Pedals for Progress
Habitat loss
Volunteers help people worldwide build better lives
Brown thrashers skulk through thickets, hedgerows
Page 10
Page 16
POSTAL CUSTOMER
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #217 CONCORD, NH ECRWSSEDDM
South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
otherpapersbvt.com
VOLUME 46, NO. 37
Thousands will soon lose rental, utility help
Double peak
AARON CALVIN STAFF WRITER
The Vermont Emergency Rental Assistance Program, or VERAP, doled out over $130 million across the state in emergency assistance for those struggling to pay rent and utilities since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but now that program is winding down. In October and November, the Vermont State Housing Authority will begin gradual reductions to the program that has allowed 12,613 households to “remain stably housed during an unprecedented public health emergency.” Rental assistance will continue until the funds are fully depleted at an unspecified, yet likely imminent, date. Utility assistance stops at year’s end. Rather than send renters to a financial cliff, winding
the program down gradually was determined to be the best way to help them plan for the future. According to the authority’s website, the program was a “short-term initiative, funded by an award from U.S. Treasury.” Under initial guidance from Treasury, the authority projected the funds would last through 2023, but new guidance issued in March “dramatically upended” that timeline and required the program to spend the money faster. Though the federal COVID19 cash flow that kept people in their homes is shutting off, the data collected by the authority will provide a clear picture of Vermont’s housing issue that some housing policy advocates have long attempted to draw attention to. See VERAP on page 18
University plans nearly 300 units of housing Development would be in SoBu’s City Center COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY GORDON MILLER
Attendees enjoy the climbing wall at the Vermont National Guard joint Army and Air Force Military Expo and Open House Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10-11 at its base at the Burlington International Airport. More photos on pages 12-13.
The University of Vermont last week announced a joint venture with development company Snyder-Braverman to build nearly 300 housing units in South Burlington’s City Center. Under the plan, which was agreed upon by the two parties last month, nearly 500 beds of housing would be created in 295 apartments built out in three phases on the corner of Market and Garden streets, the university said in a
release. The project would consist of four mixed-use buildings. The first phase would yield 120 beds in 100 units, expected to be ready to lease out by summer of 2024; the second phase would add about 100 more beds in 65 apartments by summer of 2025; and the third and final phase would create 225 additional beds in 130 units by the summer of 2026. “This initiative will increase access to housing within close reach of campus, primarily for See UVM on page 18