In February 2026 the Selectboard received a report on the 2025 activity for the opioid misuse prevention initiative and the current status of settlement funds.

Read the full article from Vermont Public.

Monday, January 27, 2025

Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch, and Congresswoman Becca Balint, along with the Northern Border Regional Commissioner (NBRC), today announced the recipients of the NBRC’s Fall 2024 Catalyst Program and Forest Economy Program Awards. Seven projects in Vermont will receive a cumulative $3.88 million in funding, which will support projects including early childhood education, a new surplus crop processing center and food hub, and rural health care clinic upgrades. 

Established in 2008, the NBRC is a Federal-State partnership in northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York designed to stimulate economic growth and inspire collaboration to improve rural economic vitality across the four-state NBRC region. NBRC encourages projects that take a creative approach to accomplishing those goals. 

“These infrastructure, economic and community development projects make important investments across Vermont,” said Governor Scott. “These projects will help revitalize our rural communities and I want to thank our Congressional Delegation for their support.”

“The Northern Border Regional Commission plays a major role in fostering long-term economic development in communities across Vermont. These new investments from the NBRC will support seven projects that benefit folks in every corner of the Green Mountain State–from building new child care centers to making energy-efficient upgrades to purchasing new classroom supplies,” said the Vermont Congressional Delegation. “We’ll continue to work alongside state and local partners to support the growth and success of rural communities in Vermont.” 

When evaluating potential projects, the Catalyst Program considers project readiness, economic impacts, impacts on Vermont’s skilled workforce, project location, regional input and priorities, and the project’s transformational nature. Awarded projects in the 2024 Catalyst Fall Competition will help pay for start-up costs—including classroom supplies and furniture for the Orange County Parent Child Center—implement new energy-efficient facilities at the Carlos G. Otis Health Care Center, transform a vacant facility into a child care center in the Northeast Kingdom, expand water and sewer infrastructure throughout the Town of Essex, and more.   

The 2024 Catalyst Fall Competition Awardees include:  

Carlos G. Otis Heath Care Center (Windham County) - $1,000,000: Replace two aging, inefficient structures with a new energy-efficient facility that will increase patient privacy and enhance accessibility.  

Orange County Parent Child Center (Orange County) - $379,124.82: Funding for furniture, playground equipment and classroom supplies, as well as start-up operations costs towards launching the early childhood education program. 

 Northeast Kingdom Community Action (Essex County) – $62,888: Convert a facility previously utilized as a health clinic into a childcare center providing 8 to 10 new Early Childhood Education spots.  

Salvation Farms (Lamoille County) - $469,621.30: Establish a 6,100 square foot Surplus Crop Processing Center & Food Hub.  

Town of Essex (Chittenden County) - $500,000: Planning and design to support the expansion of water and sewer infrastructure throughout the Essex Town Center area where proposed municipal facilities, fire station, library, and community space are planned.  

Vermont Council on Rural Development (Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor Counties) - $472,192.28: Provide 9 rural communities with targeted, holistic capacity building services and support for long term economic development success. This project will scale up services to meet the overwhelming demand for facilitated community-led prioritization, technical assistance, leadership coaching, and resource guiding. 

One Vermont project received a Fall 2024 Forest Economy Program Award:

Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (Chittenden County) - $993,642: Expand its forest initiative to address Vermont's forest economy workforce needs and increase the viability of long-term quality harvest in Vermont's forests.  

 Pre-applications for the 2025 Catalyst Program are due February 28. 

*The Fall 2024 Forest Economy Program Award to the Vermont Youth Conservation Corp was added to this release on January 30, 2025

March 7, 2025

The Town of Essex is embarking on the creating of a dedicated economic development strategy, and has selected TPMA to lead the process. TPMA is a national leader in strategic partnerships and data-informed solutions. This comprehensive planning effort will establish a framework for economic vitality, sustainable growth, community impact, and the support local businesses need to thrive. 

Strategic Approach TPMA will employ a multi-phased approach, beginning with a review of current plans and data analysis to build upon the work already completed. This analysis will happen concurrently with outreach and engagement, including a community survey, interviews, and focus groups to gather diverse perspectives to ensure the plan reflects the community's needs and aspirations. Using a design thinking approach, TPMA will identify robust strategies primed for collaborative action. 

Leadership Perspectives “The Town is excited to work with TPMA to develop the Economic Development Study, our first study since 2010,” said Katherine Sonnick, the Community development Director. “TPMA brings with them a great mix of data analysis skill, on the ground public engagement, and innovation.” 

“We are pleased to partner with the Town of Essex on this initiative,” said Lindsay Bloos, Senior Consultant and Project Lead for TPMA. “We are committed to developing a strategic roadmap that will guide continued success for decades to come. Our team’s deep experience in strategic planning, combined with our data-driven approach, will ensure the final plan is both visionary and practical.” 

Next Steps Later this month, the project team will launch a community survey to gather valuable input. The Town of Essex encourages residents, business owners, and workers to participate and share the survey with others in the community. 

About TPMA TPMA empowers organizations and communities through strategic partnerships and informed solutions that create positive, sustainable change. For community champions who are loyal to improving local and regional economic outcomes, TPMA provides professional consulting services and delivers transparent insights to the complete workforce, education, and economic development ecosystem that allows them to move forward, together. TPMA envisions a world that thinks strategically, works collaboratively, and acts sustainably. Visit www.tpma-inc.com and follow TPMA on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. 

What does "continuing the overall progress" look like?

The voters of the Town of Essex on March 3 chose to advise the Selectboard to continue the overall progress in implementing a new municipal complex at 80-90 Upper Main Street as well as to complete the public infrastructure planning and design for the site.

Some details about 80-90 Upper Main Street

After the purchase of the 32-acre 80-90 Upper Main Street, the Town completed a 7-month planning process in March 2025, with the Selectboard acceptance of the Upper Main Street Planning project report.

The planning process accessed future town needs and opportunities for the site, including the potential to house new Town offices, a fire station, community space, and expanded programming space for library, senior, recreational activities, and more. Located in the town center area, it will support development and a vibrant downtown envisioned in the 2024 Town Plan and the ETC Next (Essex Town Center) plan. 

Possibilities for the new municipal site:

• public space for walking trails
• private development could support community needs such as housing and commercial space
• town offices and services located within town borders
• replacing the small and outdated fire station and library

What is Next for 80-90 Upper Main?

In the near future, the Selectboard will consider accepting the $500,000 grant received from the Northern Borders Regional Commission (NBRC) for the planning and design of the public water, sewer, roadway, and stormwater infrastructure.

The Selectboard will also begin to lay out a draft timeline for site development. Stay tuned to the project webpage for more details about the project’s proposed phasing, schedule, budget, and how you can be involved.

Updates from the Police Community Advisory Board (PCAB)

Over the past few months, the Police Community Advisory Board (PCAB) has been actively working on several initiatives and engaging with community concerns. Below are key highlights from recent meetings:

Champlain Valley Fair Success

The Chief of Police reported a successful public safety effort during the annual Champlain Valley Fair. Law enforcement saw a decrease in incidents compared to previous years, and, notably, no officers were injured—a first in three years. Police also shared public safety messages through various media outlets. Additionally, for the first time in 20 years, the Essex Police Department (EPD) hosted a recruitment table at the Fair, showcasing career opportunities in law enforcement.

Welcoming Alyssa March, New Community Liaison

In October, PCAB welcomed Alyssa March as EPD's new Community Liaison. Alyssa started her role at the end of October and attended both the October and November meetings, where she engaged with board members and began building connections with the community.

Public Safety Survey Development

PCAB is in the process of designing a Public Safety Survey to gather community input and better understand local concerns. Vince Cuciti, a PCAB member, has been instrumental in forming a subcommittee and guiding the project. During the November meeting, Vince and Advisor Jody Kamon led a detailed discussion on the survey’s design, question development, and strategies for distribution. The survey is expected to be distributed in early 2025 to ensure broad participation across diverse groups.

Addressing Community Concerns

PCAB has also reviewed and discussed specific concerns raised by members regarding interactions with police. 2 PCAB members brought 2 different situations to the board to dialog about resolutions.  These discussions provide an opportunity for constructive dialogue and accountability. Residents are encouraged to share their experiences with PCAB members or attend public meetings.

Get Involved with PCAB The Police Community Advisory Board meets on the third Tuesday of every month. We invite all community members to join us, share their voices, and participate in shaping public safety efforts in our town. Your input is invaluable as we strive to build a stronger, more inclusive relationship between law enforcement and the community.

PCAB Blog post:   Christina Hagestad

Christina Hagestad is the Co-Chair of the PCAB and represents the  City of Essex Junction.  Christina has lived in the City of Essex for about 5 years, having moved from New York.  Christina teaches through theHoward Center.  She works with kids who have  emotional and behavioral issues.  Her students deal with a variety of  trauma, abuse, substance issues and some criminal behaviors, which makes her skills and experience a good fit for the PCAB.  Christina finds her work very rewarding.

Christina’s work with troubled youth is only 1 reason she is involved in the PCAB.  She also is active with the LGBT community.  Christina wants to use her voice and share her opinions about these 2 populations.  She also would like to help their voices be heard within the community.

She is excited about PCAB and wants the community to know about our work.   She likes being able to review Police policies and hear stories from citizens  at the board meetings.  Christina would like to have more communication with community members regarding the Police and any issues that come up.

“It’s important to hear from the community’s “normal people,” not the politicians.  Come talk to us!  We have so many different kinds of people in our communities.”

Contact Christina at:  chagestad@essex.org>

PCAB Blogpost:  Leo Duque

Leo Duque has been the first Chair of the Police Community Advisory Board.  Leo lives in Essex Junction but is originally from Columbia.  He has lived in the USA for more than 20 years. 

Leo works as a Webmaster for Special Docs, an IT company that helps doctors transition from traditional practices to a concierge practice.  Leo and his wife used to live in South Burlington but  moved to Essex just after the pandemic.  Leo says that Essex seemed more accessible for engagement within the community.

Leo joined PCAB because he is curious about local laws and law enforcement.  He wondered if he lives in the kind of town where encounters with law enforcement felt okay and reasonable?  Or would they be difficult or negative.    Leo says he is pleasantly surprised with the Essex Police department’s openness  and the PCAB’s role with EPD.  

Sadly, Leo has completed a one-year term and is moving on from the PCAB.  Leo would like people in the City and Town to know that  the Police Community Advisory Board is an available resource for them.  He would also like to see citizens attend our Open meetings.  

“PCAB is a bridge for the community and the police.”  Says Leo Duque

ESSEX TOWN — Over a dozen residents of Sand Hill Road first brought their concerns about traffic noise and pollution before the Essex Selectboard in November of 2023. After two public hearings in 2025, the results from the Lower Sand Hill traffic study are finalized. 

“When we heard from that number of people, it was kind of okay, there's something there,” Greg Duggan said in reference to the town’s response to the Sand Hill residents' concerns. 

Study findings

The study found that unlike passenger vehicles that experienced morning and evening congestion, the traffic patterns for those trucks was steady throughout the day. Aarron Martin, Essex public works director, said that in conducting the study, they tried to draw correlations between the time of day and when the trucks are most active.

“The funny thing is, most of these trucks aren't active during the peaks, peak flow morning and afternoon. So they don't really have significant impacts on those intersections, using the metrics we use to analyze intersections,” Martin said. 

Heavy trucks have a steady traffic curve instead of the spike seen from regular passenger vehicles during commuting hours. However, there were still significant delays at several intersections. The northbound left turn at VT 15 and Sand Hill Road experienced the lowest score with 166.8 second delay in the morning peak and 165.5 in the evening peak while the westbound left turn had 11.8 second delay in the morning and 15.0 in the evening. 

“There's a whole analysis that is done by the transportation engineers on the intersection itself to look at factors and kind of make a determination on what level of service the intersection has,” Martin said. 

Possible solutions

The study identifies possible solutions to the “deficiencies” in the roads and sidewalks. The solutions are separated into short-term recommendations of 1-5 years, medium term recommendations of 5-10 years and long term recommendations in 10 or more years. The recommendations are also categorized into town, state and public-private partnership projects. 

“We kind of came up with some easy, low-hanging fruit to get and then some of the stuff that's going to take time, effort and, of course, money to do,” Martin said. 

The town has yet to decide which actions to take first. Some solutions include creating crosswalk markings and turning lanes at Allen Martin Drive and Thompson Drive as short- and medium-term solutions, creating a grass buffer and bike lanes on Lower Sand Hill Road as medium-term solutions as well as some long-term solutions like signalization on VT 15 and Allen Martin Drive. 

Gina Barrett, a resident of Sand Hill Road region since 2003, spoke before the selectboard on Monday night expressing her continued concerns for the timeline of possible actions. She said there has been discussion of installing a light at VT 15 and Allen Martin Drive since around the time she moved in 23 ago.  

This intersection is located on a state highway and therefore any changes would not be decided by Essex Town. The state has a plan for signalization for the year 2028. The town will rely on the state to provide updates to infrastructure on state roads. Martin said the state has pushed the timeline for the signalization back several times. 

“This is a state project,” Martin said. “It's within the state highway network. We can't facilitate them. We have to wait for their project timeline. I feel like it's been talked about for years.” 

Barrett said traffic has gotten increasingly worse over the time she’s owned her current house. Where she lives, she experiences less truck traffic and more trucks idling as compared to other regions of Lower Sand Hill Road identified in the study. The noise pollution has been “non-stop” and through the night inconveniencing her family and causing disruptions to schedules. 

“I can stand in my yard at two in the morning, take my dog out, or whatever it is and there’s a constant rumble from behind us, from the trucks.” Barrett said. “Or they have a nitrogen tank at Blodgett, and it was squealing for several weeks, and that's 24/7 of squealing.”

At the meeting, Stantec associate Sean Neely said there were no incidents during the recent study which would prompt the research to call the region unsafe and used the technical term “discomfort” to describe pedestrian and biker conditions. Barrett said she remembers several incidents in which there were pedestrian accidents during the time she has lived there.  

In 2018, a school bus collided with a pedestrian and In 2019, there was another pedestrian incident that involved a DUI charge. Barrett also recalls a time her neighbor was hit by a car in her neighbor’s driveway. The incidents occurred outside of the dates of the study and did not involve trucks grade seven through eleven, which the study focused on. However, some residents are still concerned about safety from traffic as well as noise and pollution from trucks. 

“We just keep pulling in these distribution centers, and we're not near the highway,” Barrett said. “Sand Hill was not designed for that. It was supposed to be in harmony with the surrounding natural environment. They've lost their way of enforcing that vision.” 

Another study will likely take place in 2035 to monitor how truck traffic and pollution continues to impact the Lower Sand Hill Road residents. The study is located in the recording and meeting agenda from the Feb. 23 selectboard meeting on the town’s website. 

View the article here: https://www.essexreporter.com/news/government/sand-hill-road-traffic-study-finalized-after-residents-bring-concerns-to-essex-selectboard/article_8f4e5513-c91d-473e-b997-3bf924bd834d.html

On February 23rd the Project Summary Presentation of the Sand Hill Road Truck Traffic Study was presented to the Selectboard. 

This presentation included:

• Project Area and Context
• Public Input Received 
• Network Conditions & Analysis
• Recommendations to Improve Network & Address Public Concerns
• Answer Questions
• Next Steps

To view the meeting recording, visit: https://www.youtube.com/live/6ocIf-gyRFk?si=W9MJLxmfz_REHrqe

On November 13th the Planning Commission reviewed the second presentation on the Sand Hill Truck Traffic Study.

This presentation reviewed:

• Project Area and Context
• Public Input Received
• Recommendations to Address Public Concerns
• Network Conditions & Analysis
• Recommendations to Improve Network
• Public Question and Answer
• Next Steps

To view the recording of the meeting, visit: https://youtu.be/o3g0lvTUH-s?si=nwcxkHvJVRiDDgdy