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RECIPE INSIDE! DECEMBER 23, 2021
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
Wrestlers return to the mat
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Town looks to double plowing capacity Blair Park sidewalk may tip the scales for new equipment BY JASON STARR Observer staff
After a season canceled last winter, high school wrestling returned last week with CVU taking on Essex at Essex High School. At top, CVU’s Ethan Varricchism (in black) defends against a single leg takedown by Essex’s Noah Powell. Center, CVU’s Tom Murphy (in black) works from the back of Essex’s Jacob Sunderland. At the bottom, CVU’s Jacob Underhill (in black) works to get the advantage over Essex’s Christian Stygles. OBSERVER PHOTOS BY AL FREY
Construction of a sidewalk along Blair Park Road last summer may finally spur the Williston Public Works Department to increase its sidewalk snowplowing capacity, after years of rebuffing requests from homeowners. Public Works Director Bruce Hoar is recommending the selectboard add a second sidewalk plow to the town’s fleet, and a staff position to operate it, into the town budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The plow would add about 10 miles of sidewalk plowing capacity. With one plow, the department currently clears about 10 miles of sidewalks after snowstorms of 2 inches or more. It also uses a truck to clear about 5 miles of paved rec paths. “We are at our limit for what this machine is able to do in a reasonable amount of time,” Hoar told the board Tuesday. He estimates a new sidewalk plow would cost $135,000. The selectboard plans to consider purchasing the plow and creating an additional public works position during budget deliberations in January. The annual budget will be up for voter approval at Town Meeting Day in March. The new Blair Park sidewalk creates a continuous loop around the neighborhood, connecting senior housing with the post office and bus stop along Route 2. Several residents at the Williston Place senior apartment building requested the town start plowing the sidewalk. “The new sidewalks are beautiful,” Williston Place resident Winnie McCormick wrote in a December letter to the town. “We really appreciate the town’s construction.
The Williston Public Works Department is requesting a new sidewalk plow for next season that would allow it to clear up to 10 more miles of sidewalks. COURTESY PHOTO BY PAUL APFELBAUM
As many of us like to walk summer, fall, winter and spring, it would be so good if you could clear the sidewalks in the winter — at the crosswalks if nothing else.” Jennifer Olson, the director of marketing at Williston Place, added: “Our community members have benefited greatly from the new sidewalks and having safe walkways is incredibly important to their health and wellbeing.” Similar requests have been made annually by residents of Taft Corners neighborhoods The Hamlet and Chelsea Commons, but the town has repeatedly declined to add them to the plowing plan. Chelsea Commons resident Don Mersereau said construction in recent years of new roads, apartments and business at Taft Corners has increased traffic through the neighborhood and made winter walking more dangerous. “Our road is literally not safe to walk on,” he said Tuesday. “We have a ton of people who come through here to get somewhere else.” The Hamlet Homeowners Association also submitted a formal request: “We believe budgeting shall account for the need to acquire additional equipment over time to build the capacity to plow new sidewalk see PLOWING page 7
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