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raincntry
Member since Dec 12, 2012
Recent Comments
Re: “Burlington Councilors Take a Ride Along the Champlain Parkway”
I own a house on Pine Street. I can tell you categorically that the traffic to and from work and the large truck traffic driving literally feet from my front window is terrible. Pine Street is used as a bypass for Route 7 and to get onto 189. Cars back up all the way down the Queen City Parkway and Pine Street after work. This happens every single work day. It's terrible. The traffic is so bad that after our daughter was born we decided to move. We felt the volume and characteristics were simply unsafe for us.
The city needs the bypass to direct traffic away from residential street. Make some accommodations in the project for bikes and pedestrians to have access to Pine St. and be done with it.
Posted by
raincntry
on 05/22/2018 at 11:57 AM
Re: “Fetching and Kvetching: A Dog Park Annoys Some of Its Neighbors”
While I'm somewhat sympathetic, this story screams NIMBY. The only real proposed solution that would address the concern would be to open another dog park. To the extent that there are solutions that require, tags, or parking passes, or whatever, the issue will always be enforcement. By who and how will those be enforced? Enforcement costs money, likely more money than it would raise. With respect to a fee, I pay fairly high property taxes here in BTV. We don't charge fees for basketball courts, tennis courts, trails, soccer or baseball fields, skate parks, or bike paths. Singling out dog parks is patently unfair. Property taxes support access to all these parks equally. Here, the idea of a fee is used not as a revenue generator, but as a barrier to use. That's improper.
A better idea is to educate those who use the park of their impacts on the local neighborhood and ask them to respect the neighborhood. My experience at that park is that the vast majority of visitors are fairly contentious folks who are thankful to have a nice place in town to take their dog. I'd wager they'd do what they could to alleviate the neighborhood's concerns.
Posted by
raincntry
on 07/31/2015 at 8:09 PM
Re: “Vermont Might Send Its Out-of-State Prisoners to Michigan”
Vermonters clearly endorse this practice because they refuse to support real, meaningful sentencing reform. Every time a particular crime catches the news cycle the public outcry to lock them up for life starts all over again. Those feelings have consequences, namely that legislators, state's attorneys, and judges now endorse the idea that non-violent offenders should go to jail for every increasing sentences. That practice needs to stop but it simply will not.
Posted by
raincntry
on 05/17/2015 at 9:18 AM
Re: “After Weeks of Withholding his Support, Mayor Weinberger Throws Weight Behind Burlington School Budget”
Even though we learned on Friday that there is a potential $1.5 million whole from PILOT funding, the Mayor is behind this budget?
Now I see how the school district could run up a $2.5 million deficit. It's easy to over spend when you have no idea how much money you actually have.
This budget should be rejected. Until the school board presents the voters with an actual sustainable budget that has rock solid revenue projections and is accurate on expenses, any budget should be rejected.
Posted by
raincntry
on 05/20/2014 at 12:53 PM
Re: “As Coffers Wane, Burlington School Board Members Face State Ultimatum”
How are we, the voters, supposed to vote on this issue when it appears the full impact of the school district's poor budgeting process has STILL not come to light?
Posted by
raincntry
on 05/19/2014 at 12:34 PM
Re: “Burlington's No-Trespass Ordinance Is Working, But Its Days May Be Numbered”
It's telling that the state's attorney for the county won't appeal Kupe's dismissal. That's a tacit acknowledgement that the ordinance cannot survive briefing and a constitutional challenge.
What's almost is bad is Chief Schirling fear mongering that somehow reinstating the status quo from a year ago will somehow lead to a massive influx of undesirables on Church St. This is and has always been about catering to the Church Street merchants.
If Burlington wants to remove these folks from Church St. then they need to completely relocate all their services from downtown.
Posted by
raincntry
on 05/08/2014 at 10:04 PM
Re: “Champlain Parkway Opponents Threaten to Derail Burlington Project”
The Southern end of Pine Street has far, far too much traffic. It is used as a bypass for Rt7. Traffic backs up from Rt.7, down the Queen City Parkway, all the way past Baird on Pine. I know because I lived right there. Large trucks and tractor trailers use Pine St. all day. The people whining about the proposal don't live in the neighborhood.