After 15 months of construction, the South Building of City Place off the Church Street Marketplace is “topped out” at 10 stories, Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a press release today. It will be the tallest building in Vermont when complete, and is on track for completion in one year.
City Place will feature 350 residential units including 70 permanently affordable units (approximately 340,000 sf), a maximum of 350 hotel rooms in two separate hotels, the mayor said.
Untreated sewage in Springfield– A spill of untreated sewage in Springfield Feb. 5 should caution lawmakers against allowing development without adequate sewer/stormwater treatment, water quality advocate James Ehlers cautioned lawmakers in an open letter.
A state website reports sewer of less than 1000 gallons surfacing across from Edgar May Center and entering a storm drain.
“Just because a municipality has a treatment plant does not mean it can handle additional loads,” Ehlers said. “Before you subsidize development, either through weakened environmental and public health protection or direct funding, please consider the condition of the plant and its delivery system, the state of its treatment technology, and whether it treats stormwater, at all.”
My VoterPage – As Vermont approaches the March 5 Presidential Primary, the MyVoterPage is a valuable resource for Vermonters, said Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas.
At this online platform, Vermonters can:
- Check their voter registration status
- Register to vote
- Request an absentee ballot by mail
- Track their ballot status
- Challenge / fix errors in their mail-in ballot
- Find their polling place
- Update their registration information on file with their city/town office
- View sample ballots for upcoming elections
Voters access their page by logging in with their name, date of birth, registered town, and either their Vermont driver’s license/permit/ID or the last four digits of their Social Security Number.
Millington hired – Two Rivers Supervisory Union Board last week voted 4-2 to hire as superintendent Layne Millington, now superintendent with the Orange Southwest Supervisory District in Randolph, the Chester Telegraph reports.
Millington, a controversial figure at OSSD for his suspension of a female student for objecting to a biological male in a school locker room, will replace Lauren Fierman, who resigned over a achool mascot dispute (she found the existing mascot name racist).
Two Rivers Supervisory Union serves the towns of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish, Chester, Ludlow, and Mount Holly.
And speaking of school mascots….
Bill gives teeth to school mascot law – H848, introduced into the Vermont House this week, would allow the Agency of Education to withhold public education funding if a school district fails to comply with the school branding requirements passed into law by the Legislature in 2022. The law is murky on enforcement.
The lead sponsor is freshman Rep. Heather Chase of Windham-Windsor, who according to her State House bio “was born in Canada, grew up in Wyoming and has lived in Vermont since 2002. A Registered Nurse, with a Master’s degree in community health, she is a lactation consultant and CEO of her business, Corporation Lactation Services, Inc.,” and has held several local offices.
Dems hold breakfast – The Orange County VT Democratic Committee (OCDC) is hosting a Legislative Breakfast from 7:30 to 9:30 AM at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center on Monday, February 19 (Presidents Day) and the public is invited to attend.
Right Side Up – Bill Huff and Mike Tagliavia interview bereaved father and substance abuse recovery advocate Larry Hart of Topsham and discuss what’s new in the Legislature in their Feb. 6 episode of their WNTK radio program Right Side Up.
$29 mil in venture capital – Gov. Scott, the Department of Economic Development (DED) and the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) today announced the first round of Venture Capital Program investments thanks to Vermont’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The Venture Capital Program is allocating nearly $29 million to venture capital funds to help Vermont entrepreneurs and business startups