Bricks & mortar
Band camp
Essex names building for South Burlington man
Devon McGarry Band at SoBu Nite Out
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South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the AUGUST 18, 2022
otherpapersbvt.com
Barking mad
VOLUME 46, NO. 33
Life cycle
Four years later, dog park still ‘coming soon’ AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER
South Burlington’s new dog park looks wistful on an early Saturday morning, fog curling through the wooden fence as the first rays of sun hit the red brick Wheeler House, sitting stoically on the hill ahead. The only things missing are dogs. Neither a paw nor a snout have yet graced the gates of the bark park, constructed in July after about three years of planning. A tentative soft opening was planned for late summer, pending some public works handiwork on
the gate, but a bigger problem has surfaced. “It’s less than half of the size — not even half the size it was designed as,” said Betty Milizia, a South Burlington resident and the chair of the committee on common areas for dogs, which has fought for this patch of green since at least 2018. Approved by the development review board late last year, the final design showed a 2-acre park on the Wheeler property off Dorset Street. But instead, due to certain features of the terrain like a hard rock ledge and a large tree, See DOG PARK on page 10
Pilot program takes off Home improvements could ease airport noise AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER
Eight homes in the Chamberlin neighborhood are gearing up for new windows, attic insulation, extra wall layers and weather stripping, among other possible improvements, as they enter the next phase of the Burlington International Airport’s noise pilot program. The hope is that certain home improvements will decrease the amount of sound seeping into homes most affected by the airport and the Air National Guard’s F-35 jets, according to mapping conducted over the years. Only eight residences were included in the initial pilot, which started with public outreach last December, but acting airport director Nic Longo noted that more
grant funding will eventually beef up the program to include as many as 100 homes a year. Grants totaling $1.8 million from the Federal Aviation Administration covering 90 percent of the cost with a 10 percent local share will allow the airport to update its noise exposure maps and to add another seven homes to the noise pilot program, including design, bidding and construction. It also covers the design for the next 54 homes in the program. “That’s huge progress,” Longo said, adding that as these first eight houses head into the construction phase this fall, he will have “very, very, very close eyes on the project.” “I think as many of us have seen or experienced ourselves, it See NOISE on page 10
PHOTO BY KIM ANDERSON
Kim Anderson of South Burlington said, “The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, a chrysalis emerging into a beautiful butterfly.”