Sunday, January 17, 2016
Berlin News to Know October 29th
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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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For current news
look for "Berlin , Vermont " on facebook for a constant flow of
information. You don't need to be a facebook user to access it, but if
you do use facebook, be sure to "Like" it:
For historical
news look for "Berlin , Vermont Memories" on facebook.
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Announcement - Haven't
been getting much information out recently as we've been busy helping our
oldest, Sara and her husband, Joe, get moved here to Berlin before their baby
due date of November 5th. We arrived
Saturday night 11pm and our
granddaughter surprised us and decided to be born two days later on Monday,
October 26th!! William (now 4) enjoyed
meeting his cousin, Zeta! Life is good!
Below you will find:
HALLOWEEN FUN !
EXIT 8 SOUTHBOUND TO CLOSE
RICHARD WOOD & GORDON
BELSHER PERFORMING
UVM EXTENSION OFFICE MOVED
WITHIN TOWN
13th ANNUAL FALL
SCHOLASTIC CHESS TOURNAMENT
SCHEDULED MEETINGS / HOLIDAY
ANNUAL SCHOLASTIC BOOK
FAIR
BUS STOP CONVERSATIONS -
LATEST ADDITION ONLINE
FROM BERLIN FRONT PORCH FORUM
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HALLOWEEN FUN !
The Montpelier Recreation
Dept. is once again hosting a Halloween Party for families at the Montpelier
High School Cafeteria. This will be on
Saturday, October 31st 1-2:30pm . Ghoulish games, freaky fun,
frightening food, and mysterious magic by Berlin 's favorite magician! From 1-2pm there are free games and refreshments and 2-2:30 Marko Magic
Show. Sponsors of this event include:
VFW Post $792, Ellie's Farm Market, Dunkin Donuts, and Norwich Cadets.
Halloween is a Saturday
this year, so downtown Montpelier has decided to step things up a bit! Starting at 3 pm on State Street
(between Elm and Main), there will be a Monster Mash with carnival games, an
obstacle course and free popcorn and cotton candy, all hosted by the Community
Capital Church.
At 3:15 pm , also on State Street , line up for the Costume Contest; the categories
are cutest, scariest and most creative in the following age ranges: 0-5, 6-12,
13-18, Adult and Pet. There will also be one overall winner. Winners
will receive gifts and gift certificates from downtown Montpelier stores.
At 4:00 pm , the merchants in downtown Montpelier will be ready for trick-or-treating, giving away
candy, toys and other treasures to the community kids. Downtown
trick-or-treating has become a safe and fun tradition in Montpelier .
Lost Nation Theater
invites you to their Spooktacular Haunted Walk in City Hall. From 4-5:30 pm , tour the “kid-friendly” Haunted Walk and get
scared with friends and family!
NECI on Main will be hosting a Haunted House at the Chef's Table. It is open to
the public, family friendly and will be from 4-7 pm. Free admission and we will
be giving out candy to all trick or treaters, and anyone that dines at NECI on Main that day will get a special Halloween themed treat.
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EXIT 8 SOUTHBOUND TO CLOSE
Exit 8 southbound on and
off ramps will be closed Nov 5th - 13th and motorists will need to use exits 7
or 9. Those on I-89 In this area will be reduced to a single lane. For
more details and a map visit: http://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/aot/files/Press%20Release%20Exit%208%20Bridge%20Final.pdf
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RICHARD WOOD & GORDON BELSHER PERFORMING
November 9th at 7:30pm at the Berlin Congregational Church (1808 Scott Hill Rd ) don't miss an amazing performance by fiddler
Gordon Belsher and guitarist/vocalist Richard Wood from Prince Edward Island . Expect
high-energy, high-quality music. Tickets
are $15. Call 229-9504. Your support of
this event would be appreciated!
www.rwood.ca/richard-wood-tour-schedule
Interested in a bit of a
preview? Check this out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v9qwKsPKR0
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UVM EXTENSION OFFICE MOVED WITHIN TOWN
The University of Vermont Extension office in Berlin has a new home. The office recently moved from its
longtime Comstock
Road
location to 327 Route 302, Berlin ,
while the mailing address is 327 Route 302, Suite 1 , Barre , Vermont 05641 . Although the office has a Barre mailing address, it is located
within Berlin town limits, so it will continue to be called the
UVM Extension Berlin office. The office will be open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The new phone number is 476-2003.
(of note, the edge of Berlin on Route 302 is at the Family Heirloom & Knoll
Motel with part of the motel property being in Berlin )
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It's always wonderful when
places in Berlin are referred to as being in Berlin and not one of our neighboring towns.
Did you know that now if
you go to the www.amtrak.com website to book train travel, you can start typing
in Berlin and get our "Montpelier Junction"
station. I love that it's now being
referred to as Berlin-Montpelier or Montpelier-Berlin (instead of the Montpelier or Barre-Montpelier station).
Amtrak folks did a nice
job updating the Great American Stations website for our Berlin train station - www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/MPR
Yes, once person can speak
up and explain it and some folks will pay attention and make appropriate
changes.
Would love to see
everything in Berlin being referred to as Berlin !
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The October 12th Berlin
Elementary School Board meeting recording became available just a couple days
after the meeting. Of note is that two board members have resigned and two new
members were nominated to join the board until Town Meeting in March 2016. It's
an important time of year as the budget process is starting to develop what
will be voted on in March.
http://orcamedia.net/ ORCA also
has a facebook page www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=ORCA%20Media
(next school board meeting
Nov 9th)
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13th ANNUAL FALL SCHOLASTIC CHESS TOURNAMENT
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In order to meet this
deadline, payments should be brought to the Treasurer at the town office no
later than the 17th at 4:30pm or they can be left in the deposit box outside the front door
(which will be checked Tuesday morning). Payments can also be postmarked
(not an office meter but postmarked by the post office) by August 17th.
Payments not made will incur a late fee of 8% penalty and 1% interest. The
Treasurer’s office is open five days a week (Monday through Thursday 8am to 4:30pm and on Friday 8am to 4pm ).
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SCHEDULED MEETINGS, EVENTS & HOLIDAYS
The following meetings are
upcoming:
Friday, October 30 -
Halloween Family Dance 6:30-8PM Berlin Elem. School
Monday, November 2 -
Selectboard meeting 7pm Town office
Tuesday, November 3 -
Development Review Board 7pm Town office
Wednesday, November 4th -
Deadline to sign up for Community Luncheon at school next week
Thursday, November 5 -
PTNA meeting 6:30pm Berlin Elementary
Monday, November 9 - Sewer
Commission 7pm Town office
Monday, November 9 -
School Board Meeting 6:15pm Berlin Elem School
Wednesday, November 11 -
Town offices closed for Veteran's Day
Wednesday, November 11 -
Community Luncheon at Berlin Elem. School
Wednesday, November 11 -
Planning Commission 6pm Town office
Monday, November 16 -
Selectboard 7pm Town office
Tuesday, November 17 -
Quarterly TAX PAYMENT due
Tuesday, November 17 -
Development Review Board 7pm Town office
Wednesday, November 18 - B.E.L.T.
meeting at Berlin Elem. in Gauthier's room
Saturday, November 21 -
Scholastic Chess Tournament grades K-12 held at Berlin Elem.
Monday, November 23 -
Sewer Commission 7pm Town office
Tuesday, November 24 - Berlin Economic Committee 6:30pm
Tuesday, November 24 - Historical
Society 7pm , Devin from the State Division of Historic Preservation
to speak. Slide show or videos & other
materials for viewing at 6:30pm
Wednesday, November 25 -
Planning Commission 6pm Town office
Thursday, November 26 -
Town office Closed for Thanksgiving
Friday, November 27 - Town
office closed
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ANNUAL SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
Shop online starting
November 1st http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/berlinelementaryschool2
Shop in person at the book
fair in the school Learning Center November 6th 8am - 8pm and November 9th-13th 8am - 8pm
All proceeds go toward
building the school library collection and classroom library collections.
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BUS STOP CONVERSATIONS - LATEST ADDITION ONLINE
Stage 32 presents their
fall musical: Sweeney Todd at U-32, November 13, 14 at 7 p.m. And Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.
Elevation study pictures
atop Hunger Mountain .
Third graders receive
dictionaries from Rotary.
Downing and Barrows are
Outstanding Teachers
Read about them, read a
synopsis of school climate data, see current events, board minutes and more in
the current issue of Bus Stop Conversations:
Also, if you’d like to
subscribe to Bus Stop Conversations and receive it in your in box every two
weeks during the school year, please send us an email. Send to: dwolf@u32.org
with "subscribe Bus Stop" in the subject.
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Pub. 10/27/15 Times Argus
by David Delcore
BERLIN — Town officials are weeks away from
christening a municipal water system that was discussed for decades and will
remain something of a work in progress even after it is fully functional next
month.
More than six months after Munson Earth
Moving broke ground on the project, the Williston contractor is nearing the
point where users — some more ready than others — will be able to hook on to
the system and begin consuming water produced by three bedrock wells on Scott
Hill Road.
Those town-owned wells — drilled as the
community cautiously explored the potential for a municipal water system — were
tested and approved long before Munson was hired to complete the $5.5 million
project earlier this year.
A pump house has since
been constructed on the Scott Hill Road site, as has a 400,000-gallon water storage tank.
The contractor has installed most of the 32,000 linear feet of transmission
line that was contemplated when work began in April. Two additional spurs — one
on Richardson
Road and
another on Birchwood
Drive —
are also complete, and Town Administrator Dana Hadley said the system should be
up and running by mid-November.
All that remains, according to Hadley, is for
one crew to wrap up work on Industrial Lane and another, which is currently working on Paine
Turnpike, to head out Crosstown Road .
Once that work is done, Hadley said, the
perimeter of a system capable of serving the entire Berlin Four Corners area
will be in place and those most eager for water will be able to hook on.
According to Hadley, many, if not most, of
those connections won’t happen until next year, though he is aware of a few
large users that plan to hook on as soon as possible.
The Comfort Inn, Applebee’s restaurant and an
adjoining convenience store — whose owners hope to replace it with a larger
facility including a visitors center — have started work on connections, and
Hadley said the town offices won’t be far behind. The municipal water system
will resolve a long-standing problem associated with contaminated groundwater
that has plagued both residential and commercial properties.
Hadley said properties accounting for at
least 80 “equivalent residential units” are expected to swiftly hook on to the
new system. The balance of the 400 committed ERUs — the wells are permitted to
serve up to 432 — likely will connect to the system by next spring, he said.
With the town finally poised to launch its
new utility, the hunt is on for someone to operate it and a rate structure is
being developed.
According to Hadley, the Select Board will
discuss the merits of contracting with a private firm to operate the municipal
system when it meets next week and the proposed rate structure will soon be
submitted for the board’s consideration.
Thanks to interest that
was stronger than initially projected, Hadley said the annual cost of water
should be comfortably within the $600 estimate per equivalent residential unit
used during the developmental stage of the project. All customers will be
charged a quarterly fee that will finance the cost of constructing and
operating the system, and likely a consumption-based charge.
According to Hadley, perhaps half of those
who have committed to buying water from the town are also customers of the
local sewer system, and the plan is to eventually develop a combined bill for
both municipal utilities that is due quarterly. Sewer customers pay twice a
year, in February and August.
The perimeter of the system — a massive U
that includes Paine Turnpike, Fisher Road and Airport Road, as well as spurs on
Crosstown, Granger, Richardson and Shed roads, Industrial Lane and Birchview
Drive — will be finished next month. However, Hadley said two nonessential
aspects of the project will remain undone.
One involves installation of a belatedly
proposed section of line along Comstock Road , linking the water line now being installed on
Paine Turnpike to the one already in place on Airport Road . Though there aren’t many potential customers on Comstock Road , the $210,000 segment of transmission line will
create an internal loop that engineers say will improve the hydraulics of the
system and make future leaks easier to isolate without disrupting service to
all users.
Munson will turn its attention to Comstock Road once the rest of the system is operational.
The other piece of unfinished business
involves a planned interconnection with a privately owned spring-fed system
that serves a sliver of Berlin
located along the Barre-Montpelier Road corridor.
According to Hadley , Berlin must exercise its expiring option to buy the
system from owner Dean Hedges before the end of the year, because the
acquisition is built into its financing for the water system. However, the town
hasn’t yet obtained an easement it needs for the interconnection to cross the
site of Berlin Health and Rehabilitation Center .
Hadley said it is possible the town will have
to run Hedges’ system, which serves 47 customers, as a stand-alone operation
until it is able to obtain the easement necessary to combine the systems.
david.delcore
@timesargus.com
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FROM BERLIN FRONT PORCH
FORUM
Below are some recent
posts .... there have been many more about a variety of topics, looking for
services, garage sales, meeting announcements, events, etc. Membership is
free - to join go to: http://frontporchforum.com
Booth Rental Opening FPF #739
10/13/15
Posted
to: Berlin
I am purchasing Yvonne's Riverside Salon
at 37 Elm St. Montpelier , on December 1st.
I have Booth rental openings for Full or Part time Cosmetologist , Barbers, or
Manicurist, in a family friendly salon. Flexible hours. If interested call
223-7611 or email angjjohns@yahoo.com.
Civil War Stories FPF #752 10/25/15
Emily Richards • emr2220@hotmail.com • Us Route 302
Posted
to: Berlin
A small group of students at U-32 are
looking for Civil War stories about Berlin --If you have
connections, family stories, resources, or any other information regarding the
town of Berlin during the Civil
War, we are interested!
Feel free to email me at: erichards17@student.u32.org or Lauren Morse at: lmorse17@student.u32.org
We look forward to hearing from you!