BENNINGTON — While student enrollment in Vermont’s public schools has been steadily declining for years, the local technical center is reporting more students have been choosing its services in recent years.

According to numbers shared with the school board last week, this school year the CDC has 232 students enrolled in introductory 50- to 60-minute courses, a figure that has increased each year since 2007, when 123 students were enrolled in these courses.

In the CDC’s 90- to 150-minute courses, which generally include laboratory work, there are 386 students this year, up two years in a row from 284 in 2008.

The adult education program has also been growing, with 839 adults enrolled in 2009.

Because the students are not at the center the full day, the school’s most important number, the full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment, which calculates the percentage of the school day students are at CDC, is 438, up over two consecutive years from 324 in 2008.

The increased FTE has increased the amount of state aid the school receives, which in turn lowered the tuition rate more than $300 to $12,332 next school year.

CDC Director Frank Barone said no one factor can be credited for the boost in enrollment, but he said the school has worked hard to recruit students by spreading information about its courses. “We make a conscious effort to get our good name out there,” Barone said. “We live and die by enrollment. We do, we’re a school of choice. If the kid decides not to sign up for a course, why run it?”
Barone said the school’s outreach coordinator has done a good job promoting the school, but it’s the students who are the most effective recruiters when they talk about the unique learning opportunities.

“Our number one ambassadors are our kids, who go back to their home schools and say ‘man … I had a great morning at the CDC,’” Barone said.

Another reason enrollment has likely grown, Barone said, is because of popular new programs, including cosmetology, which has grown from 10 students in its first year in 2007 to 31 students this year.

Another growing program has been the forestry program, which has increased from about 10 students in 2008 to 30 this year.

Keeping an open mind on adding new courses, and changing or eliminating courses that aren’t drawing many students, has helped keep the technical center a good choice for students, Barone said.

There are some programs Barone and the Education Committee have mentioned changing, primarily those that compete with courses taught at public schools, such as business, accounting and pre-law.

Enrollment in the accounting and financing program has shrunk each of the last five years, from about 25 students in 2006 to five this year.

“There is some competition. Kids can take business courses at their home school; why should they come here? So what we need to begin looking at is what can we offer here (to separate CDC programs from other schools)?” Barone said at Monday’s Education Committee meeting.

One way to make the CDC programs stand out, Barone suggested, is to incorporate additional credentials or specific training students couldn’t receive at a traditional school, which many programs already do.

The CDC is also attempting to start a culinary program by next spring and is considering changes to the building trades program to incorporate plumbing. “We just need to stay active,” Barone said.

Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at draspuzzi@benningtonbanner.com

Reprinted with permission from The Bennington Banner, written by DAWSON RASPUZZI, Tuesday April 27, 2010

Troy Richardson is a Board Member of the Building Trades Department of the Career Development Center, which works to educated students in the building trades by building a home in the Bennington area from the ground up.  This education allows students to enter the workforce trained to build, and exposed to the various skilled trades involved in building a house in the Bennington VT real estate market.

BENNINGTON — Volunteers will take to the streets and back roads Saturday to pick up roadside litter as part of Vermont’s annual Green Up Day.

At Bennington Subaru on North Bennington Road, volunteers will be asked to give their names so they can be directed to a stretch of road, said Bennington SubaruBusinessManager Tommy Lions. He said the dealership has 500 bags to give out, along with a dumpster for people to deposit them in, should they opt not to leave them on the side of the road to be picked up.

Volunteers wanted
Lions said Subaru of New England is a sponsor of Green Up Day for the Bennington region. From noon to about 3 p.m., he said, a cookout will be in progress for volunteers at the dealership.

Kelly Lemieux, administrative assistant at the Bennington Town Office, said the office has already given out 250 bags to Green Up volunteers.

In Manchester, volunteers are asked to show up at the Northshire Bookstore parking lot at 9 a.m., according to a release from the town offices. About 15 cleanup routes have been identified, in addition to projects at the Town Green and Recreation Area.

The routes will be “salted” with colored blocks, which children can exchange for prizes that have been donated by local businesses. There will also be a trash sculpture contest with the theme “Make Music with Trash.” The sculptures will be made of garbage collected along routes.

At noon, hot dogs and ice cream will be served at the garden area near the bookstore, courtesy of the Spiral Press Café. According to the release, with the help of Casella Waste Management, tires will be accepted at the Merchant’s Bank parking lot between 9 a.m. and noon. Tires will be taken at the rate of $3 for a regular car or truck tire and $5 for a large truck tire.

Should rain cancel the event, cleanup will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Similar prizes are being offered in Shaftsbury, said Karen Mellinger,a member of the SelectBoard. Toy lady bugs will be scattered among the roadside trash and canbe exchangedfor prizes. She said every year the town receives 200 Green Up bags and uses them all up. She said about 100 people participate.

Volunteers should gather at Cole Hall between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Trash can be dropped off there or at the transfer station, in addition to other sites around town.

For Pownal Green Up volunteers, trash can be taken to the Pownal Transfer Station between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Bags will be at the Town Offices or the station. There will be no roadside pick up. Select Board Administrative Assistant Linda Sciarappa said it would be helpful if people called the Town Offices or transfer station to sign up ahead of time, although it is not necessary.

In Sunderland, volunteers are asked to be at the Town Garage between 7 a.m. and noon. Select Board member and Road Foreman James Ennis said coffee, tea, lemonade and doughnuts will be available at the garage. Ennis said about 25 people usually participate, but the Orvis Co. in Manchester generally funnels about 70 volunteers to the town.

In Sandgate, Green Up bags will be available at Town Hall starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, along with coffee and doughnuts. The town trucks will be loading all trash collected and leaving for the transfer station at 2 p.m. Anyone with questions, call Jack Quinn, Sandgate Green Up Day coordinator, at 375-9655.

According to www.greenupvermont.org, the first Green Up Day was held April 18, 1970. It was suggested to then-Gov. Deane C. Davis by Burlington Free Press reporter Robert S. Babcock, who was appalled by the amount of litter he saw on the side of the highway while driving from his home in Waterbury to the Statehouse in Montpelier.

Reprinted with permission from The Bennington Banner, written by KEITH WHITCOMB JR., Tuesday April 27, 2010

BENNINGTON — Local officials say the number of construction permits issued indicates a robust construction season ahead, a clear indication that the economy is on the mend.

Several large construction projects have been approved by the town and will break ground soon, said Daniel Monks, the town’s planning director and zoning administrator. Among the projects are:

* A new state office building, $17 million

* Construction of a Carbone Hyundai and Ford dealership, $5 million to $8 million

* A new Bank of Bennington branch, $1 million

* Bennington Rescue, $600,000 to $700,000

* Plasan North America, constructing a 4,000-square-foot addition, $800,000

Meanwhile, some projects have already been completed, including the renovation of the Aubuchon Plaza, which now houses the Department of Motor Vehicles and a fitness center, and the rebuilding of Martin’s Mini Mart, which burned last year.

“The summer is looking good for construction projects, both in number and in terms of investment. It’s a good turnaround from last year. The last couple of years have been slower than we’d seen,” Monks said. “Some of these were definitely put off because of the economy. You can definitely say that investment in construction in Bennington is increasing from last year to this year by a significant margin. That’s a good thing to see.”
The total number of permits granted by the town began to dip in 2007. In 2006, the town approved 348 permits, but it has dropped steadily in subsequent years, with 315 in 2007, 272 in 2008 and 265 in 2009. The number of permits issued in 2008 and 2008 was below the level in 1997.

The number of residential permits sought by local property owners remained relatively steady throughout the prolonged recession, according to Larry McLeod, the town’s building inspector. However, the permits sought were smaller in scope, he said.

“Last year was definitely a drop. People weren’t putting in the pools or decks or garages or the extra things,” McLeod said.

Monks said he expected an increase in the value of residential renovation projects this year. “It probably got down, if we had to grade it on A to F, to about a C-minus. Now we’re heading into the B range, which is good to see, and we’re hoping that it will continue to improve.”

The housing market is showing signs of life, too, according to town assessor John Antognioni. Local Realtors are seeing more leads and have more properties under contract. However, it hasn’t yet translated into an increase in closed sales, he said.

The local housing market did not experience drastic fluctuation in property values as other parts of the country did, Antognioni said.

“The houses that are selling certainly are at or above what we have them assessed for,” he said. “Here in town we really didn’t see houses selling for 75 cents on the dollar or markedly less than they were.”

Contact Neal P. Goswami at ngoswami@benningtonbanner.com, reprinted with permission from The Bennington Banner, Tuesday April 27, 2010

Troy Richardson and Re/MAX Maple Leaf Realty are active in the revitalization efforts with many new and expanding businesses leasing and buying property in the Bennington VT real estate market.

Doing home-improvement jobs yourself can be a smart way to save money, but choose the right DIY projects or you’ll end up paying dearly.
 
Why pay someone big bucks to do something you can just as easily do yourself? That’s the thinking that has gotten more Americans than ever swinging their own hammers. In a recent Time magazine poll, nearly a quarter of people said they were taking on more home-improvement projects themselves-understandably so, when you consider that it usually means a 50% to 75% discount, since all you pay for is materials.

But sometimes doing it yourself costs more than it saves, like when you decide to replace the toilet, end up flooding the basement, and have to pay a pro to fix your mistakes. Or, worse, if you become one of the more than 100,000 people injured each year doing home-improvement jobs. Here are some guidelines for deciding when DIY can save you money and when it could cost you.

Read the full entry – - – Bennington VT Real Estate Commentary »

BENNINGTON — The region’s technical center is in the process of bringing a culinary program to Bennington, but whether that will happen depends heavily on support from the state.

The Southwest Vermont Career Development Center has applied for approval of the culinary program from the state Department of Education, as well as for a grant to help get the program started.

Following an Education Committee meeting Monday, CDC Director Frank Barone said he believes it’s likely the center will receive the needed approval and startup money, and expects to get confirmation by the end of the school year.

The grant would give the CDC $50,000 in the first year and another $20,000 in each of the following two years, Barone said.

“For the full-blown program, we really need the grant to be able to do it,” Barone said. “We will have to buy everything for the program and undergo major renovations of space.”

If the program and grant are approved, Barone said the space used as a greenhouse for the agriculture and horticulture programs at the CDC would be turned into a restaurant, and the current agriculture and horticulture classroom would be transformed into a kitchen.

“That was never intended to be a greenhouse anyway,” Barone said.

The agriculture and horticulture programs would be moved to an underutilized classroom and use the Mount Anthony Union High School greenhouse, Barone said.

Barone said he believes there is a need for a culinary program in the area and said it would help the school by likely attracting students interested in working in the culinary industry who otherwise would not attend the CDC.
New England Culinary Institute has agreed to be a post-secondary partner, Barone said.

The committee also brought up the idea of adding other programs, including a welding course, which it has discussed numerous times over the last year, but Barone said Monday it is more likely welding will be included as part of another related program. “The issue is finding the space for the lab,” Barone said.

There was talk of increasing classroom space on the second floor where original building plans included two more classrooms that were never finished because of cost.

Barone said more space is not critical at this point, but if enrollment continues to grow, as it has in recent years, it may be needed down the line.

The board received a quote of $4,500 from Black River Design, which designed the original building, to provide a feasibility report and estimated cost of the project, and the committee voted to have the Facilities Committee consider the project.

The committee also discussed the possibility of incorporating education around plumbing, electrical and masonry into the building trades program next year when the school hires a new teacher for the program that currently has a focus on carpentry.

“We have an opportunity, if we believe that there’s a need for licensed electricians in Bennington and in the area, that the program changes to meet that need,” Barone said.

Another option could be collaborating with another technical center.

“The time may come when we may partner with Stafford, in Rutland, to share a teacher, where a teacher works three days a week there, two days a week here, lives somewhere in the middle, so that we can run a program. Maybe a half-day program in plumbing,” Barone said.

Barone said the CDC is not large enough at this time to have an independent program in plumbing, electrical or masonry.

Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at draspuzzi@benningtonbanner.com

Reprinted with permission from The Bennington Banner, written by DAWSON RASPUZZI, Monday April 26, 2010

BENNINGTON — The Green Mountain Community Network received approval from the Select Board Monday to utilize a town parking lot, allowing the group’s plan to create a transportation hub to proceed.

The nonprofit group that runs public transportation in the area has developed a plan to utilize a $328,000 federal earmark secured by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The plan will allow for a hub at the organization’s existing property on Pleasant Street by constructing a bay to house up to 12 small buses and six cars.

Additionally, a new driveway will be constructed to allow for the GMCN’s buses, as well as coach buses that pass through town twice a day, to loop around the facility to pick up and drop off customers, according to Executive Director Donna Baker.

The Select Board granted unanimous approval for GMCN to use part of a municipal parking lot adjacent to the group’s property, so long as the town is not liable for any mishaps.

Baker said the approval will alleviate a backup of traffic. “We need to make it safer and we need to make it less congested,” she said.

The town has sought a facility that could serve as a hub for buses, taxis and pedestrians for a number of years. Original ideas in 2001 included a parking garage. While the current plan less ambitious, town officials said it will help increase the use of public transportation.

GMCN is expected to seek local permits from the Development Review Board next month. Bennington Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Daniel Monks said he does not foresee any issues that would prevent the board from issuing a permit.

Reprinted with permission from The Bennington Banner, written by NEAL P. GOSWAMI, Monday April 26, 2010

While this case occurred in Massachusetts, this could be anywhere Federal Laws are violated.

Landlords in the Bennington VT Real Estate market need to be sure they are not unknowingly violating Federal Law.  Hiring a firm like RE/MAX Maple Leaf Realty wil ensure that you are following all applicable federal and state regulations with regard to rentals and Fair Housing Practices.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced a settlement between her office and a Revere, Massachusetts landlord over allegations that his rental ad in Craigslist violated state discrimination statutes. 

This judgment is the result of a continuing statewide investigation by the Attorney General’s Office into reports of widespread discriminatory housing advertisements on the Internet.

“As more families face tough financial times and have no choice but to rent, landlords and real estate professionals must recognize that the rental market is a regulated industry,” said Attorney General Coakley. “While we hope that this enforcement initiative will have a deterrent effect, our office will continue to monitor Craigslist.”

The Attorney General’s Office has settled 20 similar cases and filed six other complaints against landlords and real estate agents across the Commonwealth accused of violating state anti-discrimination laws on Craigslist.

In this case, the landlord used Craiglist to advertise a unit for rent in Revere, stating “no Section 8.” The Massachusetts Anti-Discrimination Act prohibits landlords and others involved in property rentals from discriminating against people who use state or federal housing subsidies to pay for all or a portion of their rent.

The settlement requires the landlord attend trainings on state and federal fair housing laws.  He has also agreed to place “Equal Housing Opportunity” in any future rental property ads. And,  in an effort to increase awareness of this important issue, the landlord is required to place postings on Craigslist informing other Craigslist users that the Attorney General monitors Craigslist for discriminatory advertising and that it is against Massachusetts law to state a discriminatory preference against recipients of housing assistance subsidies.

He will also pay $750 to a local charity that provides legal services to poor and low-income persons in housing and a variety of areas.

Review your remodeling contract carefully and adjust it to make sure it protects you in terms of payments, work schedules, and project specifications.
 
Even if you never intend to pick up a hammer for your remodeling project, there’s one tool that’s absolutely essential-a solid contract. But just having one often isn’t enough. That’s because the document a contractor gives you is designed to protect him. It’s up to you to add in some basic protections for yourself. Here’s what you need to know to make sure the remodeling contract you sign includes solid legal protection for you and your home.
Hiring a lawyer to review and make changes to a contract is a safe bet, especially since each state has its own construction-contract statutes. But not many homeowners are willing to shell out $500 for an attorney review, plus $1,000 to $1,500 additional fees to make wholesale revisions to a flawed contract. However, you can hand-write changes and additions in plain English and make sure both you and the contractor initial each change to the document, says Tampa, Fla., attorney George Meyer, who is chair-elect of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Construction Industry. Here’s what you want to add (and subtract).

Read the full entry – - – Bennington VT Real Estate Commentary »

WOODFORD — The largest snowmobile club in the state turned 25 this winter and earned recognition from the General Assembly, which passed a legislative resolution congratulating the Woodford SnoBusters.

With arguably the best riding conditions in the state being the trails that stretch through the Green Mountain National Forest 2,300 feet above sea level in Woodford, the club has grown from a couple of dozen people in 1984 to thousands.

Betty Roark, who has been a SnoBuster from the beginning and is in charge of memberships, said the club has more than 2,600 members and has been as large as 5,000 members in 2001.

Roark said poor snow accumulation for a couple of years decreased that number after 2001, but in recent years membership has been on the rise again.

“Woodford probably has the greatest number of riders, more than any other place in Vermont … because of the accessibility from New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut,” Roark said. “It’s a snowbelt, we get snow when nobody else does.”

Roark said the majority of the club’s members come from surrounding states, and even some from the southern part of the country.

“Just like we go down there in the summer … they come up here in the winter to snowmobile,” Roark said.

The conditions have been the same over the years, but the riding conditions seem to improve each year, thanks to the work the SnoBusters put into the trails.

“Twenty-five years ago we didn’t have any trails. We went from no trails to quite an elite trail system that we groom,” Roark said.

In that first winter, trail grooming was done with snowmobiles and pipe drags before members pooled their money to buy a small track machine known as a Bombi.

Now, the club grooms more than 100 miles of trail, with a top-quality grooming fleet that consists of several Pisten Bullys and a high-end trail groomer.

Roark said over the years the popularity of the trails in Woodford has grown immensely, leading to overcrowding on many winter weekends.

As well as maintaining and grooming trails, the SnoBusters also sponsor a hot dog roast and the Very Special People Ride each winter to raise money for charities.

Rep. Bill Botzow, D-Pownal/Woodford, said he sponsored the legislative resolution congratulating the SnoBusters on its silver anniversary because of the service its volunteers have put in over the years to attract thousands of people to the area each winter.

“I was just impressed by the hard working, dedicated people who want to give their time so others can enjoy our forest,” Botzow said by phone Thursday. “(The SnoBusters) are a big piece of our local economy and they have made great progress in building buildings and maintaining the trails.”

Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at draspuzzi@benningtonbanner.com

Reprinted with permission from The Bennington Banner, Sunday April 18, 2010

Whether to move or improve is a harder question to answer than it was a few years ago, but a few cost-benefit calculations can help you make the right decision.
 
What do you do when your family outgrows your house, or when the quirks you once found charming about the place just aren’t livable anymore? A few years ago, the answers were easy. With house values climbing an average of 50% from 2001 to 2005 and lenders handing out big checks to nearly anyone who asked, you could quickly unload a too-small house and use the profits to help pay for a larger one. Or you could borrow against that growing equity to fund a big home-improvement project, with the full expectation of making your investment back someday when you sold. Flash forward a few years, and the rules of real estate have changed. In this marketplace, with home equity shrinking and banks reluctant to lend, is it smarter to move or improve? Here’s some advice to help you decide.

Read the full entry – - – Bennington VT Real Estate Commentary »