Employing his strongest words to date, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Friday that Congress should "kill" the federal EB-5 investor visa program if it can't reform it.

Leahy's remarks came a day after federal and state authorities accused a pair of Northeast Kingdom developers of misappropriating more than $200 million raised through the EB-5 program, which provides permanent residency to foreign nationals who invest at least $500,000 in qualified projects.

In 2014, Burlington developer Tony Pomerleau backed out of a deal with Newport businessman Bill Stenger after waiting four years for Stenger to come up with the first of multiple $1 million payments.

In 2010, Pomerleau, one of Vermont’s leading developers, had agreed to sell Newport’s prime Waterfront Plaza, a shopping center on Lake Memphremagog, to Stenger, who said he planned to build a hotel and marina there using the same EB-5 investor program he used to transform Jay Peak Resort and launch other projects in the NEK.

Reports of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation had been circulating for months last July when Jay Peak Resort president Bill Stenger met with a reporter to insist that his $500 million economic development plan for Vermont's Northeast Kingdom was still on track. 

Seated in a spare room at the Hotel Jay & Conference Center, Stenger slid a photograph across a table. Taken nearly three years earlier in nearby Newport, it featured Stenger, business partner Ariel Quiros and their lawyer, William Kelly, announcing their goal to bring 10,000 jobs to the rural region. Standing between the developers in the photo were the state's four most powerful politicians: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Gov. Peter Shumlin. 

On Thursday, public officials raced to distance themselves from Vermont native Bill Stenger and Miami businessman Ariel Quiros after federal and state investigators accused the men of running a Ponzi-like scheme. They bilked foreign investors in massive Northeast Kingdom development projects, regulators allege in lawsuits.

Yet for years, seemingly everyone in Vermont, from governors and senators to NEK residents, embraced the men. Stenger and Quiros promised to bring ski resorts, hotels, a conference center, a biotech plant, offices and stores to an economically depressed area. Who could resist?

Many stood by Stenger and Quiros even as a few dissident investors and news reporters began asking questions in recent years.

This compilation of public statements illustrates the meteoric rise and abrupt downfall of a scheme that was, regulators now allege, too good to be true.

At Newport Jewelers on Main Street, owners Lincoln and Jo-Ann Brooks grappled Thursday with the news that was rocking their small Vermont city.

“He’s a nice man,” Jo-Ann Brooks said of Jay Peak president Bill Stenger, a Newport resident and loyal customer.

State officials plan to announce details Thursday of what appears to be an ongoing law enforcement operation at Q Burke Mountain Resort, according to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s office. 

WCAX-TV reported Wednesday evening that unidentified officials had changed the locks at the resort and appeared to be seizing evidence. Q Burke president Ariel Quiros told the station he was cooperating with an unspecified "oversight team" that arrived around noon Wednesday. 

State and federal officials were tightlipped Wednesday night and most declined to comment. Shumlin spokesman Scott Coriell said that his office was "aware of the situation in the Northeast Kingdom."

"This is a coordinated effort," he added. "We are unable to comment until relevant information is made public." 

The sign along Route 7 in Shelburne Village reads: "Mr. Wulfson, FIX IT."

The not-so-veiled message is yet another expression of opposition to Vermont Railway president David Wulfson's construction of a salt shed and a freight yard a mile north of the village.
 
So far, the town has been unable to stop the intermodal freight project in court, but loud opposition is resounding in the court of public opinion in Shelburne.

In addition to the signs, a Facebook group called Vermont United has been circulating a petition. Opponents have also purchased ads in the Shelburne News. And they've promoted a video featuring 10-year-old Madeleine Connery of Shelburne deploring the tree cutting and the potential for pollution at the site, which sits next to the LaPlatte River and land preserved by the Nature Conservancy Vermont Chapter. Connery also tells Wulfson to "fix it" in the video.
 

Through his attorney, Peter Young, Wulfson declined to comment on the signs. But construction continues on the freight yard, which Vermont Railway is building under a legal federal preemption without local or state Act 250 environmental permits. The town has sued in federal court to stop the project, and a hearing date is set for May 3 to May 5. Supporters of the project say it's a good location with direct access to Route 7, and that intermodal freight yards help reduce long-haul truck traffic on the nation's highways.
 
Town manager Joe Colangelo emphasized that the town, while opposed to the rail project, has nothing to do with the signs and said they are not permitted in the public right-of-way.

"The signs were not given approval by the town and are therefore unpermitted, but it is impossible, given our current staffing levels, to police these types of signs," Colangelo wrote in an email to Seven Days. "Similarly, signs in support of politicians are not allowed in the public right-of-way but we are just unable to get around town to pull them out. It's a very difficult task to do during a presidential election season."

Town officials enforce the sign rule when they can. In late January, the town notified Christopher and Christine Sharp of 5373 Shelburne Road that their Bernie Sanders sign in the shape of a cow was larger than what's allowed in the public right-of-way without a temporary sign permit. They took it down, according to Colangelo.

The FIX IT sign in the village was posted in front of Brianne's Vintage Chic at 5462 Shelburne Road. The owner of the business did not respond to a message seeking comment. 

A neighbor is vowing to fight the Burlington Development Review Board's preliminary approval of three triplexes at the end of Ethan Allen Parkway.

The board granted the OK Monday with the condition that the developer hire a third party to determine how much of the seven-acre parcel situated on a steep ravine is suitable for buildings.

Jon Anderson, the Burlington lawyer representing property owners Tim Alles and Bill Ellis, said they would comply with the condition. 

For years, finding tenants to fill Chittenden County apartments has been a fairly effortless endeavor. But the region's infamously low vacancy rate is rising, which could mean that some local landlords will have to work harder to rent their real estate.

Since the early 2000s, the county's vacancy rate has averaged 1.6 percent, according to Allen & Brooks, a South Burlington firm that collects real estate data and monitors trends. In December, the firm reported that the rate was 3 percent, almost double the average.

Twice a year, Allen & Brooks surveys a group of rental property owners, who collectively own about a quarter of the county's units. This survey provides a point-in-time estimate of the percentage of apartments that are vacant.

Demand for rental housing hasn't diminished, Mark Brooks said. Rather, he attributes the higher vacancy rate to a surge in the construction of new units throughout the county. In other words, supply has increased.

A $60 million, 6,000-seat arena that would host University of Vermont hockey and basketball games — as well as conventions and concerts — could sprout in South Burlington's new downtown.  

Two locations top the list of possible sites: the parcel now occupied by the Rick Marcotte Central School adjacent to Williston Road and the ailing University Mall property on Dorset Street. 

City and UVM officials debuted the idea Tuesday at a press conference. They announced the formation of a joint committee to study construction of a 230,000-square-foot, multi-purpose arena, tentatively named the Catamount Center.

"This facility would provide a high-quality venue for UVM sports and other programs, concerts, family entertainment like Disney on Ice, and also provide convention and trade-show facilities that this area badly needs," said Kevin Dorn, South Burlington city manager. 

He went on to say the arena could provide a "powerful economic stimulus" for the region and become part of South Burlington's pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use City Center proposal. The city would own the facility, but seek financial assistance to build it from UVM and its donor base. Tax-increment financing and local-options taxes also might be tools to help fund the arena, according Dorn.  
  
UVM has considered building a new sports complex — both on and off campus — for at least two decades. Tom Gustafson, vice president for university relations and administration, said at the press conference that the school is proud of its Division I athletes. "We're somewhat less proud of some of our facilities at the university," Gustafson said. "We've been looking at what we can do with them, given the fact that  they were built at a time when our student body was about a third of the size it is today."

Bob Corran, UVM associate vice president & director of athletics, also spoke about the inadequacy of current facilities. He said they do not meet the standard "we see at the Division I level, and they certainly are not at a level which really encourages our recruiting efforts."

The new South Burlington arena would seat 5,000 for athletic events and as many as 6,000 people for concerts. That plan could change depending on the findings of market studies. 

UVM's hockey team now plays at Gutterson Field House, which has a capacity of about 4,000 and frequently sells out  games. The basketball team plays at the 1963 Roy L. Patrick Gymnasium, which has about 3,200 seats. 

UVM is keeping other options open and is talking with the city of Burlington about potential partnerships for athletics at Memorial Auditorium, Gustafson said. The city of Burlington is planning to seek proposals for redevelopment of the auditorium parcel downtown at Main Street and South Union.   

The study committee will produce a report by August 15 for UVM President Tom Sullivan and Dorn, who will then send the report to the UVM trustees and South Burlington City Council for consideration. 
The committee will explore locations, design needs, legal issues and financing. Both sites mentioned Tuesday are equally practical, Dorn said, although the renderings of the proposed facility focused on the Marcotte School parcel. The video and renderings showed new pedestrian access from Williston Road and connections to the downtown-style development that South Burlington leaders have been trying to build in the core of the suburb for decades. 
 
Thus far, the South Burlington School Board has declined offers to sell the 11-acre Marcotte School, which remains in operation. Some parents don't want to see the school shuttered. The arena proposal could put new pressure on the school board, which is currently weighing options.

Meanwhile the owners of the University Mall have already announced their desire to revamp the aging retail center into a mixed-use development in line with the general goals of the South Burlington City Center vision. The arena would likely take up just a portion of the mall's acreage, if it advances. Todd Finard, who co-owns the mall, gave approval to have the site considered in the arena study.

Dorn said that the city will seek approval from the Vermont Economic Progress Council to include the mall property in the South Burlington City Center's existing tax-increment financing district. The city is hoping for authorization from the state board by the summer. 

Marcotte school is already part of the City Center TIF district. If TIF subsidies are tapped for the arena, South Burlington city voters would first have to authorize bonds in connection with the project. Such a vote could happen as early as November, but would be more likely for spring of 2017, if the arena project moves forward.