Addison County economic report

Vermont Business Magazine, Sep 01, 1998

The Shoreham Apple Growers Cooperative continues to be at the heart of the county's production, though their storage facility has outsourced the packaging of its apples to a more modern facility they could not afford to duplicate. Carla Ochs, a board member, said recently that they have about 20 member orchards now, and though the number has decreased in the past few years, they still grow about half of the state's apple crop.

The poor fruit set and scab problems will indeed affect this year's crop, Ochs said. There are still places where orchardists have taken down their trees and gotten out of the business.

But the Macs grow well, and England and Ireland have been "a helpful outlet," Ochs said. "We have some family orchards where the next generation is getting involved. We're hoping very much to be able to rebound from this."

FEET OF CLAY

Addison County's soils are a key to its growth patterns beyond the agricultural sector. Slow to percolate, they limit development of all kinds, and to some extent reinforce the emphasis on agriculture by concentrating it where there is sewer capacity.

Middlebury has just accepted the $11.5 million bid of Pizzagalli Construction of South Burlington to build an expanded new sewer plant, on land near its present industrial zone. Other costs associated with the plant may push the total to around $17 million, and additional voter approval may be needed to pay for outfall and force main conduits, but the work is scheduled to begin this fall. Given a chance to delete a $1.25 million sludge treatment facility from the project, the Middlebury Select Board declined to do so -- which may be a plus for farmers willing to accept the treated waste as fertilizer.

In Vergennes, there has been a vigorous debate over whether or not to extend sewer lines to Ferrisburgh. Ferrisburgh is much larger in size. With a greater ability to overcome limits to development, it could eventually become the dominant community in northern Addison County. Liz Markowski, co-president of the Vergennes Area Chamber of Commerce, said the concern is not so much over facilitating light industry, which would be a plus, but over avoiding satellite shopping areas that would further compromise downtown Vergennes.

Three years ago, Vergennes voters approved an extension provided that the city get half of any property taxes from related new development. Ferrisburgh voters rejected the deal. Vergennes plans a community forum on the subject for October 20.

Bristol had worried about having enough septic system capacity for its downtown area, but geological investigation handed the town a surprise gift. According to Robert Hall, the town administrator, the sand and gravel soils underlying the town (the edges of the same ancient sea and lake that deposited the clay in its depths) actually absorb some of the New Haven River as it goes by, and the water returns to the system so far downstream that it is adequately filtered by the time it gets to flats by the A Johnson Company.