Friday, August 30, 2019

Lots of ideas for Killington Road changes

Rutland Herald

Killington meeting_Keith story 0830
From left to right, Evan Detrick, project manager for VHB, Planning Commission Vice Chairwoman Jennifer Conley, and Planning Commission Chairman David Rosenblum, facilitate the initial meeting for the Killington Road Master Plan on Wednesday at the Killington Pico Area Association Welcome Center. The meeting drew a large crowd of locals and business owners.
KILLINGTON — Pedestrian tunnels under the road, buried power lines, roundabouts and electric vehicle charging stations are among the ideas locals have for the future of Killington Road.
About 40 to 50 people, many of them local business owners, met Wednesday at the Killington Pico Area Association Welcome Center on Wednesday to begin developing a plan for Killington Road, a process Town Manager Chet Hagenbarth said would take about a year to complete.
“The hope is we get as many people involved throughout the process,” Hagenbarth said. Once complete, the plan will allow the town to access various funding sources, such as state and federal grants, to pay for projects.
The town is using VHB, a civil engineering firm based in South Burlington, to help the Planning Commission develop the Killington Road plan.
Evan Detrick, project manager for VHB, said his company will gather all the data already collected on the road and add to that. VHB will look at past traffic studies, conduct its own and use drones to create new maps.
Killington Road runs from Route 4 up to Killington Ski Resort and is lined with dozens of businesses, many of them restaurants and shops related to the recreation industry.
“We’re so excited about this process, a lot of the comments are things that would be great,” said Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Ski Resort. “One thing I want to point out, when we went through the last study I know one of the comments we were looking at was taking it from two lanes to one lane downhill; I think we have some concerns with that. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. One of the things was, they seem to only study it in the summer, and we do 800,000 skier visits and 200,000 summer visits.”
He said whoever collects traffic data for this project should make sure they look at it during a time the resort is busy. Solimano said the two days following Christmas would be a good time.
Other people at the meeting wanted VHB to explore options for bicycle lanes, crosswalks and sidewalks for visitors traveling between restaurants, electric vehicle charging stations and bus shelters.
Detrick encouraged people to offer any idea they had, with the understanding that not everything would make it into the plan.
Some said the plan should explore pedestrian tunnels, the feasibility of burying utility lines, and a roundabout, although these would likely be expensive.
“We’re sitting here thinking the cost is astronomical, impossible; let’s find out,” said Planning Commission Chairman David Rosenblum. “That’s what we’re here for.”
Hagenbarth said there will be more meetings and more opportunity for public input. Any future work on Killington Road would likely be done in phases.
Preston Bristow, interim town planner, said people with ideas for the Killington Road plan should reach out to him at the Town Office. From there he can forward comments and ideas on to VHB.
keith.whitcomb
@rutlandherald.com

Friday, August 23, 2019

Killington Road planning begins Wednesday

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    KILLINGTON — The first public meeting to discuss what Killington Road will look like in the coming years will be held Wednesday.“This is just a notification that on Aug. 28 at the (Killington Pico Area Association) we are going to have the kick-off meeting for developing the Killington Road Master Plan,” said Town Manager Chet Hagenbarth at the Tuesday Select Board meeting. “VHB, the engineer that’s going to be doing the work, will be doing a brief presentation to explain how we are going to go about the process and where we’re going to go, and how people will be involved.”
    Mike Coppinger, executive director of the Killington Pico Area Association, said Thursday that the meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. While the KPAA is hosting the event, the Killington Road Master Plan is helmed by the Killington Planning Commission and Killington Select Board.
    “We will note that at some point in the near future we are going to be doing some survey and data collection along Killington Road, but the plan has not started,” Hagenbarth said Tuesday. “We are going to take all the information we’ve gathered from previous studies, and then the Planning Commission will be in the center of this program. There will probably be some form of a committee included because the (Killington Ski Resort) will be included … and any business owners that want to be a part of the committee will be there, people on Killington Road.”
    Hagenbarth said the plan should take between six and 12 months to create. Once complete, if adopted, it will allow the town to apply for various state and federal grants.
    Interim Town Planner Preston Bristow said Thursday that Killington is a town that expects to grow in the coming years, especially along Killington Road, and the road right now needs to be upgraded to handle the expected traffic. Bristow said funds for this plan were approved at Town Meeting in March, but it’s been talked about before. He said it’s likely the town is already aware of the things people want to see addressed, but won’t know for sure until the meeting on Wednesday.
    Bristow said besides beefing up the road itself, people have talked about streetlights, crosswalks, cut-outs for buses and the placement of travel lanes. He said upgrades to water infrastructure have been discussed as well, including the possibility of a public water system.
    It’s not clear whether the Killington Road Master Plan will be incorporated into the Town Plan, said David Rosenblum, chairman of the Planning Commission. He said he expects to hear more from people on Wednesday.
    The last time Killington Road was reconstructed was in the late 1980s, Hagenbarth said Tuesday. Minor work, such as lane striping has taken place since.
    “I’m sure it will be done in phases, this is not an all-at-one-time project, but the goal is to have a plan to look to that we can work with,” he said.
    Hagenbarth said the Wednesday meeting will be warned as a special Select Board meeting, not to be confused with its regular meeting scheduled for Sept. 3. The Planning Commission has also warned the Wednesday gathering as an official Planning Commission meeting.
    keith.whitcomb
    @rutlandherald.com

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Two stolen goats replaced by local farmer

 Vermont Standard
8/8/19
By Allan Stein
Standard Correspondent

KILLINGTON — Nearly a month after two baby goats were reported stolen from Hinterland Organic Farm in Killington, police say they have no new information in the case.

“We have no new leads at this point,” Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery said.

Following publicity over the theft, police received three leads — two from New Hampshire, one from Ticonderoga, New York — “none of which panned out, unfortunately,” Montgomery said.

He said there is “no other information or leads to go on.”

Hinterland owners Boris and Sheila Pilsmaker noticed the goats missing around 7 a.m. on July 8.

Police said the two goats were tethered to a 150-pound weight, which was also stolen. The couple had purchased the goats from One Chicken At a Time Farm owner Tina Tuckerman in South Woodstock a little over a month ago.

Police said the goats and equipment had a total value of around $250.

Boris Pilsmaker said he and his wife have come to terms the loss of their two billy goats, and they don’t expect to get them back.

“They’re gone. They’re never coming back,” he said.

In the meantime, the couple recently received a pair of new billy goats as a gift from Tuckerman, who felt it appropriate to help fellow farmers in need.

“Farmers take care of each other,” Tuckerman said. “Boris is older and needed an alternative to weed trimming. So the goats are a good fit.

“He takes very good care of them. I find it very sad someone would steal these goats for moral reasons or just as a joke,” Tuckerman said. “Farming is hard enough without things (being) stolen. If someone wanted goats that badly find a breeder. If they felt it was mean or inhuman that they were tethered, it is more inhuman to watch them get hit on Route 4.”

Boris said he is grateful for the replacement goats, saying it was a “very nice gesture.”

The Pilsmakers started Hinterland Organic Farm in 1998. They have owned Mountain Creamery in Woodstock since 1987.