By Lani Duke
Voters approve police station
CASTLETON–Voters narrowly approved building a new police station, 362 to 345, on May 12. It will be an addition to the newly constructed and opened Castleton Volunteer Fire Station at a cost of $300,420, most of that coming from selling school buses already owned by the town. Some voters are not happy that this vote even took place, feeling that they had already voted repeatedly on the issue, including rejecting it at Town Meeting in March, 365-353. Part of the community opposition is that a new building is still a waste with a nearby, vacant State Police barracks nearby. Others praise this latest outcome, believing that only good can come from relocating police, fire, and emergency response in a common facility. A similarly close vote in March triggered the May re-balloting.
Mach’s reinvents itself
PAWLET–The former Mach’s General Store, 18 School St., is undergoing redevelopment, with a general store in the front carrying as many locally-produced foods as possible, while an 80-seat restaurant and brewery will occupy the building’s rear above Flower Brook. A smokehouse and wood-fired pizza oven are also part of the plans.
Building owner Gib Mach plans to open the business under the name Mach’s General Store & Flower Brook Brewery in October, as a farm-to-table enterprise. Remodeling to the 1804 building will include large windows that overlook the gorge and the moving water that continues to shape it.
The building has been out of use since the previous general store closed in December. Its future involves a more thorough utilization of its 5,200 square feet. DeAnna Mach will run the restaurant component of the business, baking pizzas in the domed brick oven. The brewery will utilize Vermont grain and hops as much as possible, as well as making an alcoholic apple cider produced by wood-fired steam boiler.
Other site alterations include developing a 25-spot parking lot, adding two bathrooms, and eventually harnessing Flower Brook for hydroelectric power.
Lyme disease study gets grant funding
POULTNEY–Discovering the frequency of Lyme disease-causing bacteria in black-legged (deer) ticks and their density in Rutland County will be made easier by an anticipated $25,000 grant to Green Mountain College biology prof William Landesman. He hopes to establish the probability of humans encountering the pests based on geography and time of year. The Vermont Genetics Network, based at the University of Vermont in Burlington, is the granting agency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 95 percent of confirmed Lyme disease incidents developed in 14 states, most in the Northeast. Dogs may be infected as well as humans; the disease is both preventable and curable, in both species.
Congratulations
to Poultney High senior Martin Van Buren III, for awards received for both his photography and video work. His photo portrait of fellow classmate Libby Marcy entitled “The Interior of Dreams” won a Choice Award in the 34th annual Congressional Art Competition in Montpelier. His film, a horror mystery named “The Scarecrow—A Haunting in Vermont” was screened at the Freedom & Unity TV awards at Randolph High School on May 16.
