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March 14, 2020
Serving Addison, Rutland & Chittenden Counties
Town Meeting decides local articles
Good news for local dairy farmers
Concrete monsters
Voters decide on proposed actions From News Reports TOW N OF MIDDLEBURY
MIDDLEBURY | The Middlebury Selectboard recently approved six additional renewal applications for class 1-3 liquor licenses, outdoor consumption and entertainment permits as presented by Town Clerk Ann Webster. Brent Rakowski, of Otter Creek Engineering, and Nicholas Wood, of Vermont Integrated Architecture, updated the Board on planning for the Adaptive Reuse Project at the former wastewater treatment facility adjacent to the Police Department on Lucius Shaw Lane. The project was the subject of Article 10 on the warning for Town Meeting on March 2: “Shall general obligation bonds or notes of the Town of Middlebury in an amount not to exceed $850,000, subject to reduction from available alternate sources of funding, be issued for the purpose of rehabilitating the former wastewater treatment facility, including the Control Building for Police Department storage, the sand filter building for cruiser parking, a small hazardous material storage building, and energy upgrades to the P.D. building; all on Lucius Shaw Lane?” DPW Planning Director Dan Werner reviewed with the Board the East Middlebury Flood Resiliency Project, Article 9 on the Town Meeting Warning: “Shall general obligation bonds or notes of the town of Middlebury in an amount not to exceed $2 million, subject to reduction from available alternate sources of funding, be issued for the purpose of fi nancing construction of Flood Resiliency Improvements for the Village of East Middlebury including: (1) repair the existing flood wall and extend the flood wall 150 feet downstream ($1,000,000); (2) armoring sections of the Ossie Road Berm ($800,000); and removing sediment from chute entrances and the top of large bars ($200,000), the total estimated cost of such improvements being $2 million, with the Town’s portion of the project cost estimated at $500,000?” Werner also presented an overview of the Court Square-area water improvements project, including the phasing for the work, which appeared as Article 8 on the warning for Town Meeting. ■
Stock photo
Dairy consumption going up nationwide From Staff & News Reports THE EAGLE
A recent public update by Middlebury’s community liaison Jim Gish reports that a New York-based concrete plant is busy fabricating giant tunnel pieces for the downtown bridge-rail project. “To date, Fort Miller (Company) has fabricated some 200 pieces. The photo shows two of the u-walls that were dry fitted together during a recent inspection by VTrans and (project contractor) Kubricky Construction.” Gish added that each of the tunnel pieces weighs approximately 40 tons. “A 300-ton crane will be assembled downtown in April and sit in Triangle Park to pick the precast concrete pieces off of flatbed trucks and swing them into place,” he noted. “That will be a sight to see.” Photo by Jim Gish
MIDDLEBURY | There’s some good news for Addison County dairy farmers. Dairy consumption is on the rise and Vermont cheese has finally making in-roads against Wisconsin cheese. Dairy consumption in the USA has changed substantially over the past two decades and continues to shift. See DAIRY CONSUMPTION » pg. 2
Dairy farmers to meet Annual producers’ gathering at Vermont Tech By Lou Varricchio EDITOR
MIDDLEBURY | There are many advantages to organic dairy farming although there are also
many challenges especially in maintaining industry high standards. And organic dairy practices aren’t high priority for every Vermont dairy farmer. Regardless, Vermont organic dairy farmers will gather March 11 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph for the Vermont O rg a n ic D a i r y P ro duce r s Conference. The meeting will be a discussion of industry issues as well as trends in marketing.
Vermont whole milk sales have been climbing since 2013. Pictured: Holstein cows feeding at a Nop Brothers farm on Blake Roy Road along the Middlebury-Salisbury town line.
See DAIRY MEETING » pg. 2
Photo by Lou Varricchio
Schools, child care making progress on reducing lead levels
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Law requires tap-water testing From Staff & News Reports THE EAGLE
MIDDLEBURY | Eight months after a law went into effect requiring regional schools to test their drinking water taps for lead, most are finding at least one tap with elevated lead levels – results that health officials say are in line with expectations.
Of the 168 schools that have received their water test results to date, 79% have at least one tap with lead levels at or above 4 parts per billion (ppb) – the action level set by state law. If schools have a result at or above 4 ppb, they are required to immediately stop using the fi xture and either replace it or permanently disable it. The state’s 440 public and independent schools and 1,200 child care programs must test all taps used for drinking water and cooking by the end of this year. The 2019 law was created after a pilot study of drinking water taps at 16 schools detected lead levels of at least 1 ppb at all the schools tested. Lead exposure poses a special risk to young children because they absorb lead into their systems more easily than adults do. Lead can slow down physical growth, impair development and learning, and cause behavioral problems. Drinking tap water is just one of the ways children can be exposed to lead. Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., said the test results do not come as a surprise. “The pilot study told us a lot about what to expect with a broader testing program,” said Levine. “Including that when fi xtures are not regularly used, lead can build up in the water. We learned this would be of particular concern in school buildings that have older plumbing, which tends to contain more lead.” Levine said the results underscore why it’s important for
the state to require the testing. “Lead poisoning is a serious, but preventable health problem,” said Levine. “There is no safe level of lead in the body, which means we need to address the sources of lead where we find them.” Licensed child care programs are also required to test their water. Of the 751 child care programs that have sent in samples, 13% have at least one tap at or above 4 ppb. Child care programs are less likely to have an elevated lead result because they have fewer taps to sample. All test results are listed at leadresults.vermont.gov. The public can also check the current status of testing statewide by going to that link and clicking the “reports” tab and then “overall summary.” Once a tap is taken out of service, the school or child care then chooses a permanent fi x, such as removing or replacing the fi xture. The state is covering the cost of testing and will also provide reimbursement for fi xture replacement. To date, 484 taps have been replaced and 145 others have been permanently removed from service. The project is being coordinated by the Health Department in close collaboration with the Agency of Education, Department for Children and Families, and the Department of Environmental Conservation. “This is a huge undertaking,” Levine said. “I appreciate the hard work being done by our schools and child care programs to help protect the health of their children and staff.” ■
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