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ESSEX
APRIL 16, 2015
Vol. 35, No. 15
Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Essex Junction, VT 05452 Postal Patron-Residential
‘This is your train station?’
Village officials refine improvement plans By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter
When Essex Junction leaders survey the train station in the village center, the prevailing sentiment is ‘we can do better.’ Village planners are working with the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission to conceptualize what ‘better’ would look like. They have hired local architect John Alden, who sits on the Essex Junction Planning Commission and whose office is down the street from the station, to draw up plans that will act as a visual aid as the groups seek funding from the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
Essex Junction’s train station serves the Burlington area with daily Amtrak service to Massachusetts, New York City and Washington D.C.; a much-anticipated reconnection to Montreal is in the works. Yet, the station is a nondescript mass of concrete that was described last week as “a bunker” by Essex Economic Development Commission chairman Greg Morgan. Morgan was speaking during a public hearing on train station redevelopment plans in front of the Essex Junction Planning Commission. “It is an embarrassment to the state of Vermont,” said Morgan, who lives in the neighborhood of the train station. “The (Agency
– See TRAIN on page 5a
Essex Junction planners Railroad Avenue with
hope to liven up the village’s train station on a metal-roof canopy and waiting plaza.
Budgets pass
Envisioning a more ‘humane’ village
By JOE CARDELLO and ELSIE LYNN PARINI The Essex Reporter Polls were open from 7 a.m.7 p.m. on Tuesday at Essex Middle School and High School for Essex Town and Junction voters to weigh in on school board members, budgets, reserve funds and other measures. Voters supported the school boards’ FY16 recommendations and elected several board candidates. Below are the preliminary results. ESSEX JUNCTION SCHOOL DISTRICT Five hundred and fifty-five Essex Junction residents – of the 7,349 total voters on the voter checklist – voted on an $18,627,735 FY16 budget for its primary schools and by a margin of 342 votes for and 213 votes opposing, according to Essex Junction School District Clerk Lynette Corbin. Voters also accepted a supplementation of $50,000 to the Capital Reserve Fund (370 for and 181 against). Budget allocations for the Parks and Recreation Department included the authorization of a one-cent tax rate increase (342 for and 196 against) and acceptance of an article that would add $623,981 of tax revenues to the Capital Reserve Fund for the department (389 for and 164 against). Jason M. DiRosa ran unopposed for a three-year term as a Prudential Committee Member. He received a total of 388 votes. The seats for another Prudential Committee Member and Union School District #46 Director were left open prior to voting. The two-year Prudential Committee seat was filled by write-in candidate Candace Morgan who received 33 votes – a minimum of 30 votes are needed for a candidate to be elected. The U#46 position was still vacant after the vote. Prudential Committee Chair Michael Smith expressed his pleasure with the voting outcomes and said that he looks forward to working with both of the new committee members. With regards to the open position for U#46 Director Smith said that the Prudential Committee will discuss and appoint someone during a future meeting. U#46 SCHOOL DISTRICT Village and Town residents cast a total of 1,183 votes on Tuesday on the Union School District #46 budget proposals for FY16 according to U#46 School District Clerk Cindy Cusson. The Essex High School budget for FY16 of $24,465,011 passed (765 for and 414 against) in addition the voters accepted the Center for Technology, Essex FY16 budget of $8,582,880 (823 for and 354 against). Voters also chose to pass an article that
– See BUDGETS on page 5a
COURTESY | SCOTT + PARTNERS ARCHITECTURE
By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter Ray Streeter of Streeter’s Box Manufacturing displays his wares at the Made in Vermont Marketplace last weekend at the Champlain Valley Exposition.
Dave Lasch of Green Mountain Marinades cooks samples of marinated chicken at the Made in Vermont Marketplace at the Champlain Valley Exposition on Sunday afternoon in Essex Junction. OLIVER PARINI PHOTOGRAPHY
JASON STARR
Vermont under one roof Green Mountain products featured at Expo BY JASON STARR The Essex Reporter Look under “V” in the glossary of exhibitors at last weekend’s Made in Vermont Marketplace in Essex and you’ll find a dozen companies that lead their brand name with the word “Vermont.” In an earlier section, you’ll see several companies that tie their brand to the state’s Green Mountain nickname. These companies sell everything from rolling pins to peanut butter; teddy bears to whiskey. But as diverse as their offerings, they share a belief in the value of the Vermont brand. Last weekend, for the second straight year, Vermont Business Magazine gathered nearly 100 companies at the Champlain Valley Exposition for a three-day public showcase of Vermont-made products. “You could spend all day driving through Vermont, or come here and see it all under one roof,” Vermont Business Magazine Publisher John Boutin said Friday as vendors finalized their setups. As any fan of Vermont’s exports would expect, a plethora of specialty food was on display and for sale. Vermont’s burgeoning beer and spirits industry occupied its own tasting room. And, assorted hard goods rounded out the showcase. Of the hard-goods companies, Streeter’s Box
Manufacturing is a prime example of Vermont resourcefulness and entrepreneurial thinking. Owner Ray Streeter started building crates and boxes in the basement of his home in Jericho as a way to repurpose the skills he had developed as an outdoor storage shed builder — and to supplement his income during the slow winter months. Through phone calls and emails, he began attracting business from fruit orchards in the region. Then day care centers started buying his crates as organizers for hats, mittens and jackets. Then homeowners came calling looking for pieces to help organize closets, bathrooms and bedrooms. He also sells to stores as a product display solution and has built a wholesale side of the business. “We kind of fished around to find the market and what people use them for,” Streeter said. The company offers free delivery; crates are priced at $5 apiece. Customized pieces are also available. Streeter moved the operation into a 5,000-square-foot facility on Prim Road in Colchester last June. With custom-built machinery, he can pump out up to 3,000 boxes a day. Streeter’s Box Manufacturing was among the closest companies to travel to the Expo for last weekend’s event. Others came from all four corners of the state: Isle La Motte, Brattleboro, Rutland, Canaan were among the locations represented. Boutin said the event’s appeal to manufacturers is the opportunity to switch their focus from building relationships with retailers to interacting directly with consumers.
Community lends a helping hand after tragedy strikes Seven displaced in Essex Junction blaze By JOE CARDELLO The Essex Reporter An Essex Junction resident remained in intensive care this week as Vermonters donated money to help her and several others whose homes were destroyed in an early-morning fire at a Cherry Street apartment building over the weekend. The Essex Police Department was called to 1 Cherry St. at 5:33 a.m. on Sunday, April 12, and found the building engulfed in flames and a woman in her 20s trapped inside, according to reports. She was located by rescue crews and found
to be unresponsive. Officer Stephen Dunning, Essex Town Firefighter John Ouellette, Essex Junction Fire Capt. Jim Kellogg and Essex Junction Firefighters Stephen Gragg and Dan McCaig had to cut a hole in the exterior of the house to rescue her. She has been identified by neighbors and on a fundraising site as Kori Chambers. According to the site, www. gofundme.com/koriandowen, Chambers lived in the apartment with Owen Reinders. Essex Rescue Crew Chief Mike Weinberg and his first responders performed CPR on Chambers and she was taken to UVM Medical Center, where she reportedly remained in intensive care this week. Lt. Robert Kissinger of the
– See FIRE on page 5a
Emergency personnel were called to a structural fire at 1 Cherry St. in Essex Junction early Sunday morning. COURTESY | AMERICAN RED CROSS
How can Essex Junction residents make Five Corners a place visitors want to come to instead of just drive through? A good chunk of the annual village meeting earlier this month was devoted to the topic. Urban planner Julie Campoli, a consultant hired by the board of village trustees, has led residents on a vision quest that started in November to imagine a more pedestrian-centric downtown. She presented the bulk of her findings to about 120 residents at the April 1 annual meeting. She is still working on a final report. Her most striking suggestion is that the village fundamentally rework its central five-way intersection — piggybacking off the upcoming construction (next year at the earliest) of a bypass road around Five Corners behind the Lincoln Inn — to remove automobiles from the first block of Main Street. She also recommends narrowing Park Street with wider sidewalks at the block closest to Five Corners, once the bypass road begins diverting traffic behind the Lincoln Inn. Removing cars from Main Street’s Brownell Block would allow for a pedestrian-scale public place in the heart of the village. It could be a home for the weekly seasonal Five Corners Farmers Market, the annual block party, and a rotating array of food trucks and art displays, she said. “The (connector) creates really great opportunities to turn Essex Junction into the place it used to be,” said Campoli, referring to a time before the proliferation of automobiles. “It lets the village reclaim a lot of that asphalt for public space.” Her plan, it was noted, would need endorsement from those who own the property that lines downtown streets. Village resident Dorothy Bergendahl said she frequents the Road Res Q car service station at the corner of Main and Maple streets. In a drawing Campoli presented of a pedestrian-centric Main Street, Road Res Q and the Simon’s gas station across the street are conspicuously missing. “Green space is nice, but you’re taking people’s businesses away,” Bergendahl said. “Landowners are really the key players here,” Campoli acknowledged. “Engage with them. Show them the vision and what the advantage is to them.” The vision, she said, is compatible with current land use regulations written into the Village Comprehensive Plan and
– See PLANNING on page 3a