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NOVEMBER 12, 2020
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
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Farmhouse, Fiddlehead back out of Finney Discussions with brewery are ongoing
BY JASON STARR Observer staff
Pandemic-related uncertainty has caused a popular restaurant and brewery to shelve plans to open locations in Williston’s Finney Crossing neighborhood. The Farmhouse Group announced plans last winter for a second location of its Burlington flagship Farmhouse Tap and Grill to occupy the west end of the newly built Healthy Living building, which opened to customers in October. As the pandemic pulled restaurants into an austere new reality this spring and summer, the Farmhouse Group “hit the pause button” on the project, according to Finney Crossing developer Scott Rieley. “It’s not going to happen right now. It may very well happen in the future,” Rieley said. “They are concentrating on all
of the issues that the pandemic is creating for restaurants and they felt it was a good time to hit the pause button and focus on their current business.” The Farmhouse Group owns four Burlington-area restaurants. Healthy Living Market and Café occupies about 18,000 square feet of the new building, which fronts Route 2 across from Maple Tree Place. About 12,000 square feet remains, with enough space for up to five separate retailers, Rieley said. Fiddlehead Brewing Company and Folino’s Wood Fired Pizza — which are co-located at Fiddlehead’s Shelburne headquarters — had planned to move into a 7,500-square-foot building near the Hilton Hotel, which opened earlier this year. That building is in Finney Crossing’s master plan but is not yet built. In
the spring, Fiddlehead owners stopped is attractive to a lot of people. However, pursuing the project, Rieley said. it’s fair to say that everybody wants to be Owners of the Farmhouse Group and very careful about what type of business Fiddlehead did not removes they make.” turn calls seeking comA Fiddlehead-Foment. lino’s move to Finney “I think it had a lot Crossing is not off the to do with the pandemtable. According to Rieic,” Rieley said. “The ley, the owners are conpause button for evsidering the space on the erything got hit in late west end of the Healthy March. We have seen Living building that people moving very the Farmhouse Group carefully and very slowbacked out of. ly with their business “We have an ongo— Scott Rieley, decisions. ing discussion with FidFinney Crossing developer “There still remains dlehead for that space, a fair amount of interbut it’s not set in stone est (in the commercial space at Finney yet and the space remains available,” RiCrossing),” he continued. “We have a eley said. “It’s an expression of interest great building and a great location, and it only, not anything else.”
‘The pause button for everything got hit in late March.’
Employers urged to apply for hazard pay Senators condemn Walmart for ignoring program
BY JASON STARR Observer staff
Businesses have until the end of this week to apply for hazard pay grants on behalf of employees who worked on the front lines of COVID response last spring. The state grant program, funded through federal coronavirus relief funds, pays up to $2,000 per employee who worked in essential services related to the pandemic response in March, April and May. Only employees who make less than $25 per hour are eligible. “During the first difficult months of COVID, while most Americans were at home, many of these essential Vermont workers were asked to keep working or had no choice but to do so,” a group of state senators including Chittenden County’s Tim Ashe, Chris Pearson and Michael Sirotkin, said in a statement last Thursday, describing the grants as a ‘thank you’ to workers. The state has already distributed about $12 million in hazard pay grants to 7,000 people, according to the De-
partment of Financial Regulation. It has about $18 million left to distribute. Nearly 900 businesses have applied on behalf of their employees. The program is not set up for employees to apply individually. One notable exception is Walmart, which has six locations in Vermont including in Williston. The senators criticized Walmart for its decision to not apply for employee grants. “We are extremely disturbed to learn that Walmart has indicated they will not allow their Vermont employees to receive essential worker hazard pay grants,” the senators said. “Their decision, cruel under any circumstances, is especially unthinkable since the grants are intended to thank essential workers who stayed on the job in high-risk positions in the earliest days of the COVID pandemic.” The list of 887 businesses that have applied for grants is posted on the Department of Vermont Health Access website (www.dvha.vermont.gov). Williston businesses that have applied include see WALMART page 12
Redhawks battle for state titles CVU’s football and girls soccer teams reached their respective high school championship games Saturday. For results and photos, see pages 8-9. OBSERVER PHOTO BY AL FREY