Proposals
in for Bridge St. Bridge
MORRISVILLE
– Morristown’s request for proposals (RFP) netted three responses from
contractors interested in replacing the Bridge Street Bridge this summer. Town
Administrator Dan Lindley said there were some significant differences between
the proposals, including a cost difference of over $850,000 between the top and
bottom bids. The selectboard will interview all three
construction firms at a special meeting Monday evening, March 30.
The
RFP went out to several companies that had expressed interest in the
design-build contract. Proposals came in from three construction companies,
working with three different engineering firms.
Local
contractor CCS submitted a proposal with engineers Santek
Consulting Services, of South Burlington. That plan called for a galvanized
pony truss bridge that would look similar to the existing bridge, with
galvanized steel sides but without steel overhead. The cost for CCS’s proposal
is $1,469,730, just under the $1.5 million bond maximum Morristown voters
approved last November.
T.
Buck Construction, out of Auburn, ME submitted the lowest proposal, working
with the Maine engineering firm, Calderwood Engineering. That proposal, at
$988,920, is also for a pony truss bridge, but using weathering steel instead
of galvanized sides. Lindley explained weathering steel turns a rust color, so
it would more closely match the railroad bridge that runs parallel to the
Bridge Street Bridge.
“It
actually would look a lot like the railroad bridge,” said Lindley.
Frank
Whitcomb Construction, of Walpole, NH, working with New Hampshire engineering
firm Eckman Engineering, submitted the most expensive
proposal, for a bridge that would not have steel truss sides. With a cost of
$1,848,000, Lindley said it would look similar to bridges recently installed in
Johnson and Cambridge.
“This
is the Cadillac of bridges that they proposed,” said Lindley.
Because
Morristown is using an RFP process, rather than sealed bids, Lindley said there
is room for discussion before a firm is hired.
“There
could be a negotiation process after the bid process,” said Lindley. He added,
“We got three potentially good bids.”
Lindley
said the selectboard is set to interview all three
firms, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Tegu Building, on
March 30. An hour has been set aside for each construction company. In the
meantime, selectboard members will be forwarding
questions and comments to Lindley in advance of the interviews.
Johnson Principal Moving On
by Mickey Smith
The Lamoille North Supervisory Union has began the process of looking for a new principal for the Johnson Elementary School after Principal Brigid Scheffert announced she was leaving the position at the end of the school year. Sheffert will be moving to the Washington West School District where she will be become their superintendent as of July 1.
Scheffert has been at the school for 20 years and principal for 17.
According to an advertisement for the position, the Johnson Elementary School Board is looking for someone with a minimum of three to five years experience in school administration, with prior experience as an elementary school principal desirable. No timeline is listed in the advertisement for filling the position. The ad says it will remain open until filled.
Scheffert was out of the office for the week, so she was not able to comment at press time.
Centennial
Library Works & Pleads for Fed Stimulus $$
MORRISVILLE
– After nearly a decade of struggling to build an addition to the Morristown
Centennial Library, the library Board of Trustees is hoping the federal
stimulus package will make their dreams come true. The board is lining up
letters of support and the necessary permits in hopes the state will pick its
postponed expansion project to fund with some of the $80.7 million in
stabilizations funds coming from the federal government. The Morristown
Centennial Library is one of four operating Carnegie libraries in Vermont and
has not been expanded beyond the building’s original footprint since it was
built in 1913.
Sue
Sargent, chair of the library board, said, “We are
actively pursuing all possibilities for funding, while continuing private
fundraising, too.
“In
these tough economic times, the services offered by libraries, are more needed
than ever and now it’s even more important that long planned and necessary
building needs are addressed,” Sargent stressed.
By
the end of the month the Governor’s office is expected to decide what projects
will be given the federal dollars intended to put Vermonters back to work.
Library Trustees say their project is a good fit because it is “shovel ready,”
with the necessary plans and permits falling into place. In addition, the
library has privately raised about a half-million
dollars toward the project. Another $1.4 million is needed to get the project
built. However construction prices have fallen since that estimate,
and trustees say they may be able to get the project off the ground with $1
million in additional funds.
The
library addition plans are an updated version of plans drawn many years ago,
then scrapped when the town sought to colocate a new
town office building with the library. That idea did not pass the muster of the
voters, after all was said and done. The library Board of Trustees turned their
attention back to the original project, redesigned it with an eye to local
contractors and efficiency. They began a quiet stage of fundraising – and then
the economy took a turn for the worse. At that point, fundraising was put on
the back burner until talk of federal stimulus money raised a new possibility
to fund the project. That’s when trustees and many of the library’s friends,
locally and in Montpelier, started talking up the project.
“It’s
a much more refined, efficient and all together ‘smarter’ plan than the one
drawn up at the beginning of the decade,” said Trustee J.B. McKinley, and “everyone
from the Governor, our state and federal legislators, to any involved
bureaucrats should be aware of our plans by now.”
This
month the Board of Trustees has been to the Morristown Development Review Board
(DRB) to line up a local zoning permit and to the selectboard
for a letter of support. They’ve spoken with local legislators and Vermont’s
federal legislative contingency … several times. They’ve also contacted the
Governor’s office, where the funding decisions will be made.
Trustees
say they are hoping the Governor will see the value in a shovel-ready
sticks-and-bricks project that will create construction jobs, outside the
transportation sector, while also addressing the increased demand for library
services in a down economy. Libraries across the state – Morristown included –
are seeing increased patronage and a growing demand for non-traditional library
services, such as high speed internet access.
Morristown’s
planned addition would create a basement-level children’s area, expand the
adult collection area on the main floor, and create a second story community
meeting room. Money for the Copley Community Room has already been pledged by
the Alexander Hamilton Copley Trust Fund. The new construction would be added
to the back of the existing building and designed to match its historical
décor, while making the entire building handicapped accessible.
At
the DRB’s request, the trustees are working on a more detailed plan regarding
parking and traffic patterns to go along with the building plans.
Localvore Dinner at PA
MORRISVILLE
– Students in Sheila Tymon’s Teacher Advisory group
(TA) at Peoples Academy are throwing a community dinner. The community is
invited to come dine on a locally raised feast at the PA cafeteria Wednesday
evening, April 29, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m.
The
students’ long-term goal is to bring local, healthy foods into the school
cafeteria, but there are many obstacles that must first be overcome. So as a
first step, the students decided to host a community dinner to introduce
community members to some of the quality local products available.
To
bust the myth that local food is either unaffordable or unattainable, the
students are planning a Prime Rib Dinner. They have purchased $400 worth of
naturally raised beef from Hardwick. Student Shelby Mandigo’s
father, James, will brine, then smoke, the prime rib
on his “kitchen on wheels,” which she described as a mobile grill, smoker and
griddle.
As
an added fundraiser, dinner attendees will also be able to purchase steaks of
locally grown beef to take home.
Students
will be spending the next month lining up other local food producers and
planning their event. Meanwhile, they’re also working toward some long-term
goals. They’d like to see their school cafeteria go green, from a comprehensive
composting system to green cleaning products. Eventually they would like to see
the cafeteria transformed from an institutional heat and serve operation to a
place where fresh, whole foods can be prepared. Currently there isn’t even a
range top, according to Ms. Tymon.
To
help them on this journey, students and staff members alike are working with a
multitude of local agencies. Their goal for next year is to introduce a Farm to
School class into the curriculum, with the help of NOFA-VT’s Kate Riley.
Meals
On Wheels Keeps Rolling With Community Support
by
Mickey Smith
For
years, seniors and those living at home with special needs have been able to
get nutritious meals from a reliable source.
It's
their reputation that helps the service provided by Meals On
Wheels of Lamoille County to grow, unfortunately at a time when their state and
federal funding has been on the decline or, at best, has remained stagnant. Meals on Wheels is also a member agency of United Way of
Lamoille County and receives partial funding from the Central Vermont Council
on Aging. Fortunately, the community has rallied around Meals on Wheels (MOW)
and helped them continue to provide a valuable service to their recipients.
“Meals
on Wheels of Lamoille County relies on the generous
and continued support of the local community, and this is especially true this
year as we face many challenges due to the current state of the economy,” said
Brynn Evans, executive director of MOW.
“We
realize that many are concerned about the size of town budgets, so we
specifically made the decision not to ask for any increases from any
town. The support from the local community helps us to provide a much
needed service to seniors and individuals with disabilities in our local
community.”
This
year MOW has added two additional meal sites at Lamoille View and St. John’s
Knoll Senior Apartments. Current meal sites are in Morrisville at the
Lamoille County Senior Center (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday), at Copley
Terrace (Wednesday) and at Lamoille View (Thursday), in Johnson at the Johnson
Senior Center (Tuesday, Thursday) and St. John’s Knoll (Wednesday), and in
Jeffersonville at Mann’s Meadow (Tuesday, Friday). Last fiscal year MOW
served an average of 166 meals per day.
The
change in the economic climate exacerbates the issue, as while the funding decreases, the need for services increases. “This year these
services are more important than in previous years due to the fact that many
seniors are on fixed income and have limited budgets to purchase the things
they need, such as food, especially as food and energy costs increase,” said
Evans.
“Our
program ensures that all of our recipients receive at least one nutritious meal
each day. Many Meals on Wheels programs have had to resort to using a
waiting list for their services, making it so that some seniors do not receive
the meal they need. It is our goal to never have to make use of a waiting
list, and local support helps to ensure that we reach this goal,” she added.
Evans
said they are very appreciative of the increased support they received this
year at Town Meeting, where some towns even increased the amount given … beyond
what was asked.
She
said they have also found help in the private sector. The Richard E. and
Deborah L. Tarrant Foundation provided funding to replace their 10 freezers
with a walk-in freezer.
Evans
said this helps them save some space in the basement, where most of their
storage space is located. She said it will also help save on their electricity
usage, something they have been working with Efficiency Vermont to improve.
Meals
on Wheels' mission is to help enable seniors and individuals
with disabilities to remain in their own homes and communities for as long as
possible by providing nutritious meals through home delivered meal services and
community meal sites. These meals are delivered to recipients’ homes
Monday through Friday and frozen meals are provided for use on the
weekend. Often, the Meals on Wheels volunteer or staff member who delivers
the meal is the only individual that meal recipients will see in a day.
“This
means that we provide another valuable service of a daily check-in, which often
results in referrals to other needed services,” said Evans, “Volunteers and
staff members have also assisted in emergency situations. Our community
meal sites provide a welcoming, social environment where participants can enjoy
a nutritious meal.”
For
more information about the program and services, or to learn about volunteering
for Meals on Wheels, please call Brynn Evans at 888-5011.
Tribble Denied Retrial
by Mickey Smith
Dennis Tribble will not get a third chance to try and prove his shooting of Michael Borello was self-defense, according to Judge Brian Grearson.
Tribble and his lawyer, Dan Maguire, were in district court in Barre last Friday, March 20, arguing Tribble was entitled to a new trial because information was leaked about his being in prison during the course of the trial. They also argued the prosecution failed to meet a two month prior to trial deadline of a plan to argue for “aggravating factors.” This argument came into play during deliberation when the jury ruled while they agreed with the defense's claims of mental illness issues and a perceived fear, that the brutality of the crime outweighed that assertion.
Lamoille County State's Attorney Joel Page said he and Maguire had agreed to waive that, but Tribble maintains Maguire did not have the authority to do so. Tribble is also petitioning to have Maguire removed from his defense so he can act on his own behalf in the future.
Judge Grearson ruled the mentioning of his imprisonment did not warrant a new trial, but did give both sides three weeks to prepare arguments regarding the aggravating factors issue. He also agreed to consider the request to allow Tribble to act pro se at his sentencing.
Tribble has had a tenuous relationship with Maguire during the time the attorney has been assigned to the case. In the beginning, Tribble spoke well of Maguire, but that soon soured as he felt his lawyer had lied to him and not met promises made regarding the defense.
They came head to head when Tribble attempted to sue Maguire over the issue, but Judge Dennis Pearson ordered them to work it out because the trial was going ahead as scheduled. Despite the difficulties, the two worked together throughout the trial without any issues.
Tribble has a history of not working well with lawyers since he was held after the September 2000 shooting of Borello. Over the eight and half years since the murder, Tribble has been held in jail. He was found guilty in 2002 at a trial, which he boycotted after firing his attorneys. Maguire is at least the seventh attorney Tribble has had during the course of the case.
On February 14, a jury found Tribble guilty of second degree murder and he currently awaits sentencing for the crime which carries a 20 year to life sentence.
After a long running feud, Tribble shot his un-armed neighbor, Borello, five times during a roadside argument.
Parker
Benefit Success
WOLCOTT – An indoor yard sale held at the Wolcott United Methodist Church last
Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21, raised over $1,300 toward the effort to
bring injured soldier Andrew Parker home. The Hyde Park VFW is overseeing the
Andrew Parker Fund for money raised toward building Andrew an apartment onto
his parents’ Hyde Park home.
“We sold and received donations in the amount of $1,340,” reported Linda Clark. “We will be delivering the
checks made out to the Andrew Parker Fund to the Hyde Park VFW on Wednesday.”
Clark said all items left over from the sale are
being donated to the Hyde Park VFW to continue with their fundraising efforts.
On
Saturday, April 4, a fundraiser is being held at the Morrisville VFW. Vendors
will be donating a portion of their sales to the Andrew Parker Fund Up. For
example, Pampered Chef vendor Kelly Lilly said Pampered Chef will donated up to 15% her sales to Andrew and his family. For
more information call Kelly Lilly at 253-7623 or email
pamperedcheflilly@gmail.com.
Things Look This Way to Me
Editorial by J.B. McKinley 3-36-09
A Small Town Weekly
Would Lamoille County be comfortable with a major newspaper in its confines? We doubt it. Would a paper that acted just like a major newspaper manage to exist in Lamoille County. We doubt it.
That’s the question we’d like to pose for you, our readers. Say you have four unregistered cars disposed about your property. Do you want us to go after you with a photo spread on the old Chevys, Fords and GMC? Should you be handled like Union Carbide during the Bhopal incident?
There are reasons that we exercise judgments on what is a story and what is NOT a story for us, and the decision is often driven by the same reasons your local officials don’t take action. It is because we all have to live together after the zoning regulation is enforced or the story is written. Yes, many zoning regulations are enforced and many stories leaving unhappy people in the wake are written. But some aren’t. That’s the reason for this editorial. Some stories get written eventually, some don’t get written.
The News & Citizen loves tips and exists to a fairly large extent because of news tips. But there is a category of tips that are tough to handle. These are tips coming from folks with a dedicated and sometimes long term ax to grind. What we hear from them may be true, but it may also be true of a lot of folks in town who aren’t necessarily on their personal hit list. If we publish a story about a blatant violation of a sign regulation, do we do it to only the biggest business person in town or about the five little guys also “getting away with it?” If we write a story about the family with the four junk unregistered cars in the village, do we search out the guy on a back road with five behind a wall of trees, who has lived in the same place in the same manner for 60 years?
Here’s another category of tips we get, it’s the story that we might flesh out if we had a budget of $1,000 a story and a staff investigative reporter. For us, the facts are what we can read on public documents and hear from officials. Beyond that, there often simply isn’t the time to devote to one story – important to one person.
Then there are the stories that we hear about weeks ahead of printing anything about them because when we approach the people in the know, they aren’t “ready” for a story. When we finally print the story – everyone has already seen it on TV because the cautious official announced it just after our deadline. Still, should we earn the enmity of such a person who may be one of the town’s handful of people who give hours of time and many dollars to the community’s benefit? Yep, you are correct, we don’t get the story that time.
Stop in some time and I could likely recite hundreds of gray area examples of how small town politics, small town newspapers, and healthy communities really work. No, we don’t take bribes. Yes, we salivate at juicy stories. Yes, if anything close to an environmental disaster is taking place in our towns, we will try to expose it. But the battle has to be worth fighting. If you call up and tell me you caught your neighbor dumping a couple of batteries in the back 40, I’m going to tell you to call someone at the state. Is it important enough for you to do that and leave your name with them, or do you just want to dump the story on the paper and let us be the fall guy?
The News & Citizen tries to be a newspaper and your neighbor. And, from years of covering the county’s official boards, we firmly believe the vast majority of your elected and appointed officials are determined to walk the same tightrope between “the book” way of operating and a neighbor’s way.