Fire Claims
Original Darling Farm
by Mickey Smith
MORRISTOWN – A
stubborn fire engulfed the home of Charles and Julie Worthen
on the Darling Road in Morristown on Monday afternoon, April 23. The home was originally the Darling Farm
dating back about 150 years.
At about 1:10
p.m. on Monday, the Morrisville Fire Department was toned out to a structure
fire at the residence on Darling Road near Rt. 15A’s Tenney
Bridge. Morrisville Fire Chief William Spear said it was fully engulfed when
they arrived, noting the age of the building and several alterations over the
years to the structure made it hard to fight.
He said there
were different layers to the ceilings, and varying roof lines from renovations
over the past 150 years which made the fire a stubborn one to put out.
Johnson, Hyde
Park, Stowe, and Wolcott responded to the scene to assist, bringing, in all,
close to 40 firefighters at the scene. Chief Spear said Cambridge backed up
Johnson at their department, Waterbury covered Stowe, Hardwick covered Wolcott,
and North Hyde Park backed up Hyde Park – as so many firefighters were out
until the evening hours. Morrisville reported to have wrapped up from the fire
at 10:30 p.m.
Spear said
originally the call for more manpower was based on a concern regarding the
heat. Being the first day of the year where temperatures reached into the 80s,
Spear said there was a need to constantly rotate crews, and they went through a
lot of drinking water re-hydrating firefighters.
Spear was
grateful for the support from the other departments. He particularly
commended the support received from Johnson. He
said they were able to show up with 10 firefighters and had four more back at
the station monitoring things, an impressive number for daytime fires these
days, when more and more people are unable to get away during work. He said the
Johnson contingent did a great job attacking the interior.
A steady wind
which blew through the area Monday night, rekindled the flames – sending the
department back at about 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. Spear said the department had
a feeling they would be returning because of the winds; he was glad they were
able to get a few hours of sleep before heading back.
Spear said the
house was a total loss. He added he stopped in to check on things during the day
on Tuesday and noted the family had been able to salvage a few items including
some pictures. He said what wasn’t burned was pretty well soaked.
A Vermont State
Police Fire Investigator was called in to determine the cause of the blaze.
Spear said a potential cause might have been from a sump pump, but no official
cause had been determined at press time.
In talking with
Julie, Spear said insurance has been able to set them up with temporary
housing.
Caution:
Burn Permit Needed!
Now
that spring cleanup time is here, Lamoille County fire officials want to be
sure brush burning is done safely and legally. Burn permits are required when
there is no snow on the ground. Fire Wardens in some towns are not currently
issuing permits due to dangerously dry conditions.
Vermont
Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation Forest Specialist Tess Greaves commented this week, “Fire danger is very high
now in fine dead fuels (grass, leaves, cones, twigs, dead shrubbery, etc.) and
is expected to stay high for most of the week.”
Even though temperatures have cooled
down from the beginning of the week and we’ve had some precipitation, Greaves
stated, “Sunshine, wind and moderate to low relative humidity will keep these
fine fuels combustible.” She added, “More snow is melting every day and what's
underneath dries out quickly in this weather pattern.”
Every
town has a fire warden who issues burn permits. See sidebar for a listing of
Lamoille County Fire Wardens. Greaves said anyone planning to burn should call
their local warden, but don’t be surprised if they aren’t issuing permits right
now.
Elmore
Fire Warden Warren Miller also commented this week, “The ground is much drier
than it looks, so make sure you speak to your local warden before you light a
fire outside.”
Lamoille Housing Gap Among State’s
Highest
Homebuyers in Lamoille County are having a tough
time finding a house in their price range. According to a recently released
report, the gap between the county’s median income and a median priced home is
among the largest in the state.
Between a Rock and a Hard
Place: Housing and Wages in Vermont is an annually updated report by the Vermont
Housing Council and the Vermont Housing Awareness Campaign. According to the
2007 report update, in Lamoille, as well as Windham and Windsor Counties, “Home
buyers are only likely to be able to afford a home priced at 75% of the median
priced home.” While these three counties are tied for the largest income/price
gap, Essex is the only Vermont county in which a
median priced home is within the affordability range for a median income
household.
The report compares home purchase affordability
by using an “affordability index” prepared by the Vermont Housing Finance
Agency. The index is based upon the median home sales price and the price
estimated to be affordable for a median income household. Statistics from the
U.S. Census Bureau and the Vermont Department of Taxes are used to compile the
index. The data used is the most recent available, but dates back to 2005.
The report states, “When the affordability index
equals 100%, the purchase price of the home estimated to be affordable for the
median income household in an area is equal to the median purchase price in
that area. Only Essex County had an index of at least 100% [119%]. In all other
Vermont counties and in the state as a whole, a median income household could
not afford a median-priced home.”
The median price is the price at which half of
the homes sold were more expensive and half the homes sold were less expensive.
Statewide, a median-priced home is $197,000 and the median household income is
$48,500, or 81% on the affordability index.
The affordability story is also bleak for
renters, although better in Lamoille County than for the state as a whole. The
report calculates, by county, a “housing wage,” defined as the income necessary
to pay the fair market rent and utilities in a given area, while working 40
hours per week. Lamoille County’s housing wage is $13.15 per hour. The
statewide housing wage is $15.34. In 2005, a quarter of Vermont’s renting
households were paying more than half their incomes for rent and utilities.
Trends from the Housing and Wages Reports show
rents and home purchase prices continue to climb in Vermont, although the
median price of a single-family home increased at a slower pace than in recent
years. The increase in both rents and home prices have
out-paced wage growth in the state.
Johnson Asks for
More Time on Housing Proposal
by Mickey Smith
JOHNSON – “More
time” was the consensus of the Johnson Trustees, Selectboard,
and almost 50 voters at a joint public hearing of the two municipal boards,
last Wednesday, April 18. The town and village were asking for more time to
study the effects of a 24 unit senior/affordable housing proposal planned by
Lamoille Housing Partnership (LHP).
By a vote of
four-to-one the selectboard chose not to support the
project at this time. Howard Romero was the only person voting in favor of the
project, with Eric Osgood, Rocky Hooper, Brad Reed, and Margo Warden voting
against the proposal. The trustees were split with their vote, Gordon Smith and
Walter Pomroy, voted in favor; and Will Jennison and George Pearlman voted against it. Pearlman,
who had earlier expressed it was a good project and felt the need was there,
decided more time was a good idea. Ellis O’Hear is
the fifth trustee and he was out of town at the time of the hearing.
The next round
for grants comes due in October, a straw poll of the
two boards felt there was room to figure out a proposal that would be
supported.
David Hallquist, chief executive officer of Vermont Electric
Co-op (VEC), said the site is considered a liability to them. He said they have
been trying to sell it for three years and look at this as a great chance. At
the time of the hearing, Hallquist said he could not
speak for the board of directors as to how long they could wait before actively
pursuing other buyers.
On Wednesday,
April 25, Mike Purcell, of VEC, said the board has expressed an interest to
continue working with LHP. Although, he pointed out sooner, rather than later,
would be good for them
– echoing the sentiment of LHP at the meeting.
The estimated
$6,313,087 project would be built at the former Vermont Electric Co-op site,
and would include dismantling the current structures and cleaning up
contaminated soils, which have designated the land a brownfield
site. It’s been estimated the cleanup will cost about $80,000. LHP, and their
partner in developing the project – Housing Vermont, would receive financial
assistance for the cleanup.
The proposal
calls for three buildings on the 2.38 acre School Street site. The buildings
would house 10 units of senior housing and 14 units of family housing, along
with on-site laundry, a community room, and a manager’s office. There would
also be three lots available for multi-purpose use development, which could
include commercial uses. Also included
in the project are some renovations to five other units already located in Johnson.
Among the
concerns registered at the meeting was the question,
is this the type of housing needed in Johnson? The Johnson Planning Commission
noted the town plan cites a large difference between the quantity of single
unit housing in Johnson (approximately 49%), as opposed to the rest of the
county (around 70%). One factor in that is the college, which leads to a rise
in the number of rental properties.
“We don’t build
it so they will come,” said LHP Executive Director Robin Pierce, “we build it
because they are already here.”
Another concern
raised was the terms “affordable” and “low-income.” There were questions of
what this would do to the school system, in regards to the idea that recent
school testing formulas have showed children around the poverty level are more
likely to not be well prepared and thus have greater needs from the school
system.
The third big
concern was the timing of the project. There was a big concern about the rush
to get the project underway. To meet the grant deadlines, a decision was needed
by Thursday, April 19, so the application could be post-marked by the April 24
deadline.
“Maybe it’s the
best project in the world, but I have one hour to decide,” was a concern heard
from the audience.
Brad Reed, a Johnson selectboard
member and adjoining landowner to the proposal, expressed concerns about what
this many new units on a quiet street would do to the traffic and noise levels.
Despite the
concerns, there were many in attendance who felt, with a little more time to
allay fears, the project could be made to fly in Johnson.
No Shots Fired in
Morrisville
by Mickey Smith
MORRISTOWN – A
report of shots fired in the village on Monday, April 23, proved to be
erroneous, but not before Copley Hospital was put into a lockdown mode due to
the potential of a threat.
Law enforcement members
at the Morristown Police Department heard the noises, and in dispatching the
on-duty officers to the scene referenced loud noise sounding like gunshots.
With the potential of a serious situation in the area, Morristown Police Chief
Richard Keith said the hospital went into lockdown mode.
Chief Keith said
the source of the noises was found to be a couple of teenage boys on Union
Street who were experimenting with chemical reactions and causing explosions in
juice bottles.
Oxbow Uses Okayed
Some Contaminants Found
MORRISVILLE – The results are in from a Phase II
environmental site assessment at Morrisville’s Oxbow Park. The good news is
experts from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the
Vermont Department of Health have deemed the park safe for its current
recreation and gardening uses. The bad news is some contaminants were found on
site and the community gardens will need to be downsized this year.
Gardener Marci Young first asked the town to
investigate the safety of the site about a year ago. A Phase I assessment
identified historical uses of the site that might pose environmental concerns,
including a tannery and a railroad spur. Other conditions, such as an abandoned
above ground storage tank and a nearby dry cleaning business, also raised
eyebrows. The Phase II assessment involved taking soil and groundwater samples
to look for tannery-related metals and volatile organic compounds.
The state hired environmental consulting firm,
The Johnson Company, which installed and monitored six groundwater wells and
collected soil samples, at two depths, in 10 locations.
“Our results were fairly promising,” Rhonda Kay,
of The Johnson Company, told the Morristown Selectboard
Monday evening, April 23.
Kay reported just one groundwater well had
slightly elevated hits of arsenic, which she said could likely be naturally
occurring. The Johnson Company’s executive summary of the project states,
“…there does not appear to be an ongoing source of arsenic being released to
groundwater at the Site, nor is there evidence of a widespread plume. Based on
the understanding that groundwater at this location is unlikely to be used at
the Site, the risk of exposure to humans is extremely slight.”
Kay told the selectboard,
“Basically, we’ve said ‘yes it is an issue and we don’t recommend doing
anything about it’.”
Health and environmental officials did recommend
corrective action be taken for some compounds found in soil samples, but not
others. Metals found in the soil were not deemed to be of concern. However,
elevated levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) were detected at three soil sampling sites.
One test location, at the north end of the community garden, had a slightly
elevated PAH risk. Higher PAH concentrations were found in soils at two test
sites surrounding the parking area.
Kay explained PAHs are
a byproduct of incomplete hydrocarbon burning. The Johnson Company’s executive
summary states of the elevated PAH levels, “…their presence at the Site may be
the result of idling rail engines, the creosote used for preserving rail ties,
burning of other materials on the Site, or a combination of these factors.”
Kay explained PAH levels around the parking lot
exceed residential safety standards, but a consulting risk assessor said
playing soccer at the oxbow poses a “very limited risk.” Kay quantified that
risk by saying a person who played soccer at the oxbow his or her entire life
would have a one in 10 million chance of developing cancer from PAH exposure.
Rock ‘N Read Wrap-Up
HYDE PARK – Some exciting numbers were reported
after Hyde Park Elementary School concluded its Rock ‘N Read week!
HPES’s Donna Cullivan noted 99 books were given away to students who
either logged time in the school library’s Rock ‘N Read chair or turned off the
television for at least three days and participated in healthy activities
instead. The library received 10 new hardcover books from the school’s Book
Fair and a total of 48 hours of reading was done by students, staff, faculty and community members in the rocking chair!
The best result was folks at HPES were excited
about reading and practiced “turning off the T.V. and turning on life!”