Vaccines arrive
On the gridiron
Vermonters can now get latest COVID-19 shot
CVU blanks Burlington, South Burlington
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Volume 52 Number 38
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shelburnenews.com
September 21, 2023
Shelburne funds communications union district COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
COURTESY PHOTO
Isabel Abrams, a resident of Wake Robin, joined her daughter at last weekend’s Shelburne Farmers Market. “She was thoroughly enchanted with the music from the multi-generational band. We always enjoy the market. It’s really something special,” her daughter, Laurel, a longtime Shelburne resident, said.
Shelburne Selectboard nixes changes at Parade Ground Board chair urges more positive civic engagement LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
After a contentious few months regarding a potential revamp to the town’s Parade Ground, the Shelburne Selectboard has ditched the idea, saying the process has revealed a level of dysfunction with the town’s civic engagement. The unofficial plan proposed to erect a new 4-foot elliptical-shaped sidewalk through the grounds along with a 28-foot by
14-foot pavilion that would sit toward Falls Road. Other changes included the addition of benches, Adirondack chairs and a 3-foothigh fence consisting of granite posts and a black metal chain. The $80,000 project, which was first introduced in June, has had residents casting a wary eye at the selectboard with many claiming that the five-member board had been conspiring to push the project through regardless of widespread push-back.
“Is nothing sacred anymore from the sprawl and the desire by individuals new to the town to use what little open space that remains in Shelburne as originally envisioned?” questioned resident Bud Ockert in June. “Frequently there is a homeless person who sleeps on the ground at the base of the large spruce trees. The construction of a pavilion may well add to See PARADE GROUND on page 10
The Shelburne Selectboard last week approved the allocation of $50,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the Chittenden County Communications Union District as it continues to set up its operation and map out coverage gaps in the region. The $50,000 represents the third injection of funds into the communications union district — a state mechanism to either expand or introduce high-speed fiber-optic internet connection while addressing pockets of underserved areas that the private market has so far failed to address. “That reflects positively on the collaborative nature of this,” said David Solomon, Shelburne’s liaison to the district, of the town’s allocation. “I’d like to think that perhaps we may have other funds coming from other areas.” Since being approved by voters in November 2022, the district — the 10th of its kind in the state — has expanded to include a total of eight municipalities: South Burlington, Essex, Essex Junction, Jericho, Shelburne, Underhill, Westford and Williston. It has since received a $300,000 grant from the state’s community broadband board, as well as a $10,000 grant from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, which has been providing staff support and other administrative functions. A public hearing is set for Nov. 8 before the district finalizes its fiscal year 2024 budget. While the needs for internet access in Shelburne, South Burlington and other towns in
the district not as great as more rural parts of the state, there are still pockets of areas that have limited access to high-speed fiber (100/100 speed), or even basic broadband (25/3 speed). “We’re in a much more privileged position than a lot of the state,” South Burlington city manager Jessie Baker said. Less than 20 households in South Burlington are not fully connected to cable, Baker said. In Shelburne, anywhere from 50 to 70 homes lack basic internet coverage, Solomon said. “That may not seem like a lot, but the cost to bring service out to those can be astronomical,” he said. “The other piece of that is, if you look at that map of Shelburne, we have very few addresses meeting the 100/100 threshold that fiber offers.” “One goal is getting people connected (to high-speed fiber),” Solomon said. “The second is getting people connected to sort of a minimum standard, if you will.” The district this year brought on Mission Broadband, a telecommunications consulting group, to help the district “fine tune our mappings so we really understand what our coverage is right now between the existing providers, and where there are those gaps,” Baker said. Once the district’s budget is finalized, and once the mapping has been complete, officials said the next step would then be looking for an internet service provider “to see how we might be able to meet the needs of the folks who are underserved,” Solomon said. See INTERNET on page 10