Tuesday, October 10, 2017
The co-op's $12 million bid is doomed by legal, financial and regulatory concerns, and is inferior to the $27.5 million offer from Ting and the $30.8 million put up by Schurz Communications, the mayor said at a press conference in his City Hall office.
Weinberger voiced his opinion loud and clear several days before the City Council holds a key vote Monday to narrow the field from three to two finalists.
"Fundamentally, at this point, the KBTL proposal is not viable," Weinberger said.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Burlington Telecom , BTAB , David Provost , Alan Matson , Ting , Schurz , Keep BT Local , Image , Web Only
Monday, October 9, 2017
A Burlington activist said he used graffiti Monday to make a political statement about a mural off Church Street.
Albert Petrarca, who describes himself as a member of the Off the Wall coalition, said in a press release that he and other members of the group defaced an identification plaque that accompanies the “Everyone Loves a Parade!” mural downtown. Petrarca described the public art, which is 124 feet by 16 feet, as a “white supremacist symbol” that obliterates “First Nation peoples’ lives and history.”
The goal? “To reset the debate on why an undeniably racist piece of ‘art’ and ‘history’ occupies our town square,” wrote Petrarca, an activist who is outspoken on a variety of Burlington issues.
“Colorful and hyperrealistic,” Seven Days reported in 2012, “the mural unspools an eclectic cast of major and minor Vermont celebrities.” It’s located on the side of a building that houses Banana Republic along the pedestrian-only Leahy Way, which leads to the Marketplace parking garage. And yes, for those wondering, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is also depicted in the mural.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Albert Petrarca , Ron Redmond , Everyone Loves a Parade , mural , Church Street Marketplace , Pierre Hardy , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Members of Migrant Justice and Ben & Jerry's CEO Jostein Solheim announced the deal Tuesday during a celebratory gathering in front of the ice cream shop on Church Street in Burlington. Solheim touted the program as "first in the dairy industry, first in the world."
Then he and members of Migrant Justice signed the Milk With Dignity contract that will eventually be applied to all northeastern farms in Ben & Jerry's supply chain.
Tags: Migrant Justice , Will Lambek , Ben & Jerry's , Enrique Balcazar , Thelma Gomez , Milk With Dignity , Jostein Solheim , Image , Web Only
Questions about the company's future role with the telecom had arisen in recent weeks. All three potential buyers still in the running had previously expressed interest in keeping the firm on after the purchase.
Terry Dorman did not elaborate on the decision, which he announced as councilors peppered him and BT general manager Stephen Barraclough with questions about the remaining three bidders during a public forum at City Hall.
Tags: Terry Dorman , Stephen Barraclough , Burlington Telecom , Keep BT Local , Image , Web Only
Thursday, September 28, 2017
"I have withdrawn," Faisal Nisar told Seven Days. Nisar, a private equity investor from New Jersey who runs ZRF Partners, had submitted a bid for an undisclosed amount.*
"I'm extremely disappointed; I was a huge supporter of ZRF," said Dave Hartnett (D-North District). "I'm not really quite sure where this leaves us."
The council now must decide between the three remaining bids: The co-op Keep BT Local has put forward a $12 million offer and two out-of-state companies, Ting and Schurz Communications, have bid $27.5 million and $30.8 million, respectively.
Tags: Faisal Nisar , Burlington Telecom , Jane Knodell , Miro Weinberger , Dave Hartnett , Kurt Wright , Burlington City Council , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
More than 70 people filled City Hall for a public forum on the shuttered building, which organizers hope to see renovated. Many in attendance waxed nostalgic on concerts and events at the city's old community center.
Neighborhood planning assemblies from across Burlington organized the event after city officials expressed hesitance to move forward with a public dialogue, said Jim Holway, a New North End resident and chair of the organizing committee. "The community is saying we want to have a conversation," he said.
That message came loud and clear from attendees who want to keep Memorial publicly owned. "We can make Memorial Auditorium really special and useful, a gift to our next generation, and I'd like to see that happen," said James Lockridge, who has launched a campaign to restore the 242 Main teen center that once called the building home.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Memorial Auditorium , Jim Holway , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
On September 15, the Center issued an SOS for donations to help cover a $1.7 million funding gap for the nearly complete, 22,180-square-foot building. It's located a five-minute walk north of the center's current dilapidated digs, next to the shuttered Moran Plant.
The shortfall is the result of an "unforeseen and unpredictable wrinkle,"
the center's executive director, Owen Milne, and board chair Karen Marshall wrote in the letter to donors and community supporters.
Specifically, the center had banked on equity from New Market Tax Credits to fund the final construction payment of $1.7 million. Its leaders believed the new building at 505 Lake Street fell in a qualifying U.S. Census tract for the federal program, according to the letter.
Tags: Tony Pomerleau , Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Burlington officials publicly revealed details Wednesday about three bidders for Burlington Telecom, a sale process that previously had been shrouded in secrecy.
Schurz Communications, a telecom company based in Indiana, put forward the highest bid, a cash offer of $30.8 million. The Toronto-based Ting, which is owned by Tucows, offered $27.5 million in cash. The locally based co-op, Keep BT Local, put forward a bid of $12 million, including $10.5 million in cash; the city would retain a $1.5 million interest in the utility.
The announcement came Wednesday at a press conference where the city released a thick packet of information about the bidders and their offers. The information was also made publicly available on the city website.
Tags: Burlington Telecom , Eileen Blackwood , Miro Weinberger , Kurt Wright , Max Tracy , Schurz Communications , Ting , Tucows , Keep BT Local , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
A Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector found during the June 29 visit that city employees had not properly shored up the walls of a trench more than five feet deep. The water division workers also left soil too close to the edge of the trench's opening, according to a memo from DPW Director Chapin Spencer.
Those errors could have caused serious injury or death, leading to three citations that initially came with a penalty of $77,000, Spencer wrote in his report. But the state downgraded one of the citations after the city met with VOSHA and made changes to its safety program.
Tags: Chapin Spencer , Department of Public Works , VOSHA , Image , Web Only
Monday, September 18, 2017
Rep. Kurt Wright (R-Burlington) and Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) said they will introduce identical bills that would prohibit teachers from striking and prevent school boards from imposing contracts. The proposal would smooth negotiations and "eliminate the nuclear option on both sides," said Wright, who has long sought to ban teacher strikes.
In 2015, Wright introduced a similar bill that was defeated in the House by one vote. Last year, the bill didn't move out of committee.
This time around, Wright said, is different. The property tax pressures and health care contract negotiations facing school boards mean that strikes may be more likely.
Tags: Kurt Wright , Joe Benning , Dave Sharpe , teachers' strike , Image , Web Only