For our county's sake, I am glad the deadline for the Windham County Revolving Loan Fund was extended, even by just a week.
Clearly, the state wants the county to get the biggest local bang for the buck. With $2 million per year for five years ($10 million total) ready to be unleashed, the bang could - and should - be pretty big.
It is clear from comments made by Vernon and Brattleboro residents at a June 3 public hearing in Townshend that many interested individuals from their respective towns were unaware of the hearing held 40 miles away in the northern end of the county. Extending the deadline is a positive step toward addressing this problem.
Vermont Yankee has been a “public good” for more than 40 years because its payroll, local- and state-government revenue, and volunteerism have powered southeastern Vermont's quality-of-life engine. The transparent, prudent distribution of this generous economic redevelopment “severance package” will help the county get back on its feet.
At his Feb. 17 press conference at the Vermont Statehouse, Andrew Fisk, executive director of the Connecticut River Watershed Council, made some vague claims about Vermont Yankee's warm water discharge affecting the shad population. I asked him two questions that any self-professed authority on local aquatic life should have...