Posted
By
Molly Walsh
on Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 1:31 PM
click to enlarge
Kobfujar | Dreamstime.com
A TV satellite receiver
WPTZ-TV plans to vacate its crowded digs in Colchester for a new studio
in South Burlington, the NBC affiliate announced Tuesday.
The station's Plattsburgh bureau will stay open, but the technical hub located there now will move to the new location in the Technology Park at 30 Community Drive in South Burlington. The move will happen by next spring.
The station, known as NBC5, also announced that it will open a new bureau in Lebanon, N.H., and close the one it currently runs on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River in White River Junction.
The station's workforce of roughly 90 employees in New York and Vermont won't change in size. But some jobs will move from New York to Vermont, said Justin Antoniotti, president and general manager of WPTZ and WNNE, which serves the Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire.
Tags:
WPTZ
,
WNNE
,
NBC
,
South Burlington
,
Colchester
,
media
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Katie Jickling
on Mon, May 21, 2018 at 11:27 PM
click to enlarge
Katie Jickling
Mayor Miro Weinberger and Councilor Joan Shannon conferring over Parkway plans
Burlington city councilors on Monday left the confines of City Hall for a field trip to the South End.
The group boarded two buses to scope out the route of the Champlain Parkway, the long-planned, 2.3-mile strip of highway that would connect Interstate 189 to downtown Burlington.
The journey was part of a necessity hearing, where property owners whose land would be purchased to make way for the project could voice their objections.
The council's "yes" vote later Monday evening took the city one step closer to completing the four-decade-old project. Construction is scheduled to start in spring 2019.
But it wasn't all business for the councilors, Mayor Miro Weinberger, city and state workers, and a couple dozen members of the public who came along for the ride. From one of the two University of Vermont buses, councilors waved cheerily to a family at a barbecue outside a home on Batchelder Street and convened a brief council meeting on the pavement in front of the Department of Public Works.
Tags:
Miro Weinberger
,
Champlain Parkway
,
Chapin Spencer
,
Pine Street Coalition
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Molly Walsh
on Mon, May 21, 2018 at 11:27 PM
click to enlarge
Molly Walsh
The bone-dry pool
Facing another summer without a city pool, Winooski residents crowded into a City Council meeting Monday night to push for a bond vote to finance a new one.
About 25 residents turned out. Many voiced frustration that there will be no pool for the third summer in a row. The aging Myers Memorial Pool closed in 2015.
Several people suggested that the bond for a new pool should have taken priority over the $23 million
Main Street reconstruction project that voters approved earlier this month.
"I personally feel that this bond issue should have gone before," said resident Pat Everts.
"People are incredibly frustrated," added Sarah McGowan-Freije.
Tags:
Winooski
,
Winooski City Council
,
Myers Memorial Pool
,
Seth Leonard
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Molly Walsh
on Tue, May 8, 2018 at 8:28 PM
click to enlarge
Courtesy VHB consulting
A rendering of the proposed reconstruction of Winooski's Main Street
Onion City voters approved a $23 million bond for a major facelift of the city's Main Street on Tuesday by a healthy margin of 311 to 185.
The vote will allow the Winooski City Council to explore funding sources, including state and federal grants, as well as a 1 percent local options tax on rooms, meals and alcohol. An increase in municipal taxes and water rates could also fund the work.
After the votes were counted Tuesday evening, Mayor Seth Leonard took to Twitter.
Other public officials also expressed gratitude to voters.
Tags:
Winooski
,
Seth Leonard
,
Winooski City Council
,
Main Street
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Molly Walsh
on Wed, May 2, 2018 at 8:58 PM
click to enlarge
Courtesy VHB consulting
A rendering of the proposed reconstruction of Winooski's Main Street
Winooski voters will decide next Tuesday whether to approve a $23 million facelift of northern Main Street.
The bond would advance a proposal to bury power lines, widen sidewalks, plant street trees, create a dedicated bike lane, and overhaul water and sewer infrastructure on a three-quarter mile stretch of Main. The section begins at a railroad bridge just north of the Winooski traffic circle and continues uphill to Tigan Street, just before Exit 16 of Interstate 89.
The idea is to make the heavily trafficked corridor more pedestrian-friendly and vibrant, with features that are similar to the ones on the lower stretch of Main.
Approval of the bond would be a "yellow light" for the Main Street reconstruction project, according to city manager Jessie Baker. It would allow the city council to apply for grants and explore funding in greater detail before making a final decision.
Tags:
Winooski
,
redevelopment
,
Main Street
,
Jessie Baker
,
bond vote
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Katie Jickling
on Tue, Apr 10, 2018 at 12:49 PM
click to enlarge
Katie Jickling
Trees felled in front of Liberty House
Tree lovers in Burlington lamented and vented this week as construction crews cleared acres of timber along North Avenue to make way for the Cambrian Rise development project.
The logging is necessary to move forward with the largest housing development in Queen City history, according to developer Eric Farrell. Crews cleared nearly half of the 21.65-acre plot, which extends down to Lake Champlain, he said. Much of the rest of the site was already without trees.
The cutting did not escape notice.
"Burlington development at Cambrian Rise property results in tree carnage. A very sad day," members of Keep the Park Green posted on Facebook, along with a series of videos and photos. The group has been advocating to preserve trees at a different Burlington project in City Hall Park.
Tags:
Eric Farrell
,
Cambrian Rise
,
Burlington
,
Keep the Park Green
,
trees
,
Burlington College
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Katie Jickling
on Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 6:23 PM
click to enlarge
Courtesy of PKSB Architects
Rendering of the project as seen from Cherry and St. Paul streets
The Burlington Town Center redevelopment case is back in court. Attorney John Franco filed a legal challenge in U.S. District Court Friday morning, arguing that developer Don Sinex and the City of Burlington didn't do enough to notify Franco and his clients of changes to the project.
Franco, who is representing project opponents, contends that the city violated the
settlement agreement the two parties reached last July. By not allowing his clients to weigh in on the changes, Franco argues, Sinex denied them their constitutional rights to due process.
He and his clients are asking that Sinex pay for "emotional distress damages" and attorney fees. Franco declined to comment on the decision to reopen the case.
Tags:
John Franco
,
Don Sinex
,
CityPlace Burlington
,
Burlington Town Center
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Katie Jickling
on Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 7:35 PM
click to enlarge
Courtesy of PKSB Architects
Rendering of Burlington Town Center as seen from Cherry and St. Paul streets
The Burlington Town Center settlement agreement may not be so settled.
A lawyer for developer Don Sinex and a group opposing his project are in a back-and-forth dispute over several proposed amendments to the downtown mall redevelopment plan. Each side has accused the other of violating a
settlement agreement they reached last July.
Last week, after
Seven Days reported that Sinex had received the necessary permits for more apartment units and alterations to the parking plans, John Franco — a lawyer representing project opponents — wrote to assistant city attorney Kimberlee Sturtevant and Sinex's lawyer, Brian Dunkiel, challenging the changes.
Tags:
Don Sinex
,
John Franco
,
Coalition for a Livable City
,
City Place Burlington
,
Burlington Town Center
,
Brian Dunkiel
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Katie Jickling
on Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 5:47 PM
click to enlarge
File: Matthew Thorsen
Don Sinex
The City of Burlington has approved changes to the Burlington Town Center redevelopment project that will add 16 additional apartment units and eliminate 40,000 square feet of planned retail space. The changes for developer Don Sinex's project were approved administratively, with no public input.
Sinex described the alterations to CityPlace Burlington plans as an inevitable part of the development process. "We didn’t change any aspect of the design. We didn’t change the square footage," he said.
"We would expect a project of this size to make changes," said Mary O'Neil, a city planner.
The 16 new units will be constructed on the second, third and fourth stories of the planned building, under the original footprint. The 14-story development will now include 288 units,
up from 272 in the original design.
Tags:
Don Sinex
,
Burlington Town Center
,
Coalition for a Livable City
,
John Franco
,
CityPlace Burlington
,
Image
,
Web Only
Posted
By
Molly Walsh
on Wed, Feb 28, 2018 at 5:09 PM
click to enlarge
Courtesy
A rendering of the proposed new YMCA facility at 298 College Street
Leaders of the Greater Burlington YMCA called on the public Wednesday to help them raise the final $500,000 of a $15 million campaign for a new building.
Laura and David Stiller, son of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters founder Robert Stiller, are offering to help kickstart the renewed effort. They've pledged a dollar-to-dollar match for the first $100,000 in new gifts to the campaign, which YMCA officials hope to wrap up this summer.
The Y needs everyone's help to get to the final goal, the organization's president and CEO, Kyle Dodson, said at a press conference Wednesday in one of the preschool classrooms of the current building at 266 College Street.
Tags:
YMCA
,
Kyle Dodson
,
David Stiller
,
Image
,
Web Only