Preserve Lebanon’s Tunnel

I have had a wonderful experience over the last four years working to create the Mascoma River Greenway Rail Trail connecting downtown Lebanon to West Lebanon for bicyclers and walkers. There has been tremendous support, physical and fiscal. We have cleared the rail corridor of brush, a lot of rails and ties, and raised over $2.2 million. I want to thank all the supporters.

Today, we have a sticking point: the rail corridor that goes under the Lebanon Mall. The ceiling is insecure, so a section of the parking area has been closed. City officials are conducting a study to “revision” downtown to get input on changes and improvements. They have created three potential improvement plans that can be found on the city’s website in a survey. Two of the three diagrams would close the tunnel, sending the MRG along city streets, sidewalks and across Hanover Street.

It is important to have the tunnel remain part of the MRG project if possible. It is the safest way for bikers, walkers and handicapped individuals to access the trail and to enter the Lebanon business district from the west without crossing busy Hanover Street. If the trail is well used, it will also reduce traffic coming and going between Lebanon and Hanover, and to the interstate.

Retaining the tunnel would also allow the MRG project to continue while other options might result in delays as streets and buildings are realigned. The MRG team would like to have a usable path by the end of this year. Our best way forward is along the rail corridor.

Another positive would come if the tunnel space is retained, even with much of the ceiling removed. The city pass-through could contain a park-like area with redesigned entry to businesses, benches and tables; and the walls of our new “canyon” could be painted with murals depicting the history of our city. I think it would be a unique attraction for residents and visitors.

The city survey about “revisioning” is available online through Lebanon’s website at lebnh.net. Look for the link. We are interested in your opinion. Please take a few minutes to look it over and offer your thoughts.

Frank Gould

Co-chair, Mascoma River Greenway Coalition

Mulling a ‘Fall Zone’ in Lebanon

A few years back, my wife and I attended a Lebanon Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing with a request for a minor variance for our proposed garage. Two ZBA hearings later, we were approved.

On our first visit, there were a number of items ahead of us on the agenda. One was a request from a prominent local farmer to allow installation of a cellular tower on the highlands of his farm. I vividly recall a lengthy discussion between the representatives of the proposed cellular tower and the board regarding a “fall zone,” a fenced-in area that would ensure that if something catastrophic occurred or any other calamity happened, the tower would fall inside the fence).

I recently passed by the new airport beacon tower on Poverty Lane and was quite amazed at how small the “fall zone” area has become. If the tower was 6 feet in height, by golly, I would not even make mention of it. The approximate fall zone with this new beacon tower is the neighbors’ lawn across the street, the parking lot of the police station and the roadway.

I know that the FAA required this and its sister tower in the airport proper for funding purposes and I fully support our City Council’s effort to keep our fabulous city in sync with the rest of the airborne public. I just wonder if anybody else caught the irony in the term, “fall zone.”

Don Perron

Lebanon

Object to Spraying Chemicals

Green Mountain Power has applied for a permit to perform what I consider indiscriminate spraying of highly toxic herbicides along roadsides and rights-of-way in Vermont. A public notice ad ran in the classifieds section of the Valley News on April 7. The chemicals to be used are (Garlon 4 Ultra, Krenite S and Polaris). Garlon 4 Ultra is produced by Dow Chemical, the same company that produced Agent Orange and other extremely toxic products.

We moved to Vermont thinking that it was an environmentally concerned state. But it seems to be the opposite. Vermont citizens seem all too content to allow state-controlled agencies and outside sources to dictate their well-being. That is too bad.

Oppose the indiscriminate spraying of residential property and organic farms. The contact person at Green Mountain Power is Jarod Wilcox, utility arborist, 1-888-835-4672, or call the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, 802-828-2431.

Help preserve Vermont’s independence.

James Minnich

Bethel

All’s Quiet About the Manager

Since the announcement in the Valley News, and a column by Jim Kenyon, information regarding the dismissal of Lebanon City Manager Dennis Luttrell has been very sparse. But an editorial did state that the most important duty of the Lebanon City Council is to select and retain the services of a qualified applicant for that position. If that is the council’s most important function, then it has failed badly. In the real world such failure of responsibility would result in termination and suspension of all concerned. But that kind of action cannot be applied to elected officials of a municipality.

However, there are questions — one being why among nine elected council members there was not at least one who discerned a warning and alerted the others of misgivings? Isn’t the fact that one municipality previously did not renew Luttrell’s contract (as stated by the Valley News) in itself alarming?

I think that the people of Lebanon are entitled to an explanation of this apparent fiasco, which has been more than embarrassing to its taxpayers, and stop-gap measures instituted to prevent a reoccurrence of events such as this. “Event” is the only kind word that I could think of. The thousands of dollars given for the severance or termination of a suspended city manager after six months of service is a ridiculous procedure and a practice that should be corrected.

Where else in life or the business world do we reward for services not rendered or completed? If it requires a great deal of searching to sort the mystery from all this, may it soon begin.

Gordon M. Stone

West Lebanon