minds when it comes to an issue that has been the source of local controversy since the Vermont Supreme Court ruled last May that Montpelier lacked the authority to enforce century-old recreational restrictions on the pond that serves as its public drinking water supply.
   That honest difference of opinion surfaced early on in Thursday’s 90-minute session — first when Bob Wernecke was nominated to serve as chairman and again during a brief debate over Wernecke’s interpretation of the committee’s charge.
   Over the course of the past nine months Wernecke has been a vocal proponent of finding a reasonable and safe way for those interested in canoeing, kayaking, or fishing on the pond to actually get to the water — a fact that committee member Phil Gentile suggested might make him ill-suited to serve as chairman. Gentile, who lives on the pond, serves on the town’s conservation committee and has been equally vocal on the other side of the issue, wondered whether someone “more neutral” should run the committee’s meetings.
   However, Wernecke argued individual “leanings” on the subject shouldn’t enter the conversation because the access question has already been answered by the Vermont Supreme Court, Berlin voters, and most recently the Select Board.
   “I don’t think we’re here to debate that issue,” he said.
   “We’re here about finding the best way to accomplish this, not whether it should be accomplished,” he added.
   Wernecke went on to say that, in his view, the committee’s evaluation should not focus solely on the tiny, town-owned parcel of land that was the subject of a lopsided, non-binding referendum last November.
   That assertion provoked some initial push-back from another committee member who lives on the pond and has repeatedly raised concerns involving access to the pond over the past year.
   Kathy Hartshorn argued the committee shouldn’t waste its time evaluating other possible access areas, when the vote last November specifically involved the town parcel on Paine Turnpike South.
   Members discussed whether to seek clarification from the Select Board, but after reviewing the notice that the board crafted in order to recruit the committee, agreed that wouldn’t be necessary. Though the notice stated the committee would be created as a “...follow-up” to the town vote, the board specifically expressed an interest in having the committee “... review and identify other possible sites for access to the pond as possible alternatives.”
   “That’s part of what we’re being asked to do,” Wernecke said.
   “It seems pretty clear to me,” committee member Paul Irons agreed.
   Once that threshold question was out of the way, Wernecke was elected chairman, Gentile, vice chairman, and committee member Scott Williams volunteered to serve as secretary.
      In plotting their next steps, the committee plans to call in two representatives from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. That could happen as early as next Wednesday, but if scheduling is a problem would likely occur when the committee meets on March 7.
   Members aren’t yet sold on the state’s offer to develop a formal access area on the town’s land, which include 82.5 feet of frontage on Paine Turnpike South, roughly 85 feet of shoreline and is estimated to be between 150 and 180 feet deep.
   According to Williams, options involving that parcel range from simply stripping down the “Posted” signs that went up last year — “That’s access,” he said — to the “gold standard,” a more formal area for people to park their vehicles and launch their kayaks and canoes.
   Although all agreed it would be prudent to pick the state’s brain, Gentile said he was leery of an offer to develop and operate an access area because, he feared, the town would relinquish control and the pond might become more of an attraction than it otherwise would be.
   “The greater issue maybe we want to think about is: ‘How big a sign? How is it identified? Is it all over the maps now? Are we going to encourage so many cars to the pond because the... body of water is right between the metropolitan areas for rural (central) Vermont?’” he asked. “We could get a lot of usage if all of a sudden it becomes advertised.”
   Gentile predicted that he and other pond residents would look to the town to restrict or prohibit access in areas that are currently being used — most notably along Mirror Lake Road — if an alternative access area is created.
   “This is our front yard,” he said, suggesting many of those who live around the pond continue to be concerned by the level of use it has received.
   “There are a lot of taxpayers up there that pay a lot of taxes that aren’t necessarily thrilled with the idea of seeing 59 cars (parked) on the road,” he said.
   However, Wernecke suggested the “novelty” of being able to get out on a pond that had been off limits for so long would soon wear off and the number of people who use it would drop.
   Irons agreed.
   “I sailed it once, I’ll never go back,” he said.
   Wernecke said he would like to invite Montpelier to send a representative to the committee’s meetings, if only because the city owns the vast majority of the land around the pond.
   “We should offer,” he said. “If they (Montpelier officials) don’t want to participate that’s fine.”
   david.delcore@timesargus.com

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BERLIN BLOCKBUSTER WILL CLOSE
Pub 2/18/13 Times Argus STAFF REPORT
   BERLIN — The Blockbuster Video store on the Barre-Montpelier Road began liquidating its inventory recently and town officials say the store is expected to close for good by April 1.
   The store’s manager declined to comment and the company’s corporate headquarters did not return phone calls. But Town Administrator Jeff Schulz said he learned of the scheduled closing date during a recent conversation involving the tax bill for the store that is located in a building it shares with Bond Auto Parts next to Kinney Drugs.
   Used DVDs and games are being sold at cut-rate prices as part of the sale.
   The closing of the Berlin store is presumably part of Blockbuster’s recently announced plan to close 300 of its 800 U.S. stores, laying off about 3,000 nationwide.



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BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW FEBRUARY 15, 2013
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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
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Check out the Berlin, Vermont Community News page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224
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Included below please find:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD BUDGET PRESENTATION ONLINE
COMMUNITY SKATING DAY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH
BERLIN WATER BOND SQUEAKS THROUGH
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TOWN REPORTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE
Berlin Town Reports are back from the printers. They can be picked up at the Town Office. Reports were also delivered over to the elementary school to go home with students.
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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD BUDGET PRESENTATION ONLINE
The Berlin School Board has created a brief video presentation of the proposed school budget that voters will be asked to approve at Town Meeting. Community members are encouraged to access the video online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CA6T9-gKVI or request a DVD copy from the school. If, after watching the video, there are any questions about the budget proposal, voters are encouraged to contact any School Board member - Vera Frazier, Chair; Mike Stridsberg; Chris Rice; Kim Boyd; Justin Lawrence
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COMMUNITY SKATING DAY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH
(reposted from Berlin Front Porch Forum)
   The Berlin Recreation Board is holding the annual community skating day this Sunday from Noon until 2:00 pm at the town skating rink (next to the Town Offices/Police Station). Admission is free and refreshments will be provided by the Berlin Police Department.
   Thanks to the Recreation Board and Police Department for putting this on!
 - Ture Nelson
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BERLIN WATER BOND SQUEAKS THROUGH
Pub 2/14/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — A landslide it wasn’t on Wednesday, but voters here narrowly approved plans to invest $5.5 million in a municipal water system.
   The result couldn’t have been much closer on a day when 230 of the town’s 1,917 registered voters trickled into the town offices to cast ballots over the span of nine hours and it took less than five minutes to count them.
   How close was it?
   So close that the chairman of the town’s water supply committee, who watched as the blue ballots were counted, had a sinking feeling the project he and others have been working on since 2007 was going to come up a few votes short.
   “It’s not looking good,” Tom Willard said while eyeing a mounting stack of “no” votes.
   Willard was smiling moments later when Town Clerk Rosemary Morse announced that the bond issue had been approved, 122-108.
   “What’s that tell you?” Morse asked, prompting a rapid response from one of the local justices of the peace.
   “That maybe we should count again?” Matt Levin replied.
   They didn’t as Select Board Chairman Brad Towne declared victory and board member Pete Kelley did some quick calculating.
   “Your motion passes,” Towne told Willard even as Kelley chimed in.
   “So eight people have spent $5.5 million,” Kelley said, noting that if eight votes had gone the other way the bond issue would have been dead in the water.
   Despite disappointing turnout and dueling letters to the editor between officials in Berlin and Montpelier, Berlin inched ever closer to breaking into the water business.
   Towne was quick to note they aren’t there yet, and not just because they have to wait 30 days to see if a petition signed by 5 percent of the town’s electorate — about 96 registered voters — surfaces in an attempt to force a revote.
   According to Towne, the Select Board now needs to see if it can arrange for favorable federal financing and lock down customers for the proposed water system.
   “I just want people to understand that because the vote passed doesn’t mean we’re actually going to borrow the money,” he said. “We’re going to take and see if we can get the financing to do it.”
   The bond issue was approved amid promises that only the users would pay for the system’s construction and that those who own property in the Berlin Four Corners area would not be compelled to hook on to the system. The water is to come from three wells the town drilled, tested and acquired on Scott Hill Road.
   In addition to the wells, the plan includes installation of an estimated 31,500 linear feet of water line and a 400,000-gallon water storage tank and pump station. Both the tank and the pump station would be near the wells.
   The Select Board decided not to warn the bond vote in conjunction with Berlin’s annual Town Meeting Day elections. But Towne said he would likely ask Mark Youngstrom of Otter Creek Engineering to attend town meeting next month to answer questions about the project. Officials believe the system could create a reliable, cost effective, municipally owned water supply in a strategically selected area of their community.
   Berlin Elementary School, the town offices, and the local volunteer fire station are all in the area that would be served by the water system. It would cover portions of Airport, Crosstown, Comstock, Fisher, Granger, Scott Hill and Shed roads, as well as the full length of Industrial Lane and a short section of Paine Turnpike in the vicinity of the Route 62 intersection.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com
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BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW FEBRUARY 13, 2013
*
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
*
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Included below please find:
SCHOOL BOARD INFORMATION
SCHOOL SAFETY FORUM AT BERLIN ELEMENTARY 2/21/13
SOME WORRY ABOUT RISKS OF BERLIN WATER PLAN
BERLIN AMBULANCE CONTRACT IS A PLUM UP FOR GRABS
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SCHOOL BOARD INFORMATION
If you're considering a write-in campaign for school board... or thinking about writing in somebody's name, take a moment to look at the second page of the brochure at this link where it gives some qualifications and qualities of school board membership:
http://www.vtvsba.org/download/candidates.pdf
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SCHOOL SAFETY FORUM AT BERLIN ELEMENTARY 2/21/13
(reposted from Berlin Front Porch Forum)
   Several events of late have caused schools across the US to reexamine their safety procedures and the security of their buildings in general, with an eye on preparedness and doing everything possible to keep school communities safe. Berlin Elementary is no exception. We have an established Safety Team that meets regularly and works diligently to design and implement procedures and systems to prevent and respond to a variety of issues. Our team includes members of the Berlin Fire Department, Barre Town Ambulance, Berlin Police, school staff, families, and the community.
   The Berlin School Safety Team recognizes that our larger community plays a critical role in keeping everyone here at school safe. As a result, the Team will host a School Safety Forum on Thursday, February 21, 2013, at 6:00 p.m., in the school library. This is an opportunity for families and the community to learn more about the work of the Team and offer thoughts and ideas. Please consider joining us for this community dialogue.
Questions may be directed to Chris Dodge, Principal, at cdodge@u32.org or 223-2796 x 120.  Regards,  Chris Dodge, Principal
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SOME WORRY ABOUT RISKS OF BERLIN WATER PLAN
(vote is 2/13/13 10am - 7pm at the Berlin Town Office)
Pub 2/8/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — Plans to construct a water system that would serve part of the community drew mixed reviews during a Wednesday night hearing on the $5.5 million project, which will be the subject of an up-or-down vote next week.
   Members of the Select Board said they stand solidly behind the project, and some in the audience agreed that creating a reliable source of water in an area just off Exit 7 of Interstate 89 could be a game-changing move for the town.
   But others claimed they weren’t yet sold. They openly worried that the risks could outweigh the potential rewards, complained of fuzzy math and suggested that — pre-election promises notwithstanding — taxpayers could be left holding the bag.
   “If (the proposed water system) fails, we’re hosed and the town as a whole is hosed,” Trudy Marineau said, offering her blunt assessment of a proposal that town officials believe has been studied to death and whose time has finally come.
   The engineer who has been working on the latest iteration of the project since 2007 said the risk was minimal that the water source — three wells that were drilled on the Dodge Farm and exhaustively tested at the town’s expense — wouldn’t perform as expected.
   “Can I guarantee it?” Mark Youngstrom said. “No, I can’t guarantee it. But do I feel 99.99 percent sure that you’ve got a really good (water) source that’s going to last you forever? Yes.”
   Youngstrom, of Otter Creek Engineering, told nearly 30 residents at Berlin Elementary School that Wednesday’s bond vote will represent a make-or-break moment for a project that could resolve a water quality problem in the Berlin Four Corners area and set the stage for development on and around Paine Turnpike and Airport Road. Improved fire protection would be a bonus, he said.
   Select Board members took turns expressing their support. They maintained the project would expand the town’s tax base and focus commercial development in an area that is already home to the town offices, the elementary school and the fire station, as well as the region’s hospital, E.F. Knapp State Airport and the Berlin Mall.
   “I think it’s a very positive thing for the town,” board member Roberta Haskin said.
   Chairman Brad Towne agreed, suggesting a municipal water system would be welcomed by owners of existing commercial properties and remove a long-standing impediment to the creation of a true town center.
   “I think it’s very important that if we’re going to have development here in the town that it stays up here on the plateau, and this (water system) will take and pretty much guarantee it,” he said.
   Several residents, including Bill Snyder and Bob Wernecke, spoke in favor of the bond issue whose fate will be decided by voting at the town offices on Shed Road between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday.
   Snyder said the benefits of the proposed system would be “phenomenal” in an area where finding a suitable water source is a challenge and maintaining one can be cost-prohibitive.
   “I think (the proposed system) is what we need to move forward and to break away from being a bedroom community for Montpelier and Barre,” he said. “We have the potential to be so much more viable and independent.”
   Wernecke agreed, commending the board and its water supply committee for their efforts and urging voters to turn out Wednesday and support the project.
   “We’ve heard the problem: We have a hodgepodge of public systems that are privately operated …,” Wernecke said. “We need a public water supply system not only to serve the present, but to bring us into the future.”
   Not everyone was sold. Some worried the town was painting an overly rosy picture of the project, and others questioned why detailed financial information that is buried in studies conducted at the town’s expense wasn’t more readily available.
   “The people of Berlin are being asked to vote without knowing what they’re voting on,” said resident Henry Lague. “It’s all pie-in-the-sky stuff.”
   Lague pressed Youngstrom for specifics on the term of the bond and the projected annual payment.
   Youngstrom said there was some guesswork involved but he was projecting the annual payment would be between $126,000 and $161,000. The plan, he said, is for that debt to be paid for by the system’s users and not by taxpayers at large, prompting some to question why the ballot article doesn’t say that.
   Airport Road resident Jim Hartson said he feared the plain language on the ballot could lead some to mistakenly conclude all town taxpayers were being asked to finance the water system.
   “There’s nothing on there that says: ‘The ordinary guy is not going to pay for this,’” he said. “Is it going to affect everybody, or is it going to affect a select few?”
   Youngstrom said the current Select Board has clearly stated that the system will be paid for by its users, or it won’t be built. However, he acknowledged that pledge probably wouldn’t bind future boards and that voters would have to take “a leap of faith.”
   “There has to be trust built in, otherwise it’s not going to pass anyway,” he said.
   Youngstrom told those in attendance that he projected the annual cost of water for an “equivalent residential unit” in the proposed service area should be in the $500 to $600 range. That, he said, compared very favorably with another option that was explored but abandoned — building the system and buying water from Montpelier.
   “To keep the project affordable for the user base that’s here, this is the only alternative that works,” Youngstrom said of plans to use water from the wells and construct a 400,000-gallon water storage tank.
   Assuming the bond issue is approved next week, Youngstrom said the town would move swiftly to lock down financing and lock in users. The goal, he said, is to be in a position to put the project out to bid this summer and start construction in the fall.
   However, Youngstrom said that time frame assumes the town can secure financing that keeps rates affordable and persuade enough private users to commit to hooking onto the system.
   Although many aspects of the project won’t come into sharper focus until after the financing package is determined, one thing is certain: If the water system is never built, town taxpayers will be required to repay a $170,000 no-interest loan that has paid for engineering costs to date. The same would be true of an additional $200,000 loan that the town has applied for to finance final design of the system.
   If the system is built, those loans would be rolled into the total project cost and, barring a change of plans, would be built into the rate structure and repaid by users.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com
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BERLIN AMBULANCE CONTRACT IS A PLUM UP FOR GRABS
Pub 2/12/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — The field of potential suitors for Berlin’s ambulance business might be growing as town officials await responses to their recent request for proposals.
   Bethel-based White River Valley Ambulance Inc. is said to have expressed interest in providing paramedic-level service to the vast majority of Berlin as next week’s deadline for submitting multiyear proposals approaches.
   Attempts to reach WRVA Operations Supervisor Pat Edwards were unsuccessful Monday.
   The nonprofit organization serves Barnard, Bethel, Braintree, Brookfield, East Granville, Pittsfield, Randolph and Stockbridge. However, if it is serious about adding Berlin to that list, it can expect some competition.
   Barre Town Emergency Medical Services has held the ambulance contract with Berlin since 1996 and is eager to keep a coveted customer that is home to Central Vermont Medical Center and two nearby nursing homes.
   Though Riverton is served under a separate contract with neighboring Northfield, the balance of Berlin generated 1,780 calls for service, including 550 emergencies and 1,230 non-emergencies during the fiscal year that ended June 30. Many of the non-emergency calls involved billable transfers of CVMC patients or nursing home residents.
   That’s what makes Berlin more lucrative than most comparably sized communities, and it’s why others have tried to pry its ambulance business away from the Barre Town service.
   Berlin officials have welcomed that competition and are hoping it continues, right up to the deadline for proposals at noon on Monday.
   It probably will.
   Representatives of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department have said they plan to renew their pitch to provide round-the-clock ambulance coverage for the community. They submitted a similar proposal three years ago and remain interested in expanding the services they provide Berlin residents.
   That interest is reflected in a revived Town Meeting Day request for $180,000 in additional funding needed to “establish continuous in-station staffing at the Four Corners Station” by creating a stipend program for members of the department.
   At least one other established ambulance service is seriously considering submitting a proposal.
   Although officials in Montpelier have all but ruled out responding to Berlin’s request for proposals, their counterparts in Barre have not.
   Barre made its own play for the Berlin contract in 2009 and again in 2010. City Manager Steve Mackenzie said he was scheduled to discuss the possibility of submitting yet another proposal with Chief Tim Bombardier today.
   “We are looking into it,” Mackenzie said Monday. “We haven’t made a firm decision.”
   Berlin officials are interested in another multiyear contract and have reserved the right to reject any and all proposals.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com
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The Floating Bridge in Brookfield hasn't been open to traffic since 2008, and is now expected to reopen next year! YEAH! I'm so excited to hear it will be built in modules so if anything happens and it needs repair, a section can be taken out and repaired.
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Included below please find:

SAFETY ANDSECURITY AT U-32
FINAL PUBLIC INFOMEETING REGARDING WATER PROJECT FEB 6, 6:30PM
BERLIN SETS SPECIAL VOTE ON WATER PROJECT
OFFICE SUPPORT PART-TIME POSITION
SLEDDING, SKIING, SNOWSHOEING ON U-32'S CAMPUS
SOME SAY LOCAL RULES COULD SLOW BARRE-MPLR ROAD GROWTH
COULD VERMONT BECOME A MAJOR PLAYER IN VIDEO GAMES?
BROOKFIELD BRIDGE ON ROAD TO REOPENING
ANNUAL COMMUNITY SPAGHETTI DINNER AT U-32 MARCH 22ND

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BERLIN ELEMENTARY 2013-2014 SCHOOL BUDGET PRESENTATION ON-LINE
The following link is to a summary of the proposed school budget and tax impact by Mike Stridsberg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CA6T9-gKVI


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SAFETY AND SECURITY AT U-32
Share your thoughts on safety and security at U-32. Please join parents and administrators at the next Parent Group meeting on February 21 from 6:30—7:30 p.m. in the library reference room. This will be an open discussion to share ideas about how to make U-32 safe for our entire learning community.

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FINAL PUBLIC INFOMEETING REGARDING WATER PROJECT FEB 6, 6:30PM
Meeting will be held at Berlin Elementary School. Good presentation and chance to ask the questions you may have. Vote will be on February 13th. Details on the project can be found on the town websitehttp://www.berlinvt.org

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BERLIN SETS SPECIAL VOTE ON WATER PROJECT
Pub 1/23/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
BERLIN — The fate of a long-discussed water system that would serve the Berlin Four Corners area will be decided during a special election in mid-February.
The Feb. 13 bond vote represents the latest make-or-break moment for a $5.5 million project that has been the subject of on-again off-again discussions for the past 20 years.
Those discussions have been on again since 2007 as town officials have pressed ahead with a plan they say could create a reliable, cost-effective, municipally owned water supply in a strategically located area of their community.
In order to pursue favorable federal financing for the project that they say will be paid for exclusively by those who voluntarily agree to hook on to the proposed system, town officials first need a head nod from local voters. Approval of the proposed bond issue would satisfy that need and free the town to explore financing options with an eye toward constructing a water system that would be fed by three wells that they have already drilled, tested and acquired on Scott Hill Road.
Polls for the town-wide vote will be open on Wednesday, Feb. 13, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the municipal office building on Shed Road. The project will be the subject of a public informational meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 at Berlin Elementary School.
The school, the town offices, and the local volunteer fire station are all in the area that would be served by the proposed water system that would serve portions of Airport, Crosstown, Comstock, Fisher, Granger, Scott Hill, and Shed roads, as well as the full length of Industrial Lane and a short section of Paine Turnpike in the vicinity of the Route 62 intersection.
Among other things, the system would involve the installation of an estimated 31,500 linear feet of water line, and a 400,000-gallon water storage tank and pump station that would be located near the three town-owned wells on Scott Hill Road.
In the run-up to next month’s bond vote town officials are assuring voters that while their approval is a necessary step in what has been a protracted process, it does not necessarily mean the water system will ever be built. First, they say, they have to secure financing that would make the system affordable to prospective users, and then they would have to obtain commitments from those users before proceeding with construction.
Officials have described the bond vote as something of a formality — repeatedly stressing that all costs will eventually be born by users of the proposed system — including those that have already been incurred. However, the looming decision isn’t completely without risk, especially if the town invests in the final design of the proposed system, but is then unable to lock down financing or enough users to pursue the project. If that were to happen, taxpayers would be required to cover the pre-construction costs.
Officials believe that limited risk is outweighed by the water system’s potential to unleash commercial and industrial development in an area where groundwater contamination has been a longstanding problem.
The Select Board chose not to wait until Town Meeting Day to seek voter approval of the bond issue. Instead, they opted for a special election they agreed would give voters the opportunity to focus on the single issue.
david.delcore@timesargus.com

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OFFICE SUPPORT PART-TIME POSITION
Town of Berlin Office Support Staff Position, part-time 10-15 hours per week. Combination of education and job experience to fulfill the minimum requirements of the job. Background in bookkeeping, municipal finance and experience with NERMC software along with knowledge and experience with various computer programs including Excel, Word and Outlook. Details on the town website. Resume, cover letter and list of three reference by February 8, 2013.

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SLEDDING, SKIING, SNOWSHOEING ON U-32'S CAMPUS
We are always excited to see community members taking advantage of the resources U‐32 has to offer. Please also feel free to use the nordic ski trails, running trails, track and tennis courts! We just ask visitors to help us with the following:

• please don't bring your pets,
• snowshoe to the side of the groomed ski trails
• when sledding, please sled and walk next to the groomed path for skiing. If you walk or sled on that section it damages it for the skiers.

Thank you for your consideration!

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SOME SAY LOCAL RULES COULD SLOW BARRE-MPLR ROAD GROWTH
Pub 1/29/13 Times Argus by David Delcore
BERLIN — The recent rebirth of a commercial strip once dubbed Berlin’s “Million-Dollar Mile” could be hampered by local flood-related restrictions that exceed federal standards.
So say some who own property along the Barre-Montpelier Road — a group that has urged the Select Board to nudge the Planning Commission to revisit an ordinance approved by voters in March.
Although the ordinance allows for“redevelopment” in the flood plain, it essentially prohibits “new development” — a change that almost scuttled plans to construct Panera Bread at the Central Vermont Shopping Center and may have stalled a proposal to build a CVSPharmacy near the intersection at the base of the Berlin State Highway.
Both the restaurant that is under construction and the pharmacy that isn’t are located in the town’s highway commercial district. Most, if not all, of that district, which runs along the Stevens Branch of the Winooski River, is in the flood plain.
If not for a 13-year-old permit that was issued for a bank that was never built, Pomerleau Real Estate’s plans to lure Panera Bread to the shopping plaza would have been barred by an ordinance that some property owners and their representatives have claimed was adopted without their knowledge or input.
The ordinance, they say, is excessive and unnecessary and should be modified, at least with respect to the Barre-Montpelier Road, where many of the more than 200 affected parcels are located.
The change also affected the Route 12 corridor between Montpelier and Northfield, a short section of Route 2 and the Montpelier Junction area.
Ron Lyon, a local resident who was the engineer Pomerleau hired for the Panera Bread project, was among those who spoke last week in favor of a compromise that would make new development a conditional use in the highway commercial district.
“It would address the main corridor that has been used for development historically,” Lyon said, suggesting there is room for additional development on the Central Vermont Shopping Center property.
The shopping center — which is anchored by Big Lots and is preparing to welcome Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft as its newest tenant — flooded during a May 2011 storm. Lyon stressed that any new development, Panera included, still must be flood-proofed in accordance with Federal Emergency Management Agency standards even if the ordinance is relaxed.
Lyon said the more rigid regulations that voters agreed to went further than is necessary to ensure the town can continue to participate in the federal flood insurance program.
“It is a very restrictive ordinance,”he said.
According to Lyon, recent activity along the Barre-Montpelier Road — including the construction of Auto Zone, the relocation of Staples and the Panera project— has created momentum that could be stymied if the regulations aren’t relaxed.
“This (ordinance) has the potential for shutting that (interest) back down,” he said.
Randy Rouleau, who owns property along the Barre-Montpelier Road, agreed.
“This could be a huge loss to the town,” he said. “There’s a lot of land in the flood plain.”
Rouleau initially challenged the Panera permit but dropped his appeal when Pomerleau agreed to join him in calling for a change to the flood plain regulations.
According to Rouleau, the new regulations were the product of an under-the-radar process.
“The Planning Commission struggled through and adopted these regulations without any input from the landowners,”he said. “Shame on us, we didn’t know.”
According to Town Administrator Jeff Schulz, state officials initially indicated that allowing new development in the flood plain would be unacceptable. The state has since “softened its position” and now appears willing to allow new structures to be built in already developed areas like the Barre-Montpelier Road, as long as they meet FEMA standards.
The town’s Planning Commission has looked for direction from the Select Board. Board members generally agreed the revision would be acceptable though it won’t happen overnight and will require voter approval.
The commission briefly discussed the proposed change last week and is expected to warn a public hearing before making a recommendation to the Select Board. Once that happens the board must hold a public hearing of its own and decide whether to schedule a vote. Given the warning requirements for public hearings and special elections, that process could take months, Schulz said.
david.delcore @timesargus.com

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COULD VERMONT BECOME A MAJOR PLAYER IN VIDEO GAMES?
WCAX http://www.wcax.com/story/20876521/could-vermont-become-a-major-player-in-video-games Posted: 1/30/13 by Alexei Rubenstein
MONTPELIER, Vt. - Montpelier's Chris Hancock is a 20-year veteran video game developer. Unlike the shoot 'em up, first-person games that many associate with video games, the MIT-educated programmer's passion lies in children's education. Like a rhyming game he's working on for the toddler set.
"There is an aha moment when you think of a concept that's really simple but really powerful that's going to work," Hancock said.
Hancock and six other programmers share space in Local 64, a co-working space that opened on State Street just last year. He says the incubator space and others like it are prime examples of a growing industry in Vermont.
"I think that Vermont has a tremendous ability to attract or potential to attract more people who develop games because they're looking for the great quality of place that we have here," Hancock said.
Up the street at the Statehouse Tuesday, Hancock and a dozen other game developers were showing off their labors to lawmakers. It's all part of an effort by Vermont Game Developers and a group of lawmakers to secure $75,000 in state funding to help market the industry here and lure some of the talent from places like Montreal, which has captured a sizable chunk of the $52 billion worldwide industry.
"We're at a moment when marketing Vermont as a great place for entrepreneurs to build small game development studios and to encourage our students to remain in Vermont and pursue their own entrepreneurial dreams can make a big difference," said Jackie Weyrauch, a game developer.
Lawmakers said that just like the ski industry, which receives promotional funding from the state, nurturing the developing video game industry could pay huge economic dividends.
"This is one that is actually a small footprint, it brings a lot of jobs and it's sustainable," said Sen. John Campbell, D-Vt. President Pro Tem.
"We can get out in front as the place to bring your game business or the place to start your game business and that what I'm hoping we'll do," Hancock said.
Efforts to make Vermont a winner in the gaming game.
Game developers say Champlain College plays a vital role in attracting the industry to Vermont. The school has gaming and emergent media programs.

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Pub 1/23/13 Times Argus by Eric Blaisdell
BROOKFIELD— What some say is the only one of its kind in the country, Brookfield’s floating bridge, may be reconstructed and open by the end of 2014.
At an information session in the town’s elementary school Monday night, the Department of Transportation’s Jennifer Fitch explained what is going to happen next with the one-lane bridge, which is a part of Route 65 and therefore a state highway. Fitch, the project manager, said the department has put the bridge into its budget and is going forward with its replacement.
The bridge was closed in 2008 to traffic and pedestrians because of safety concerns. Fitch said winter ice had punctured some of the floats used to hold the bridge up, causing the roadway to sink.
Fitch said her timeline is for the design to be completed in December. From there, the project will go out to bid and construction will begin in the spring of 2014. Fitch said the hope is to have the new bridge open by fall 2014.
The bridge was built in 1936 and reconstructed in 1978. The Brookfield Historical Society says there has been a floating bridge in the town’s Pond Village since the 1800s. Fitch said this new bridge should have a life of 100 years.
The new bridge, 318 feet long and 22 feet wide, will be composed of five to seven modules, Fitch said. If one of the pieces is damaged, it can be unhooked from the bridge and brought on shore to be repaired, something not possible with the current bridge. Each module will have two pontoons, side by side, made up of a 1-inch-thick fiber-reinforced polymer and filled with a “closed cell” foam that will keep water out even if the pontoon is punctured.
The new one-lane bridge will have sidewalks on each side that are 5 feet wide, instead of the current 3 feet, to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Fitch said the latest estimate of the cost is $4.7 million. Of that, 80 percent will be covered by the federal government, and the remaining 20 percent, or $940,000, would be the responsibility of the state. The cost had originally been estimated at about $2 million by the department, but Fitch said that was more of a target than an actual analysis of the price.
Since the proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 has not been released yet, it is unclear if the Department of Transportation is seeking funding of the state’s full share this year or spreading the cost over two years since the bridge is not expected to be completed until fiscal year 2015.
The project “is one that has been in planning for quite some time and is supported by the Vermont Agency of Transportation and will likely get some funding in the near future,”said Secretary of Transportation Brian Searles in a statement. “This scenario could be complicated by the current state transportation fund shortfall, but the Legislature will be working on this problem over the next few months and the fate of the entire transportation capital program will be clearer after the Legislature completes its work.”
Searles added it was good news the “iconic” bridge is on track to being rebuilt.
Select Board Chairman John Benson said he’s concerned about funding for the bridge since it has to go through the Legislature.
“There is always a competition for dollars,” he said.
Benson said a majority of townspeople see the bridge as an “essential element” of Pond Village and repairing it is important to maintaining the cultural aspects of the village.
Perry Kacik is on the board of directors for the Brookfield Historical Society. He said that because the bridge is a historical landmark, the replacement is required to look like the old bridge. The new bridge will also be able to take larger vehicles, as Kacik said the load limit has been doubled to 12 tons. He said this will allow ambulances to use the bridge.
Kacik said the floating bridge is not only the east-west connector for Pond Village but also a popular tourism destination, being the only one of its kind in the country. Kacik said there are two other floating bridges in the United States, but they are on the West Coast and have multiple lanes of traffic as part of Washington state’s interstate system.
He is glad the bridge will be rebuilt because in the summer, a trip that would take a couple of minutes over the bridge instead takes 20 minutes to go around the pond. The bridge is closed in the winter because the wooden roadway cannot be plowed.
eric.blaisdell@timesargus.com

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ANNUAL COMMUNITY SPAGHETTI DINNER AT U-32 MARCH 22ND
Mark your calendar now for the annual U-32 8th grade spaghetti dinner on Friday, March 22nd. There will be seatings at 5:30pm and 7pm. The menu includes meat or vegetarian pasta, tossed salad, homemade garlic breads, drinks and dessert. The evening includes the DC Raffle, Silent Auction and Live Music! Tickets available in advance from any 8th grader or at the door. Adults $10, families $30, Students / Seniors (62+) $5. Take-Out orders available for $10 each. Proceeds to benefit the annual U-32 8th grade trip to Washington, DC in June.