Voters Say No to New Fire Station & Town Garage

by Mickey Smith

CAMBRIDGE – Last Thursday, December 13, voters in Cambridge turned down a $3 million bond for building a new town garage and fire station, 241-184.
In a straw vote, voters also showed a more than 2-1 (285-113) preference for keeping the town garage at the village location rather than moving it to the gravel pit.
As a result of the vote, the Cambridge Selectboard met with the Cambridge Fire Department on Monday night, December 17, to discuss their next steps.
Selectboard Chair Bernie Juskiewicz said the board has decided to explore all the options before them, regarding the town garage proposal. He said the vote showed a clear choice of the current site for the town garage, but he noted that location needs to be explored further to try to work something out that would satisfy the needs of everyone – including the soccer contingent that does not want to lose athletic field space.
Juskiewicz said they would look into what could be done at that location and hope to have something ready to bring before the voters at Town Meeting.
In the meantime, the decision has been made to go forward with a vote on just the fire department project. At informational meetings, there was a lot of support for the fire station part of the bond. Several people spoke up saying they had to vote against both because of concerns for the town garage portion. Others pointed out linking the two projects simply made the bond more than they wanted to spend, and asked for them to be separated.
Juskiewicz said the board fully supports the fire department project and is in hopes it can get passed without the more controversial town garage piece attached to the vote.
A warning is scheduled to be signed later this week, asking for a January 23 vote for the $1.85 million fire department bond. It will be held that Wednesday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Two informational meetings will be held prior to the vote, one on January 9 and the other January 22.

Selectboard Pursuing Temporary Bridge for Bridge Street

by Amy Kolb Noyes

MORRISTOWN – Before deciding between two local proposals to repair and maintain the decaying Bridge Street Bridge, the Morristown Selectboard has decided to explore the option of a temporary bridge. This fall, the board solicited proposals from local companies CCS and Blow & Cote on how best to rejuvenate the town-owned bridge until state or federal funds could be secured to help pay for major repairs or its replacement. The two companies offered vastly different solutions to maintain the bridge.

Before deciding between the two proposals, however, the board has opted to get information from the state on constructing a temporary bridge, such as the one recently erected on Vermont Route 15A, in Morristown. The state put up that span to temporarily replace the failing Tenney Bridge, which was built around the same time as the Bridge Street bridge, after the flood of 1927. Although the Bridge Street Bridge is on Vermont Route 100, the portion of Route 100 through Morrisville Village is a town road – making that bridge a town problem.

After speaking with staffers from Vermont’s Congressional delegation, Town Administrator Dave Crawford reported there is a possibility funds could be available to put a temporary bridge in place. The first step will be to determine if the 80-year-old bridge is considered, by the state, to be historic. An historic designation could hinder any effort by the town to have it removed. However, if it is deemed historic, preservation funds could be available for its repair.

The State of Vermont deemed Tenney Bridge was not an historic structure. That determination allowed the state to dismantle the failing bridge and install a temporary bridge, built from the state’s stores of Mabey bridge parts. Mabey bridges are a modern version of the military Bailey bridge concept. The selectboard is hoping the state might make its stockpile of bridge parts available for the town to hire a local contractor to build a temporary replacement for the Bridge Street Bridge.

New at LARC
by Amy Kolb Noyes

MORRISTOWN – What’s a kid to do to pass the time when he’s been brought along to the Lamoille Area Recreational Center for a parent or sibling’s ice time? Well, there are video games, Foosball and a basketball hoop – but what if he has homework to do? Many a kid has solved math problems and sounded out spelling words on the LARC lobby’s red picnic tables, but that’s not an ideal place for higher concentration. Soon there will be a better solution.

The LARC board of directors has voted to install a new “educational learning lab” in a currently un-utilized space. LARC Director of Development Ken Peer said the lab should be completed in February. The lab will include four donated Dell computer workstations, a large white board and a projector. Free wireless internet access is already available at LARC, and the new computers will be online as well.

“The whole place is wired as a hot spot, so we’re not going to charge people for the internet,” Peer explained.

Peer said the computers will be available for kids to study and play games while they are at LARC. In addition, LARC will be working with private tutors to offer tutoring for grade four through nine, as well as SAT and LSAT prep classes. He noted, in addition to bringing in the needed equipment, the room will be remodeled to look more like an educational space.

“It’s not going to look like an athletic center in the least bit,” Peer commented.

LARC will also be able to use the lab as a conference room area, thanks to the white board and projector, Peer added.

Come spring, LARC will add another offering as well. Two extreme paintball courses will be created, and LARC will be an official tournament venue on the national professional paintball circuit. One course will be an “open tournament” field where teams of up to 10 players compete in a capture-the-flag style game. The other course will be in the woods, where the adventure takes on a guerrilla warfare feel.

LARC has already secured wholesaler status from the country’s largest and oldest paintball supplier, according to Peer. In addition to guns and ammo, folks who go to LARC for a round of paintball will be equipped with a full set of safety gear, including a full face guard and chest and back protectors.

LARC is planning a big paintball grand opening event in the spring. Peer said the Army National Guard will be participating in the grand opening, bringing its 300’ inflatable obstacle course and a 60’ hydraulic wall. A date has yet to be set for that event.

The New Echo Company: Infantry Forward Support
by Mickey Smith

When driving a tank you hope there aren't a lot of opportunities to scale a 100 foot cliff, but with a change in duties such as the one undergone by the National Guard members out of the Morristown Armory, you welcome the opportunity to learn new skills.
A little over a year ago, the Morristown Armory became home to Echo Company (Infantry Forward Support Company) 86th Brigade Support Battalion – a big name meaning they now provide supplies to the Mountain Division. With the change, comes a need to learn new ways for getting the job done.
Sergeant First Class Kevin Brown explained their job involves a lot of trips back and forth bringing supplies to the front lines of the Mountain Division. At times, that might involve getting to places their trucks can't travel. For this purpose, in November, members of Echo Company met at Elmore State Park and practiced scaling the cliff faces on Elmore Mountain.
Under the tutelage of Staff Sergeant Dustin Dearborn and Staff Sergeant Robert Nile, both of the Mountain Warfare School, our local soldiers learned about knot tying, types of rope, carabiners, harnesses and all of the rest of the basics involved in rock climbing and rapelling.
Once they had learned the basics, they soon found themselves getting some hands-on experience while attached to a rope nearly 100 feet above the ground.
After a day of learning the basics for individual climbing, they received some training regarding putting their skills to work and practiced moving supplies using suspension traverses and vertical haul.
With the change over from a tank unit to a forward support unit, the Morristown Armory is seeing a surge in numbers (both human and mechanical). Sgt. Brown said when they are completely outfitted they will have over 60 vehicles in their fleet and 118 members (as compared to 63 members when they were an armor company). Currently, he said, they have 68 members and are specifically looking for truck drivers. Some of the old members of Charlie Company stayed with tanks, switching to another unit.
Brown said anyone interested in driving a truck for the National Guard receives the necessary training; they do not have to have a CDL. He said they also have slots in their communication department, which does not just include radios any more. He said nowadays there is a lot of work with computer networking and the internet, training that can be used to enhance a civilian job as well.
Brown said they are also now able to welcome female members to the unit. He said when they were a tank unit, they were not able to have female members, but now females are welcome to join the team.
The unit recently held its Christmas party at the Morrisville VFW. On December 9, Sgt. First Class Ray Audet, whose civilian job sees him working as a chef at Trapp Family Lodge, led a kitchen contingent that put together a meal consisting of four turkeys, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, green beans, salad, a shrimp appetizer, and pies for dessert.
Santa Claus made an appearance, and soldiers who retired during the 2007 year were recognized.

Put Your Health First in 2008!
by Amy Kolb Noyes

MORRISTOWN – “Have a happy and healthy new year.” We’ve all heard this sentiment before. You might even have uttered it yourself, or written it down as a greeting in a holiday card. What many of us don’t think much about, however, is how intimately health and happiness are linked, and how they can change in the blink of an eye.

Just ask Dennis Bedell, 47, of Morristown. Dennis has experienced his share of health issues in the past, but last month, on Sunday, November 4, his entire life changed when he collapsed in his driveway. Dennis’ friend, Jim Grover, was there and got Dennis to Copley Hospital in the nick of time.

“He saved my life,” Dennis told the News & Citizen. In fact, Jim wasn’t the only person to save Dennis’ life that day. Although he can only remember bits and pieces of the week to follow, Dennis was told he legally died three times later that day, while at Fletcher Allen Health Care.

Emergency providers at Copley Hospital measured Dennis’ blood pressure at 60/30, and his heart rate dipped to 37. When he had collapsed, Dennis said he felt a severe crushing pain in his back.

“My back felt like a truck fell on me,” Dennis explained. Then he saw nothing but white light.

“I went blind and saw bright lights,” Dennis said. “I couldn’t see.”

He believes his body systems were beginning to shut down at that point.

“I do feel like I died that day in Jim’s truck,” said Dennis. “If he hadn’t been there I would have died.”

Once at Copley, Dennis was quickly stabilized for transport via ambulance to Burlington’s Fletcher Allen Health Care.

“Copley took me in very fast,” said Dennis. He thinks six to eight caregivers were working on him, and had him ready to load onto the ambulance within 20 minutes.

“I was scared,” said Dennis. “I heard them say a heart rate of 37 and low blood pressure.”

Dennis is no stranger to hospitals. He is diabetic and two years ago he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He had a defibrillator installed, he said, and that is supposed to kick in if his heart rate drops below 40. It didn’t.

Two days after his collapse, Dennis said the hospital called his family and said he was not likely to make it through the night.

He did survive that night, and Dennis would spend the next two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit at Fletcher Allen, and a total of 17 days in the hospital. He was first treated for severe pneumonia, then had a stent put in his heart. His kidneys failed completely. He was subjected to a battery of tests, x-rays, breathing tubes, blood draws and even a spinal tap.

“I had tubes in every part of my body,” Dennis recalled.

Now back at home, Dennis’ entire life is different. In a matter of 10 seconds, he said, his whole world changed.

“It’s a rough road now,” said Dennis. “It’s hard for me. Now I have no choices in my life.”

Dennis devotes a good chunk of each day to dealing with his diabetes and kidney disease.

“And they don’t go away,” said Dennis. “Those two diseases don’t go away.”

Three days a week Dennis must be taken to the Chittenden County Kidney Center for hours of dialysis treatment. The procedure leaves him exhausted.

“Because of this whole ordeal, at 47-years-old I’ve lost my independence,” said Dennis. “Three days a week I have to dedicate to health.”

While doctors have talked of a kidney transplant, there are no specific plans at this point for Dennis. His options are limited. Dennis made a point of saying he was not neglecting his health. He was under a doctor’s care and following doctor’s orders. Despite this, he wanted to share his story this holiday season, so others will remember to mind their own health.

“The point of this story is your health is all you have,” said Dennis.

Any friends who would like to get in touch with Dennis can reach him on his cell phone at 802-371-7118.

Things Look This Way to Me

Editorial by J.B. McKinley 12-20-07

Merry Christmas!

Yep, all you needed this week was to read about a small gripe that newspaper guy had in the last few weeks, right? So, OK, I’ll get to that, but first let me say something from all of us here at the News & Citizen. The N&C Grinch is going on holiday for two paragraphs.

Not to coin a phrase, but it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the County. All our Whovilles and North Whovilles are snugged down under a heavy mantle of snow with lights twinkling ‘neath the wintry blanket. We most definitely wish all our readers a very merry Christmas – happy holidays to you! And we are not forgetting to wish everyone a fantastic New Year, too!

Once again, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and on to the gripe. This time it’s about gas cans.

If you have been paying attention, sometime in the last few years gas cans have all become plastic. They have also become color-coded. Red for gas. Blue for kerosene, Yellow for what? Other colors look like gas cans but maybe they are for iced tea, darned if I know. But I do have a few very definite beefs with the plastic construction and the designs.

If you are a gas can user, you know some of these gripes. One, the gas “can” plastic deteriorates from the sun. Two, some of them dent easily and then leak where the fold is. Three, most have tiny little air vents combined with too small a spout, so one must hold and pour them out for what seems – forever. Four, they come with no gasket for the spout or a dysfunctional gasket. Five, they leak around the spout. Six, lots of them can’t be up-ended enough to totally and finally empty, which as every gas can user knows is a must so as not to have old dirty gas build-ups occur. Seven, one can’t empty whatever little water gets in the cans, again because you can’t empty the things. Eight, the taller of these sleek, visually even futuristically designed plastic nightmares refuse to reliably stand up in the back of your pickup or even in the footwell of your backseat area.

These leaky, never completely empty, afflictions drizzle on your clothes, drip on your shoes and boots, slosh on the seatback of your car, empty themselves under the tailgate of your truck. Then, too, you have to remember now that the environmentally unsound leakage is costing your $12 to $15 dollars per filled can that used to cost you five measly bucks! It’s enough to make a cheap person cry and the family launderer curse.

So, want to make a million bucks? Design and sell a really good, no spill, guaranteed to empty gas can. Hmmm, maybe it should be made of metal. It must sit where it’s put and have something on it that labels it variously whatever rests inside. No more spout sniffing to differentiate the kero/gas aroma. (There’s a sinus reliever, I’m here to tell you.) You build it, I’ll buy it, you bet, quick like a monkey it’s going on my Christmas list. Hey! honey, I want one of those new gas cans under the tree – pluh-leeze???