Sunday, March 30, 2014
News to Know March 30, 2014
BERLIN March 30, 2014
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This
communication is put together and distributed on a volunteer basis by resident
Corinne Stridsberg simply in an effort to share information and build
community, it is not from the town of Berlin
Please
share this with your Berlin
*
Check out
the Berlin , Vermont
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8th LEAP ENERGY FAIR APRIL 5 (with Marko the
Magician show!)
PUBLIC MEETING US AND PEDESTRIAN PLAN
AGENCIES SUPPORTED BY BERLIN
CAMPING & OUTDOOR SHOW AT THE AUD APRIL 11-13
2nd ANNUAL BABY AND CHILD EXPO SPRING PLAY DAY AT BES
BECOMING AN
OUTDOOR FAMILY
WESTON'S OWNER
HOPING TO EXPAND
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5th Annual Central
VT Job Fair will be 10am - 4pm at the Barre City Auditorium. Admission is free for job seekers! More than
50 businesses participating. Job seekers
can bring copies of their résumés. Plan
to arrive early enough to take advantage of the putting your qualifications
directly into the hands of local employers who are looking for employees. A resource room will be available with
computers, a copier and staff to assist job seekers with their networking and
job search needs.
There are even
workshops to prepare to attend the job fair!
http://cvbbf.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/job-fair-flyer-2014.pdf
If you're
interested in a listing of some of the businesses that will be attending, check
this link: http://www.centralvtjobfair.com/
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8th LEAP
ENERGY FAIR APRIL 5 (with Marko the Magician show!)
Saturday, April
5th at the Crossett Brook Middle School 3pm . FREE family-friendly energy fair with more than
70 exhibits and experts to speak with regarding solar power, energy incentives,
energy audits, weatherization, green building, geothermal, biomass, pellet
stoves, and many other subjects. At 11am Marko the Magician will give a free show
for the kids. Local students will have
exhibits highlighting energy projects. Waterbury
Farmer's Market will be part of the event also.
There will be breakout sessions on topics such as: 10am Energy
Efficiency 101 - Top ways to save energy and money; 11am Going Solar - what are
my options, and how do I decide?; 12pm Sustainable Transportation - vanpools,
carpools, electric vehicles, and more; 1pm Heat Pumps - a powerful way to save
energy and money. This event is hosted
by Waterbury LEAP (Local Energy Action Partnership).
www.waterburyleap.org
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PUBLIC MEETING US AND
PEDESTRIAN PLAN
Monday, April 7th
at 7pm at Berlin Elementary School US Barre-Montpelier Road
http://berlinvt.org/Route%20302%20Bike%20and%20Ped%20Study-03282014153250.pdf
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AGENCIES
SUPPORTED BY BERLIN
Note the agencies listed on the
following link were approved at this past Town Meeting. There is a brief paragraph on each and
contact information. The Central VT Solid Waste Management District (CVSWMD)
was not individually on the ballot, funds for this agency are part of the town
budget. http://berlinvt.org/agencies%20supported%20by%20Berlin%20taxpayers%20updated.pdf
There are two agencies, Just Basics
(www.justbasicsvt.org) and CIRCLE (circlevt.org) that were not approved this
year. Please visit their websites to
find out more about them.
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CAMPING
& OUTDOOR SHOW AT THE AUD APRIL 11-13
Camping & Outdoor Show at the Barre
Aud. April 11 - 13 (Fri 1-8, Sat 10-8, Sun 10-5) Two floors with info on
campgrounds & resorts, attractions, canoes/kayaks, golf carts, camping
& outdoor supplies, etc. Indoor and outdoor spaces will be full of RV’s, trucks, and special exhibits. Fresh
food prepared as a fundraiser by the Topsham-Corinth Little League.
Entertainment for the kids by Cheryl the Clown.
Admission: adults $8 ($2 off for two cans/boxes of food for the
VT Food Bank), kids 12 and under are free with an adult. Door prizes daily. NOTE CASH ONLY PLEASE! Free parking on-site or off-site with free
shuttle to venue. http://vermontcampingoutdoorshow.com/
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The absolutely
delicious FREE CONE DAY this year is on Tuesday, April 8th. Even though the closest scoop shop is in Waterbury Berlin 12pm - 8pm Ben
& Jerry's has been saying "Thank You" with free cone day since
1979. A video clip about this tradition
can be found at this link www.benjerry.com/scoop-shops/free-cone-day
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2nd ANNUAL BABY AND
CHILD EXPO
SPRING PLAY DAY AT
BES
On Saturday, April
12th Good Beginnings brings you their 2014 Expo at Berlin Elementary School 10am - 2pm .
Admission is $8 adults/ children free. Performances, crafts, workshops,
free balloons, face painting, vendors, food, and more. Rockin' Ron the Friendly Pirate will have
performances at 10:30
& 12:30 (www.rockinronthefriendlypirate.com) This 2014 Expo is sponsored by Barry T.
Chouinard, Inc. More info at
www.goodbeginningscentralvt.org and find their Baby Expo Page on facebook.
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BECOMING AN OUTDOOR FAMILY
This is the 17th
year this program has been offered.
Registration deadline is May 15 but sign up early as it may be filled
before the deadline. The program starts
on Friday, May 30th with camp set up in Groton GPS & Geocaching, hiking, wildlife
photography, bat house building, outdoor cooking, kayaking, canoeing, intro to
archery, firearm safety, fishing, and more.
Find the brochure along with information at:
http://www.uvm.edu/extension/family/?Page=outdoorfamily.html
The cost is
$175.00 per family (up to 8 people) with the fee covering the campsite, 3
classes per camper, and class materials.
You can also find information and photos on their facebook page.
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Pub. 3/28/14 Times
Argus by Amy Nixon
Citizens to Protect Berlin Pond has petitioned the state for a ban on all “active” recreation on the pond, which is the drinking water source for the city of
In a letter sent in recent days to the
The city also has a request pending with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation for a rule change and continues to seek state help in restricting recreation at the pond, said Assistant City Manager Jessie Baker.
That request cites the need to protect users of the water supply — which also serves part of
Melissa Perley, president of Citizens to Protect Berlin Pond, said she spoke at a city Conservation Commission meeting this month at the invitation of its chairman.
Citizens to Protect Berlin Pond has submitted a more than 340-page request to the Agency of Natural Resources, documenting what it says are effects on wildlife and more since the 2012 ruling overturned the protections afforded to the pond since 1894, when Montpelier was granted recreational restrictions by the state Board of Health.
At the Conservation Commission meeting, Perley said, she spoke about “why we feel that
“It really boils down to: Why risk it?” said Perley, “most especially given the fragile state of the water supply in our world today.”
She said the commissioners “were all in agreement with us and came to the conclusion that they would write a letter that publicly stated that they supported our position, as well as encouraged the ANR to pass our petition.”
Montpelier Mayor John Hollar, who also attended that meeting, said Thursday in a brief telephone interview that he supports the
The group’s request to the state seeks to amend the use of lake-specific rules for Berlin Pond, “to prohibit recreational use of the surface water of Berlin Pond, including use of all watercraft, with or without internal combustion motors, fishing from shore, or from the surface of ice, swimming, paddle boarding, wading or building any access on shore that could at a later time encourage such use.”
According to the group, a law that went into effect in May 2012 gave the secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources “the authority to establish rules to regulate the use of public waters in the state. In making such rules, the secretary shall consider, among other factors, ‘the predominant use of the waters prior to regulation.’”
In striking down the long-standing ban on recreational use of the pond, the Supreme Court said it could find no authorization in state statute or
But the fight to bring back the more than century-old restrictions continues, and the Montpelier Conservation Commission’s recent letter shows the concern remains strong.
Perley said her group started with about 10 people and now has about 15 on committees and “many, many more” supporters.
In his letter to the group on the commission’s behalf, Schiff writes: “It is estimated that Berlin Pond serves as the sole water source for nearly 10,000 residents of
The commission, Schiff notes, “has a long history of protecting Berlin Pond. We were involved in creating a Source Water Protection Plan and participating in conservation efforts in the contributing watershed of Berlin Pond to safeguard the City’s water supply. The known risks of active recreation that you outline in your petition and supporting documentation were not a primary part of this early work since these activities were not allowed on the pond at that time.”
The letter adds: “Like your group, our Commission is now eager to return Berlin Pond to its protected status and avoid the unnecessary risks of active recreation that could lead to public health risks due to fouled water, large increases in public spending to purchase water or expand treatment at our filtration plant, and natural resource impacts.”
amy.nixon @timesargus.com
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WESTON'S OWNER HOPING TO EXPAND
Pub 3/29/14 Times
Argus by David Delcore
It won’t happen next month or even next year, but Ellery Packard is asking the town’s Development Review Board to approve a preliminary site plan that calls for adding up to 43 lots to Weston’s Mobile Home Park.
Those lots aren’t needed today, according to Packard, who said this week that 31 of the 70 mobile homes wiped out by Tropical Storm Irene three summers ago have yet to be replaced. However, he said the rebuilding process, while slow, has been steady. The number of vacant lots has been cut by more than half since the floodwaters from the
“We’re picking up 12 to 14 (new mobile homes) a year,” Packard said, predicting that trend will continue when the snow melts this year.
“Next year we should be pretty close to full,” he said.
That, Packard said, is why he is interested in expanding and why he is getting the ball rolling now, when the need is not acute, instead of later, when he hopes it will be.
“We know it’s not going to be a five-minute process to design this thing and permit it,” he said. “(We’re) starting now so that maybe it will be permitted in a year or two.”
Packard said construction would probably take “another year or two” and stressed the preliminary nature of the plans that will be considered by the Development Review Board when it meets next month.
“We’re very early in the process,” he said.
According to Packard, expansion has been part of his long-term plan for the park, which was forced to absorb a significant financial hit in the wake of Irene.
“We’re looking at trying to make sure the park stays viable for a long time to come,” he said.
Though most of Weston’s, including 70 of its 83 lots, is in the federally mapped flood hazard area, the proposed expansion area is not.
Plans submitted by Packard contemplate developing a 21.9-acre parcel that is already home to nine mobile homes along
The proposal calls for extending
Packard said plans call for the expansion area to be tied into
Packard owns a third parcel — this one 16.5 acres — directly behind the proposed expansion area and the current park. The application submitted to the town doesn’t reflect any pending plans for that parcel, which is nearest Interstate 89 and entirely in the town’s “highland conservation district.” The other two parcels are partly in that district but include some commercially zoned property along the Route 12 corridor.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
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# posted by Corinne's blog of Berlin and area happenings @ 8:49 PM 
