Freight train
In memoriam
Let’s slow down housing development
School honors principal Karsten Schlenter
Page 7
Page 9
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South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the APRIL 13, 2023
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Bus driver shortage nears ‘catastrophic failure,’ drivers say
VOLUME 47, NO. 15
First Lady visits South Burlington
District could see rolling route cancelations LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
Benjamin Gould, a parent of a Rick Marcotte Central School second grader, decided to speak out during the public comment period at the March 8 school board meeting to express “significant frustration with the transportation services,” calling the South Burlington School District’s bus schedules this year sporadic and unpredictable. “My daughter has been shunted between bus routes five different times this year, he said, “The bus
picks her up at our house at 7:55 in the morning, on a good day, she can just barely get to school in time for the beginning of class at 8:05. In the afternoon, it’s been very sporadic — some days she’ll get home at 3:15, some days she won’t be dropped off until 3:45.” Transportation supervisor Kathy LaRock said she has never seen such a severe shortage of bus drivers in her nearly 26 years with the district. Like most of the state, South Burlington has been battling PHOTO BY COREY MCDONALD
See BUS DRIVERS on page 12
First Lady Jill Biden tours Beta Technologies on Wednesday, April 5. See story, page 2.
Beta’s 40-acre campus awaits final approval COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
Beta Technologies’s proposed 40-acre technology and manufacturing campus could get final approval this month, two years after it was first submitted to the South Burlington’s development review board. The campus created a stir this time last year, after an issue over a land use condition regarding parking lots left the project in
limbo and prompted outcry from residents and politicos such as Gov. Phil Scott. Now, after a land use amendment allowing for the proposed parking lot was approved by the city council last year, Beta’s master plan and site plan for the site south of the airport seems likely to wrap up with the city’s development review board this month, officials said, giving a green light to the sprawling campus that is critical to the company’s production goals.
“We’ve designed our manufacturing and final assembly facility, and the broader campus, to be a place that advances our business and promotes the values of this community,” a company spokesperson said. “We look forward to getting the facility finished and online, so we can begin manufacturing our electric aircraft and bring more jobs to the community. “We are nearly there, and we’re really appreciative of the town’s flexibility to
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convene a special meeting to work through a few final items and keep the project on track,” they said. The development review board is set to have a meeting on the evening of Tuesday, April 11 — after press deadline for this paper — and on Tuesday, April 18, when the campus is expected to be approved, officials said, barring unforeseen circumstances. See BETA on page 3
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