Tuesday, September 09, 2014

 

News To Know September 5, 2014

BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW  September 5, 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 friends and neighbors.  If you're not already receiving this news directly 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 to find bits of current news, some not included here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224

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Notes:
The link below for the "Halfway Hotels - Vermont's Quick Fix For Homelessness" is quite the read and I hope you'll take the time to read the entire article, side bar info, watch the videos, and even look at the inspection reports included at the bottom.

Berlin residents who ride their bicycles into Montpelier will probably be glad to read that Montpelier is trying to decide on some better options for locking up your bikes while you go about your business.

REMINDER: The first installment of the 2015 property taxes are due on Monday, September 22nd.

Below you will find:
GARDEN WORK AND COMPLETE SHED AT SCHOOL
MONTPELIER ALIVE CELEBRATION PLEASE JOIN IN ON SATURDAY!
FOOD DONATION BOXES
STATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL HAS DIFFICULTY HIRING NURSES
HALFWAY HOTELS - VERMONT'S QUICK FIX FOR HOMELESSNESS
WHAT DO YOU WANT BERLIN CHILDREN TO LEARN?
SHAW'S REMOVES FOOD DONATION BOXES
EMERGENCY MANGEMENT
TOWN WEBSITE
MERCHANTS PONDER BIKE PARKING SOLUTIONS
MEETING DATES OF NOTE

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GARDEN WORK AND COMPLETE SHED AT SCHOOL
Saturday, September 6th from 8am - 1pm, we will work on completion of the shed and general garden work at Berlin Elementary School. The rain date is September 13th. There is plenty to do, so please pass the word. If able, please bring tools with you. STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND WITH A PARENT. Hope to see you in the garden! ~ Cindy Gauthier
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MONTPELIER ALIVE CELEBRATION PLEASE JOIN IN ON SATURDAY!
In Montpelier they're celebrating on Saturday.  For each donation you bring for the Montpelier Food Pantry or Central Vermont Humane Society you'll receive a ticket for a chance at a $150 raffle prize.  Schedule of events: 4:30-9 pm State Street (between Elm and Main), Band: Project 3, Kids games, Cake from Birchgrove Baking, Several food and craft vendors back from July 3rd and finishing up with 8:45 pm fireworks show!!
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FOOD DONATION BOXES
From Jeremy Hansen - You might have read in today's (Thursday's) paper that Shaw's has asked for the food donation boxes at the front of the store to be removed because of a change in their policy regarding donations to nonprofits. I don't know how effective it'll be, but it irritated me enough to start an online petition asking them to allow the donation boxes to return. The boxes apparently collect something like 7,000 pounds of food per year for folks in need.
Here's the petition: www.change.org/p/shaw-s-return-food-donation-boxes-to-your-stores
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STATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL HAS DIFFICULTY HIRING NURSES
Pub 9/1/14 VTDigger.org by Morgan True
http://vtdigger.org/2014/09/01/state-psychiatric-hospital-difficulty-hiring-nurses

HALFWAY HOTELS - VERMONT'S QUICK FIX FOR HOMELESSNESS
Pub. 9/2/14 VTDigger.org investigation by Laura Krantz and Cory Dawson
http://vtdigger.org/investigations/halfway-hotels/
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WHAT DO YOU WANT BERLIN CHILDREN TO LEARN?
From Chris Winters  - school board member on the Berlin Elementary School board
   Have you stopped to ask yourself that question lately?  Is it reading, writing and arithmetic or is it something more?  The Berlin School Board, your elected representatives, want to hear from you on this very important question.
   This is an exciting time for education in Berlin.  We have new principals at both the Elementary School and the High School and an opportunity for a fresh look at our educational goals and how we achieve them.  
   The BES Board has taken time at its last several meetings to think about those goals for the school and what we want for our children and our community.  We want to hear from you and we want you to be invested and engaged in what is happening in YOUR public schools.
   Is educational success about achieving high test scores?  Is it about learning to thrive in and outside of school?  How about work habits and problem-solving skills?  Beyond the basics, how important is it to you that there be art, music, athletics and other enrichment activities?  What do you think the learning environment should be like?  How can our community come together to support our school and our vision of success?
   In addition to creating a vision for education in Berlin, the School Board must help set policies, hold the administration accountable, develop a budget, and engage the community.  The Board is now building its budget for next year and in order to represent you, we need to know your priorities.  
   Please consider contacting a board member or attending one of our meetings held at BES the second Monday of every month starting at 6:15.  Our next meeting is Monday, September 8th
   You can find a link to meeting agendas and minutes and the contact information for board members on the web at www.berlinschool.org under the “About” tab.  Feel free contact me directly at 223-8101 or wintersvermont@gmail.com if you want to contribute to the conversation or get involved.  Please understand that I am only one member of the Board and cannot speak on its behalf but I will bring any comments or concerns you have to the next Board meeting at your request.
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SHAW'S REMOVES FOOD DONATION BOXES
Pub. 9/3/14 Times Arugs by Amy Ash Nixon
   MONTPELIER — The donation boxes in the entry of the Shaw’s supermarkets in Montpelier and Berlin, including receptacles for the Montpelier food pantry and the Central Vermont Humane Society, have been removed without explanation after 13 years, said Theresa Murray-Clasen, executive director of Just Basics, on Tuesday.
   Just Basics Inc. is the nonprofit that administers the Montpelier Food Pantry and the meals program at the
Montpelier Senior Activity Center.
   Murray-Clasen said she has reached out to Shaw’s management in
West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, for an explanation but has not heard back. She is hoping some public pressure may reverse what appears to be a corporate decision.
   “I tried to take the high road,” said Murray-Clasen, adding that her concerns are shared by area clergy and businesspeople.
   Andrew Brewer, president of the Montpelier Business Association, said the situation will be discussed at a meeting today of the association. He also said he expects the association to contribute proceeds from the Bag That Bag program to the food pantry in light of the loss of the Shaw’s donation drops.
   Under the Bag That Bag program, every time a shopper uses either a reusable bag or his or her own bag at a participating merchant, the merchant donates 5 cents to a fund that benefits a variety of nonprofits.
   “There’s definitely some head shaking,” said Brewer, “but that’s without hearing Shaw’s side of it.”
   Efforts Tuesday to obtain a comment from Shaw’s Supermarkets Public Affairs Manager Jeffrey Gulko or another company representative were unsuccessful.
   Anne Ward, director of operations at the Central Vermont Humane Society, said Tuesday, “We got a call from Shaw’s to pick (the boxes) up some weeks ago.” She said she was told the company had updated its policy around donations and nonprofit organizations “and it no longer allows for the bins in the entry.”
   “We are disappointed, but they continue to support Central Vermont Humane Society in other ways,” said Ward.
   Murray-Clasen said she thinks the policy change will backfire on Shaw’s when central Vermonters realize it’s hurting the food pantry.
   “It’s a huge loss for us,” she said, noting that the Shaw’s drops funneled critical staples to the food bank throughout the year, supplementing the pantry’s major food drives in May and during the winter holiday season.
   In an Aug. 23 letter to Gulko and Shaw’s, Murray-Clasen wrote, “It remains unclear why Shaw’s has made this decision,” pointing to comments on the Shaw’s website about how important it is for the company to be a good corporate citizen.
   The website includes this statement: “Ending hunger in our local communities is core to our charitable mission. We support organizations providing comprehensive hunger relief programming and food distribution.”
   Murray-Clasen’s letter continues, “Shaw’s decision to remove Just Basics Inc. customer donation boxes will result in the annual loss of at least 7,000 pounds of nonperishable foods.”
   Murray-Clasen said she has not heard from Shaw’s since sending the letter.
   @Tagline:amy.nixon @timesargus.com
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EMERGENCY MANGEMENT
If you've thought about getting involved with Emergency Management, sign-up is open (until Sept 12th) for the annual Vermont Emergency Preparedness Conference on Thursday, September 18th at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee 7:30 - 5:30. There is no charge and it includes lunch. There are a lot of interesting educational sessions and hands-on workshops to choose from.www.vermontemergencypreparednessconference.com
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TOWN WEBSITE
Please note you should be seeing a new town website sometime during this month of September. Currently you can find the approved minutes of the August 18th selectboard meeting posted on the town website. There is also a press release regarding the new Town Administrator, Mr. Dana Hadley who started his position this week. Agendas for meetings can also be found along with Historical Society providing a vareity of photos. There is a wonderful presentation regarding the Berlin Post Offices our town used to have. All this and more at: www.berlinvt.org
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MERCHANTS PONDER
BIKE PARKING SOLUTIONS
Pub. 9/4/14 Times Argus by Amy Ash Nixon
   MONTPELIER — The notion of giving up a downtown parking space for bicycle parking was discussed at Wednesday morning’s meeting of the Montpelier Business Association, where the group’s president, Andrew Brewer, acknowledged his views on the subject aren’t entirely objective.
   Brewer is the owner of Onion River Sports on
Langdon Street, a business that specializes in the sales and service of bicycles and biking accessories.
   What Brewer made clear, though, when the potentially prickly topic came up, is that the idea for a bicycle parking area was raised by the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee and is still in its infancy.
   The ball got rolling when Bill Merrylees, the chairman of the bicycle committee, attended a meeting of the city’s parking committee last week to talk about bicycles.
   “One of the reasons he was at the parking committee was to discuss the horrendous state of where to park your bicycle in
Montpelier,” said Brewer. “There really is not any good central parking around” for bikes. “They are lashed to trees and parking meters, then they fall over, and they are not supposed to be there.”
   In addition to the idea of taking an existing parking space for a large rack that could secure as many as 20 bikes, the bicycle committee is looking at having rings welded onto some parking meters for use by cyclists, Brewer said.
   Brewer said he understands the prospect of dedicating a parking space for bikes may not sit well with everyone in the merchants group, but he argued that the idea has merit. “I look at it like repurposing,” he said. “We are taking one spot and we’re creating 20 spots.”
   The bicycle committee has suggested locating a parking area for bikes at the
Rialto Bridge, where a parklet has been tested this summer that will be removed at the end of the month.
   Brewer argued for central, convenient and multiple locations and methods for better bike parking in downtown
Montpelier.
   “A biker won’t go all the way to a rack, say, on
Barre Street,” he suggested. If there aren’t bike racks and devices nearby, a biker “is going to lash to a tree,” said Brewer.
   Carolyn Grodinsky, manager of the Capital City Farmers Market, asked about bikes being able to attach to the cages around trees downtown, spurring discussion about the new granite-framed bike racks in downtown Barre, with more than one
Montpelier merchant calling the Barre racks beautiful.
   “My preference is to try to find various spots around town where you can put three or four bikes,” continued Brewer. “I’m not unbiased on this issue, as you might guess. To me it’s a bigger conversation.” Brewer said for a car to be considered normal transportation while bicycles are labeled alternative bugs him.

“A vehicle is normal, anything else is alternative — I really hate that,” said Brewer. “And the vehicle gets prime everything ... and everything else is the ugly stepchild.”
   Merrylees said Wednesday that committee member Jon Budreski is drafting a letter to the City Council about the idea to use a parking space for bicycle parking and seeking to get the subject on the next council agenda.
   @Tagline:amy.nixon @timesargus.com
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MEETING DATES OF NOTE:
The Sewer Commission meets on Monday, September 8that 7pm at the town office.  The commission is in need of additional residents to become members.
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The Berlin Elementary School Board will meet Monday, September 8th   at 6:15pm at the school.
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The Planning Commission will meet Wednesday, September 10th 7pm at the town office.
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The Berlin Elementary School Parent, Teacher, Neighbor Association (PTNA) will meet Thursday, September 11th at 6:30pm at the school. 
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The Emergency Management Team will meet Thursday, September 11th 6pm at the fire house.  Please consider becoming part of this team to help residents of the town when disaster strikes.
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The Berlin PTNA (Parent, Teacher, Neighbor Association) will have their first monthly meeting of the school year on Thursday, September 11th at 6:30 p.m. in the Learning Center (library) at Berlin Elementary School. Parents, grandparents, community members, and staff are welcome to join in. Get involved with this organization that helps support students and staff throughout the year in a variety of ways.
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Thursday, September 18th Community Pot Luck and Open House at Berlin Elementary School.  6-6:30 potluck and information tables in the gym. 
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The Garden in Every School committee meeting is being hosted at Berlin Elementary School in the Learning Center (library) Thursday, September 25th from 4-6pm (free). This committee is not affiliated with BES, but part of Central Vermont’s growing awareness that children need to learn about the food they eat. Parents, families, and teachers are all welcome (but childcare is not provided). Food will be prepared by NECI students (e.g., at the last meeting homemade soup and bread were served). The topics will be: 1.) updates from schools sharing pictures and garden news, 2.) mini-workshop on garden funding and grant writing, and 3.) the exciting announcement that Washington County is the first county in the nation to have a school garden in EVERY school in the county!
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REMINDER: The first installment of the 2015 property taxes are due on Monday, September 22nd.

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