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BRATTLEBORO â As the Select Board prepares for what could be the final hearing to begin regulating upfront rental housing costs, town staff researched other ways to help tenants and landlords.
Planning Director Sue Fillion looked into whether a local nonprofit would be willing to take on a program for landlords concerned about risk of property damage, nonpayment of rent or eviction.
âSEVCA has indicated that they would be willing to explore a partnership with the town for a risk mitigation program,â she wrote in a memo, referring to Southeastern Vermont Community Action.
Editorial: Monday Shorts: Dixie lives and we rejoice
Dixie, a 9-year-old Pit Bull mix owned by Dr. Richard Warner, of Buckland, is tended to by EMTs in an ambulance after being rescued from McLeod Pond in Colrain by firefighters Thursday afternoon. COURTESY PHOTO/COLRAIN FIREFIGHTERS’ ASSOCIATION
Published: 12/13/2020 2:25:11 PM
Here are some brief thoughts on recent happenings in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.
Our emergency heroes to the rescue
It was a close call for a dog that had bounded out onto McLeod Pond in Colrain and fallen through thin ice. Owner Dr. Richard Warner of Buckland wisely called 911.
Opioid Task Force holds third annual Sober Housing Summit
Modified: 12/11/2020 4:39:50 PM
As the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and North Quabbin’s third annual Sober Housing Summit came to an end Friday at noon, Sheriff Christopher Donelan suggested to Shawn Hayden that they take a ride up the Mohawk Trail sometime soon to look at old or abandoned motels that might be the answer to the lack of sober housing in Franklin County.
Hayden, chief operating officer of GAAMHA Inc., better known as Pathway House, a self-help group home in Gardner, said the task force made a lot of progress this year, but housing is still a huge barrier to people in recovery. He said sober housing is a regional problem that makes a lasting impact, and there needs to be more collaboration and a unified vision on how to solve it.
Nearly 250 new homes plus Health & Safety Improvements at 12 Shelters Statewide
Vermont Business Magazine When the Vermont Legislature turned to the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board to manage $34.25 million in CARES Act funding appropriated in June and July, it came with a very short timeline: all the money had to be spent by the end of December. The federal funds, from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, were targeted to secure and rehabilitate permanent housing for homeless households and to make improvements to shelters in communities around the state.
Due to the layout of congregate housing, homeless shelters had been unable to follow the health and safety protocols for COVID-19 established by the Centers for Disease Control. Since March, most shelters had closed and more than 2,000 individuals were reported homeless; many were being housed in motels around the state.