New Hampshire's 10-year plan includes bridge

A highly over prescribed draft 10 year plan verging on fraud... 

New Hampshire's 10-year plan includes bridge
By DOMENIC POLI / Reformer Staff

Posted: 09/10/2013 03:00:00 AM EDT | Updated: about 3 hours ago

(Zachary P. Stephens/Brattleboro Reformer)

HINSDALE, N.H. -- There is new hope on the horizon for advocates of replacing the two bridges linking the town with Brattleboro, Vt.

A proposed $45.7 million project to rehabilitate the Anna Hunt Marsh and Charles Dana bridges for pedestrian and bicycle traffic and replace them with one that spans the Connecticut River made it onto the draft proposal of the 2015-24 N.H. Department of Transportation's 10-year Transportation Improvement Plan.

The project has the support of elected and appointed officials on both sides of the river, as they view a new bridge as a necessity for both safety and economic prosperity.

Hinsdale is reachable from Brattleboro via two Pennsylvania truss bridges built in 1920. The Anna Hunt Marsh Bridge links Brattleboro to Hinsdale Island, which is connected to Hinsdale by the Charles Dana Bridge. JB Mack, the principal planner for the Southwest Region Planning Commission, has said federal highway standards dictate the bridges are too narrow and have insufficient weight limits and vertical clearances. They are considered "functionally obsolete."

The bridges are used by emergency services and freight trucks, as people in medical distress are often taken to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and a lot of cargo is carried across the bridges during transportation. And officials say both Hinsdale and Brattleboro benefit financially from the thousands of vehicles that use the bridges every day. People go to Hinsdale to shop at Walmart and several fireworks stores and Brattleboro has a downtown area filled with mom-and-pop businesses and eateries.

At a June 3 meeting about the project, officials agreed Vermont and New Hampshire cannot afford to have the two bridges "red-listed," or closed due to deficiencies within the next 10 years. The new bridge would begin near the stop light at the former Walmart location in Hinsdale, stretch across the Connecticut River and touch down near the Merrill Gas Company tank farm in Brattleboro.

Michael Darcy, chairman of the Hinsdale Board of Selectmen, said the project's inclusion in the 2015-24 transportation improvement plan means local officials are keeping the pressure on.

"It shows that we've put effort in the right way to get the recognition and acknowledgment we need," he said, "and the meetings to finalize the list will be starting toward the end of the month and go until Oct. 8."

New Hampshire State Rep. William Butynski (D-Hinsdale, Chesterfield, Winchester) said the first meeting Darcy was referring to is slated to be held at Hinsdale

Darcy said Hinsdale and Brattleboro are a shared community and it is important to keep the bridge issue "on the front burner." He added that inclusion to the plan equals less of an uphill battle for those advocating a new bridge.

The squeaky wheel gets the oil?

"It doesn't mean we've won, but it's a step in the right direction," he said. "We haven't won until we have the bridge. That's the end goal."

Butynski called the project's inclusion on the 10-year plan "a wonderful start" but said the objective must now be to keep it there. A project to replace the current bridges was placed on the plan in the 1990s but was eventually dropped. He said it is also vital to get the funding for the project "sooner, rather than later."

The NHDOT Draft 10 Year Transpotation Improvement bullshit!

The Keene Sentinel touristy happyland. These guys just don’t want to put in any effort or context into their story.

 

So Concord, as in the past, is rewarding the town officials and our reps. The big reward they can feed to their constituents is we listen to you by putting it in the draft...but you have absolutely zero chance of it getting approved. You know that. We have been here many times before. The deal breaker is you got to get it past the NHDOT with them red listing the bridge...which is 50 years away. The bridge will be rust by then!

 

This is all about giving piss ant official a little credit when there is absolutely no chance of protecting their constituents. The below is from the NH Watchdog.   

You get Concord politician bullshit story, everyone squeaky wheel will get a honorable mention...but the piss ants really got no chance.  

"The first draft of New Hampshire’s Ten Year Transportation Improvement Plan includes recommendations for more than $3.5 billion in transportation project, but projects revenues of just under $2.6 billion over the next decade."

"The Ten Year Plan at one time included more than 30 years worth of projects before Former Transportation Commissioner Charles O’Leary worked to craft a more realistic document. 

Area officials made hopeful by projects' inclusion on draft transportation plan

Posted: Sunday, September 8, 2013 8:00 am

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff

Area officials made hopeful by projects' inclusion on draft transportation plan

The above phrase means the politicians want to stay happyface and make you think they are effective by not telling you the whole story. This is the worst of our politician's.

In Hinsdale, a proposed $45.7 million dollar project to replace the Charles Dana and Anna Hunt Marsh bridges over the Connecticut River with a new bridge downstream made the draft proposal of the 2015-24 N.H. Department of Transportation’s 10-year Transportation Improvement Plan, which was released Friday. The project is the second most expensive bridge project on the list. The most expensive is an estimated $140.4 million project to replace the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge connecting Portsmouth to Kittery, Maine, over the Piscataqua River.

The Hinsdale-Brattleboro bridges, which were built in the 1920s, are considered “functionally obsolete,” meaning they’re outdated and don’t meet current design standards. State officials first put a project to replace the bridges on the 10-year transportation improvement plan in fiscal year 1994. At the time, they slated the project for 1998 at a cost of $10 million. They bumped the project from the 2013-22 transportation improvement plan due to lack of funding.

Michael J. Darcy, chairman of the Hinsdale Board of Selectmen, said Friday the project’s inclusion in the draft of the 2015-24 transportation improvement plan shows the town has been doing the right thing in getting state officials to notice the situation.

“We’re always excited to see any positive movement on this. Hopeful we’ll be able to make what is on the draft become a reality, and get it done,” he said.

Debate about replacing the bridges has been ongoing since the early 1970s. Officials on both sides of the Connecticut River say maintaining a bridge connecting Hinsdale and Brattleboro is crucial to the economy and public safety of both communities.

Darcy said he is cautiously optimistic the bridge project, after making the draft list, will happen, and the selectmen’s next focus will be on making a case for the project at a public hearing later this month.

While the Hinsdale/Brattleboro bridge project is on the cusp of being put back on the state’s transportation improvement plan, officials in the Walpole and Charlestown area are pleased N.H. Department of Transportation officials are proposing to leave a road project in their region on the draft plan...

The NH Gas Tax Crisis Is Here In Hinsdale

Downside seen to drivers' use of less gas

By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News

Thousands of Granite Staters are driving hybrid, electric or alternative-fuel vehicles as a way to save money and protect the environment.

 And new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards are boosting fuel economy for gas-powered cars and light trucks.

But one unintended consequence is that the gas-tax revenues that fund the roads and bridges are decreasing, in New Hampshire and across the nation.

Now there's a growing consensus among state leaders that New Hampshire should find a way to ensure all drivers are paying their fair share.

Michael Pillsbury is deputy commissioner of the state Department of Transportation. He described the problem of highway maintenance: "It takes the same effort as it did a number of years ago, it costs more and revenues are stagnant."

In the New Hampshire Constitution, the state's gas tax is called the "road toll." The state collects 18 cents per gallon from distributors, and dealers add that cost to the price paid at the pump, Pillsbury said.

The system worked just fine for a long time, he said.

"The nice thing about a gas tax is it is a user fee," he said. "If you don't drive very much, you don't pay a tax. If you drive a lot, you pay more because you're using the roads more."

But what happens if your vehicle uses biodiesel, electricity or compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of gasoline? You still use roads and bridges; you're just not helping to pay for them.

According to the state Department of Environmental Services, there were 156 electric cars registered in New Hampshire last year. And there were about 14,000 hybrids, out of a total of 1.4 million vehicles, registered here in 2011.

A previous state law required "alternative energy" vehicles to "pre-pay road toll fees at the time of registration," an amount equal to twice the annual registration fee, Pillsbury noted. It was repealed in 2001.

The idea may get a second look.

No fee on CNG

Rep. Candace Bouchard, D-Concord, chairs the House Transportation Committee. She said the idea of capturing revenue from alternative-fuel vehicles has been discussed in Concord for years.

Her own interest in the issue was reawakened when she learned that a new CNG fueling station was being built in Pembroke. There are other CNG stations - at the state DOT, Nashua Public Works Department and the University of New Hampshire.

"And a lot of commercial fleets are now switching over to CNG," Bouchard said. However, she said, "There's no user fee on that fuel."

Bouchard has begun researching the issue for possible legislation in the upcoming session.

"I look at it as just being progressive. As we're all trying to be more fuel-efficient or looking for other fuel sources, we still have to keep our infrastructure workable," she said.

Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, said he expects to file legislation addressing the issue of hybrids and electric vehicles. He's considering proposing a surcharge on the registration fee for such vehicles.

And while he expects the owners of those vehicles may grumble, Watters noted they're still saving money on the gas tax.

He's also considering proposing that any funds raised by such a surcharge be dedicated to what's called "betterment," money that goes directly to local municipalities for their roads.

That would offset property taxes that would otherwise go to maintain those roads. "And maybe that makes it more palatable," he said.

Gasoline usage trend

In the early 2000s, the gasoline usage the road toll was based on was increasing each year. But that trend has reversed, and revenue from the road toll is projected to drop about a half-percent a year, according to Scott Bryer, road toll administrator at the Department of Safety.

In fiscal year 2005, when vehicles used 860,955,143 gallons of gas, the gas tax brought in nearly $155 million, according to figures provided by the department.

In 2009, the gallonage dropped to 815,353,404, which raised about $146.8 million in road tolls. And for 2013, that figure is projected at 801,737,916 gallons, or about $144.3 million.

Rebecca Ohler is transportation and energy program manager at the Department of Environmental Services' Air Resources Division. She said there have been ongoing discussions between the DES and the DOT about the effects of reducing petroleum use and improving vehicle efficiency.

Her division is tasked with protecting air quality, Ohler said, which includes reducing air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.

"But in our opinion, every vehicle that's on the roadway should be paying their fair share for the support of the roadway network," she said. "Bridges that continue to stand are everybody's concern."

Some states are looking at systems that tax drivers based on how many miles they drive each year, Ohler noted. But here, she said, that would work best on a regional basis, since commuters and vacationers use roads and buy fuel across state lines.

"The solutions in theory are so simple, but in practice are very complex," she said.

"In theory, you just do a formula with the weight of the vehicle and the number of miles driven and you've got your solution. But then there are people that have privacy concerns about not wanting to have to divulge how many miles they drive in a year.

"And it would be very complex to implement because it would mean all of the states need to talk to each other."

Still, officials say the state's current dependence on a gas tax to maintain the roads isn't sustainable as more vehicles use alternative fuels or get better fuel economy.

"I think as we move closer and closer to crisis, there's going to be more impetus for people to keep the conversation going and really bring some solutions to the forefront for broader discussion," Ohler said.

Pillsbury expects some of the privacy and jurisdictional concerns will be worked out over the next decade.

DOTseeks $3.5 billion in draft Ten Year Plan

By Grant Bosse on September 6, 2013
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(CONCORD) The first draft of New Hampshire’s Ten Year Transportation Improvement Plan includes recommendations for more than $3.5 billion in transportation project, but projects revenues of just under $2.6 billion over the next decade.

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation posted its draft proposal on its website this morning, kicking off the biennial process by which the Granite State prioritizes its highway spending. The Executive Council will host 25 public hearings across the state over the next two months to solicit public comment on which transportation projects should be added to, dropped from, or moved up on the list.

NH DOT RECOMMENDATIONS

The Ten Year Plan does nt include funding for expansion of I-93 north of Exit 3. The Legislature has declared the widening of I-93 from Manchester to the Massachusetts border as the state’s top transportation priority, but relies on increased federal transportation aid to fund it.

The projected $955 million deficit reflects a Wish List from DOT Commissioner Chris Clement longer than what current gas taxes and toll revenues could provide. Clement has urged the Legislature to come up with more transportation revenue in order to speed highway construction.

More than half of the deficit, $518.7 million over the next ten years, comes from expansion of the state’s Turnpike System. Clement also asks for nearly $200 million more in airport project than current revenues would support, and an additional $237 million in Highway Fund spending.

The Ten Year has always included a structural deficit, in part because not all projects on the state’s list are eventually built. But state officials were also willing to add popular projects to the list with no expectation that funding would be available. The Ten Year Plan at one time included more than 30 years worth of projects before Former Transportation Commissioner Charles O’Leary worked to craft a more realistic document.

The Executive Council will send its recommendations to the Legislature, which will consider the Ten Year Plan next year.

The Public Hearings kick off Monday in Charlestown, Lebanon, and Littleton.

Count 3

Littering—Unlawful activities RSA 163-B.3

...”did leave a sign with the phrase “NEED NEW SIGN” written in black ink on a white poster board on public property...”

So what is NH’s definition of “litter”?

Could they charge me with criminal DUI just to get bail condition on me, which would provent me from protesting...I am talking about knowingly charging me with a fabricated charge unrelated to my activities based uppon professional police and court ethics?

Definition

: trash, wastepaper, or garbage lying scattered about litter

>

Litter consists of waste products that have been disposed improperly, without consent, in an inappropriate location. Litter can also be used as a verb. To litter means to throw (often man-made) objects onto the ground and leave them as opposed to disposing of them properly.

a. A disorderly accumulation of objects; a pile.

b. Carelessly discarded refuse, such as wastepaper: the litter in the streets after a parade

NEW HAMPSHIRE STATUTES AND CODES

Section 163-B:3 Unlawful Activities.

"It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to dump, deposit, throw or leave, or to cause or permit the dumping, depositing, placing, throwing or leaving of litter on any public or private property in this state, or in or on ice or in any waters in this state, unless:"

So I taped a sign on a bridge, my intent was to send a message to the driving public...to collect my signs when I accomplished my task. I didn’t tape a sign to a bridge and then abandon it...I came back to the area every day, every other day or so on. I never abandoned my signs. I wasn’t abandoning rubbish on public property.

I am going to ask the cops if they got a dictionary...cause my activities wasn’t included in RSA 163-B3.

Right, with litter, it never carries a public or political message like my message did...

And the little island I protest on is mostly abandoned property...Trans Canada owns the property. These are the guys who own the dam that creates the little Connecticut River reservoir.

I wonder if you could sue them to clean up their blighted properties.

But they charge me with littering...the island is mostly an unregulated dump. There is tons of trash on the state property and more tons on Trans Canada property....this is a mass littering area. It cost a lots of money to get rid of trash in our area.

I’ll bet you I am the only one who was ever charge with littering on this island and on this state property...

What I did is not related to littering and it doesn’t fit within RSA 163-B.3...

And at the bottom of the complaint...he signed off on this:

"Making a false statement on this complaint may result in criminal prosecution"...

Chaos In The Hinsdale, NH Selectmen"s Office

You think they are overseeing the police like the clerks office?

Hinsdale selectmen order audit of townclerk's office

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff
SentinelSource.com

HINSDALE — Selectmen have ordered an audit of the town clerk’s office after an internal investigation found possible mismanagement there.

Chairman Michael J. Darcy said the two-month investigation, which recently concluded, found several questionable practices taking place under Town Clerk Tammy-Jean Akeley, including how money associated with motor vehicle registrations was handled, behavior toward customers and unannounced closings of the office.

According to the investigation, Akeley has been collecting both her salary and a $2.50 fee paid by residents who pay the state portion of their motor vehicle registrations through the town, Darcy said. She isn’t allowed to collect both under state law, he said.

State law says if the agent collecting the motor vehicle registrations is on salary to a town, the fee goes to the town. If the agent isn’t, the agent can collect the fee.

Akeley, who is paid $18,409 a year, is considered on salary, Town Administrator Jill E. Collins said Tuesday.

The investigation was discussed publicly for the first time publicly the selectmen’s meeting Monday night. It’s too early to tell how much an audit of Akeley’s office will cost, Collins said.

The $2.50 agent’s fee had been going into an account for state fees, and then going back to Akeley at the end of the month, Darcy said.

The town collects about $12,000 in agent’s fees per year, and it’s believed that Akeley received about $120,000 to $150,000 of those funds during her tenure, he said.

“It was during our research that we came across this,” he said. “I’m not privy to what happened with other town clerks, but I know the previous town clerk was only getting fees and a small stipend.”

In a phone interview Tuesday, Akeley said she is allowed to collect both her salary and the fees.

“Originally when I took over 13 years ago, (the town) paid me to do town stuff. I also issue plates and decals, and I’m allowed by law to collect the $2.50,” she said.

Akeley was scheduled to appear before selectmen at the meeting Monday at 7 p.m., but didn’t attend. She was in the tax collector office, where she ended up working until 9:30 p.m., she said.

This practice of collecting both a salary and the agent’s fees wasn’t something that came into question until the internal investigation, Darcy said. Selectmen have since stopped it, and are looking into Akeley possibly paying restitution to the town. The restitution could only be collected for the past three years, according to state law, he said.

Selectmen were looking at how the town clerk and tax collector positions could be kept separate when they found some disparities and began an investigation, Darcy said. Akeley has been town clerk for years, and became tax collector this year after being elected to the position in March.

It’s a failure on both the part of the town clerk and the selectmen that this situation wasn’t addressed sooner, Darcy said.

While the town does have an annual audit, auditors wouldn’t have picked up on these types of issues, Collins said.

Selectmen also said that funds collected in both offices weren’t being deposited in a timely manner. Darcy said that any deposit being made by the tax collector’s office equaling $1,500 or more needed to be deposited within a day of receiving it, according to state law and town policy.

“We had a lapse of time of a two-week period where no deposits were being made, and we have just found out there was a significant deposit that was not made for 20 days,” he said.

Selectmen are also concerned that the money collected in the town clerk’s office isn’t being kept separate from the funds collected by the tax collector, he said.

“Hopefully one of the parts of this process will be for us to get a better handle on the control of that process, and making sure we are able to feel secure with where the money is at all times,” he said.

Akeley said she has been keeping the two offices separate, and trying to make deposits as quickly as she can. Until recently, she had been running the tax collector office alone because Deputy Tax Collector Maria Shaw had been out with a fractured hip. With Shaw back at work, the tax collector office is open more hours, Akeley said.

Another concern of the selectmen was how Akeley was treating people coming to the town clerk and tax collector offices.

The board recently received a citizen complaint about Akeley allegedly telling a customer to “kiss my (expletive),” Darcy said.

She had also taken nine days off in the past four months with no notice, he said.

Akeley said she tries to let people know when the town clerk and tax collector offices will be closed in advance, and there was one instance when she was sick and had to call in at the last minute.

“It’s nice to hear from a handful of people who are upset with me,” she said. “I probably have a stack of papers of people I have helped single-handedly.”

Angels: No coincidences

No coincidences

Brattleboro welcomes ‘Watching Angels’public art installation in September

Oginally published in The Commons issue #217 (Wednesday, August 21, 2013).

---

By Richard Henke/The Commons

BRATTLEBORO—Independent artist Meg Donahue wondered what would happen if a whole town started watching for angels.

She asked herself how her community might react if, for one month, angels started appearing in Brattleboro in the most unexpected places: on the parking meter, behind the co-op, inside a shopping cart, in a coffee shop, on the steeple of the old church that is now a dance studio.

“You are driving into town to run errands,” she says. “It’s hot, you can’t find a parking space, and finally you manage to squeeze into a spot in Harmony Lot. You hop out of your car and hurry to your first appointment. On the parking lot side of the Tulip Café you notice an interesting piece of art. This might be a putti, a sculpture, or a painting — some interpretation of an angel. Intrigued, you glance at the placard, which reads: ‘There are no coincidences. You’ve spotted this angel for a reason.’”

Donahue took that vision and turned it into a town-wide exhibition. As producer and the central artist of Watching Angels Interactive Public Art Show, and with the help of submissions from 40 artists and artist teams, she has organized non-permanent, exterior public artwork of 100 angels in September throughout Brattleboro.

Donahue says, “‘Watching Angels’ is a month-long interactive public art show based on two simple questions: What if you really could see angels? What if, when you spotted an angel, it had a message just for you? My goal is to place a hundred angels throughout downtown Brattleboro in interesting and quirky locations for the delight and enjoyment of the community. Each angel will have a specific message just for the viewer, retrievable via a placard next to the artwork with the name of the artist.”

She says that the show started with a small idea for just herself.

“Then I thought, Why not ask other artists to join me,” she adds.

She went on Kickstarter (http://kck.st/1aJAgjk) with a call to the public to create an angel of the participant’s own visions. As Donahue explains, “Our artists could be painters, sculptors, musicians, children, folks from the senior center, 3-D mapping projectionists. The goal is to keep the whole idea closer to guerrilla art than organized art.”

Artists responded from Vermont and all over the country: Maine, New York, California, Ohio, and Illinois. There were also responses from Greece, Austria, Denmark, and South Africa.

In fact, some of these locations that are too far away to join in Brattleboro’s festivities are planning satellite “Watching Angels” in their own area.

Donahue says she has no distinct idea of what constitutes an angel for each artist. The angel might well be a classical renaissance putti, which perhaps is what most people imagine an angel would look like.

“But a broad definition of angel is encouraged,” Donahue says, “with the only guidelines being that the image should look for a representation of our higher or better selves.”

Why is Donahue fascinated with angels?

“It certainly is no religious thing,” she says. “Although angels can be seen as a religious image, there are angels everywhere: angel investors, angel food cake, angel hair pasta, and the California Angels baseball team. We thank helpful people by saying, ‘You’re an angel,’ and describe beautiful singing voices as angelic.

“Most importantly, we are inspired by everyday angels, like the Boston Marathon runners who just kept on running to the hospital to donate blood. Or the Vermont National Guard members who stepped up 24/7 to help us recover more quickly from Hurricane Irene. Or the nurses who went above and beyond to take care of my daughter who was born 14 weeks early. These angels, as well as the winged versions, will be celebrated by the show ‘Watching Angels.’

The policy for submission for the show specifically states that pieces cannot contain advertising, religious art, sexual content, negative imagery or convey political partisanship. Our intent is to be an uplifting, positive, and inspiring show in the way that the angels among us remind us of the best of ourselves,” Donahue says.

Each angel will have an identifying placard with its name and an uplifting and interesting message.

A viewer might read a Maori proverb, “Turn your face to the sun, and the shadows fall behind you.”

Or a quote from Marianne Williamson: “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.”

A person stumbling upon an angel might find words of inspiration from such diverse sources as St. Francis of Assisi, Goethe, or even someone anonymous.

The message could be as simple as, “You’re awesome.”

The placard also contains a QR code that directs someone scanning it with a mobile device to a simple, elegant, interactive website where there are other messages associated with each angel.

“We want to make the ‘Watching Angels’ experience immediate, compounding the joy of seeing an angel in an unexpected place with easy access to an ‘angel message’ via smart phone or computer,” Donahue says.

At the “Watching Angels” art show website, people can find a page for each angel and its message for the viewer.

“With a nod to kismet, each angel has many messages.” says Donahue. “Therefore even though you may visit the same angel on the Web twice in a day, the message may or may not be the same. In addition to its message, next to the angel is information about its artist, a brief bio, and sometimes a link to the artists’ websites.”

After the month-long public “Watching Angels” art show, all remaining angels will gather at an art show titled “A Gathering of Angels Gala.”

“Whatever angels that are left will be there,” Donahue says. “I am not sure how many angels will be stolen throughout the month. I guess if someone feels compelled to steal an angel, that person must need it for some reason. But all others will be on sale at the closing gala.”

Donahue says she hopes to encourage the whole community to get into angels. “Go to our website (www.watchingangelsartshow.com) or scan our QR code, and get our personal uplifting message,” Donahue says. “It just may be what you need to hear today.”

Vermont Yankee Permanently Shutting Down In 2014

I think Entergy is getting worried about the public and NRC’s reputation of them with uncontrolled operational problems within their fleet...resources/money...so they are beginning to consolidate assets into their most viable nuclear plants...

Brattleboro Reformer:

 

BREAKING: Entergy to close, decommission Vermont Yankee

 

BRATTLEBORO -- Entergy Corporation, the owners of Vermont Yankee Nuclear plant in Vernon, on Tuesday morning announced plans to close and decommission the power station following its current fuel cycle.

 

In a release Entergy stated the decision was "driven by sustained low power prices, high cost structure and wholesale electricity market design flaws for Vermont Yankee plant."

It added that Entergy's focus would "remain on safety during remaining operation and after shutdown."

"This was an agonizing decision and an extremely tough call for us," said Leo Denault, Entergy's chairman and chief executive officer. "Vermont Yankee has an immensely talented, dedicated and loyal workforce, and a solid base of support among many in the community. We recognize that closing the plant on this schedule was not the outcome they had hoped for, but we have reluctantly concluded that it is the appropriate action for us to take under the circumstances."

The following is the rest of Entergy's statement. We will have full coverage later later.

***

The decision to close Vermont Yankee in 2014 was based on a number of financial factors, including:

A natural gas market that has undergone a transformational shift in supply due to the impacts of shale gas, resulting in sustained low natural gas prices and wholesale energy prices.

A high cost structure for this single unit plant. Since 2002, the company has invested more than $400 million in the safe and reliable operation of the facility. In addition, the financial impact of cumulative regulation is especially challenging to a small plant in these market conditions.

Wholesale market design flaws that continue to result in artificially low energy and capacity prices in the region, and do not provide adequate compensation to merchant nuclear plants for the fuel diversity benefits they provide.

Making the decision now and operating through the fourth quarter of 2014 allows time to duly and properly plan for a safe and orderly shutdown and prepare filings with the NRC regarding shutdown and decommissioning. Entergy will establish a decommissioning planning organization responsible for planning and executing the safe and efficient decommissioning of the facility. Once the plant is shut down, workers will de-fuel the reactor and place the plant into SAFSTOR, a process whereby a nuclear facility is placed and maintained in a condition that allows it to be safely secured, monitored and stored.

"We are committed to the safe and reliable operation of Vermont Yankee until shutdown, followed by a safe, orderly and environmentally responsible decommissioning process," Denault said.

Commenting on the future of nuclear power, Denault said: "Entergy remains committed to nuclear as an important long-term component of its generating portfolio. Nuclear energy is safe, reliable, carbon-free and contributes to supply diversity and energy security as part of a balanced energy portfolio."

Financial Implications

Entergy plans to recognize an after-tax impairment charge of approximately $181 million in the third quarter of 2013 related to the decision to shut down the plant at the end of this current operating cycle. In addition to this initial charge, Entergy expects to recognize charges totaling approximately $55 to $60 million associated with future severance and employee retention costs through the end of next year. These charges will be classified as special items, and therefore, excluded from operational results.

The company noted that the estimated operational earnings contribution from Vermont Yankee was expected to be around breakeven in 2013, and generally declining over the next few years. As a result of this decision and based on continuing operations into fourth quarter 2014, the estimated operational earnings change, excluding these special items, is expected to be modestly accretive within two years after shutdown, and cash flow is expected to increase approximately $150 to $200 million in total through 2017, compared to Vermont Yankee's continued operation.

Regarding decommissioning, assuming end of operations in fourth quarter 2014, the amount required to meet the NRC minimum for decommissioning financial assurance for license termination is $566 million. The Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust had a balance of approximately $582 million as of July 31, 2013, excluding the $40 million guarantee by Entergy Corporation to satisfy NRC requirements following the 2009 review of financial assurance levels. Filings with the NRC for planned shutdown activities will determine whether any other financial assurance may be required and will specifically address funding for spent fuel management, which will be required until the federal government takes possession of the fuel and removes it from the site, per its current obligations.

Vermont Yankee, a single unit boiling water reactor, began commercial operation in 1972. Entergy acquired the plant from Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation in 2002. In March 2011, the NRC renewed the station's operating license for an additional 20 years, until 2032.

Additional information regarding today's announcement is available in the Frequently Asked Questions section of www.entergy.com.

Entergy Corporation, which celebrates its 100th birthday this year, is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

 

Pilgrim Nuclear Plant Vital Power Supply Problems.

Hmm, why did the NRC mention this. More leaking Safety Relief Valves.

The first was the need to use safety relief valves to control the pressure...  

You get it, these guys are having a tough time staying up at power because of unreliable equipment?
Basically the power to the"annunciators and to the feedwater flow control and monitors are vital electrical power load. Sounds like these are related...

We don't have a write up yet on what caused the annunciators power problems...

UPDATED: Pilgrim nuclear reactor shut down

Problem appears to be with electrical system monitoring pumps that feed water to reactor

By Frank Mand 

Wicked Local Plymouth

Posted Aug 22, 2013 @ 04:01 PM

Initial troubleshooting indicated that there was no problem with the flow of water but, rather, a problem with the electrical power for the system that monitors the flow. The reactor operators followed plant procedure and took the plant offline, while back-up pumps automatically activated to maintain the water level in the reactor.

“We are continuing to gather details,” the NRC release stated, noting that the information-gathering process includes having the plant’s two resident inspectors report to the control room to independently verify that the shutdown was proceeding safely. The plant’s senior resident inspector is working with plant staff to diagnose the problem.

Early warning alarm shuts down at nuclear plant

clegere@capecodonline.com

July 16, 2013

Panels of alarms designed to quickly warn personnel of operational failures at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mysteriously shut down at 12:30 a.m. Monday and just as mysteriously restarted at 2:05 a.m.

The system failure required Entergy, the Louisiana-based owner and operator of the Pilgrim plant, to report "an unusual event" to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

NRC experts are now trying to determine the cause of the failure. Meanwhile the plant is operating at full power, prompting an outcry from area nuclear watchdogs who say the operation should be shut down until the mystery of the alarm system failure is solved.

Mary Lampert, a Duxbury resident and director of Pilgrim Watch, said her anti-nuclear organization plans to send a statement to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission today.

"Until they go over it with a fine-tooth comb and until they can say 100 percent that it's fixed, they have no business staying operational," Lampert said.

The alarms, called "annunciators," are the first warning but not the only warning of a malfunction, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. "They are there to call prompt attention to an issue, but plants also have gauges and other means for personnel to monitor, plus they have operators out in the field," he said.

This Is The Future For Us

Sept 7

 The Vilas was closed to vehicular traffic in 2009, and residents are unhappy plans to repair or replace it have been deferred. At the time it was closed, a reported average of 4,600 vehicles crossed the structure every day and village residents now say businesses are suffering because the traffic from Walpole, N.H., has been cut off.

 Ours is 10,000 a day...

Except: Our river is too wide and deep for a temp bridge...
Compared to our 1921 bridge, this guy was cut down in its youth.

Come on people, the writing is on the wall. There are two dead bridges within 60 miles north of us. These guys died in their preverbal youth. The Vilas Bridge was built in 1930 and US 4 Lebanon, NH-Hartford Bridge was built in 1936. Do you honestly think they took better care of the Hinsdale Bridges...how can no upkeep be better that the others?

One of the NHDOT good old boys would never get fired for turning a $10 million dollar bridge replacement into a $13 million dollar job. They wasted $3 million dollars on the temp bridge because they didn't replace the 1936 bridge in a timely manner.

"CPM Constructors, of Freeport, Maine was the general contractor for the $2.9 million temporary bridge project. Morrill Construction, of North Haverhill, New Hampshire performed site work."

The Lebanon-Harford bridge was shutdown on runaway cancerous and dangerous corrosion. Do you get the feeling they need to call the bridge unsafe before they begin to plan for a replacement?

So they run a bridge till it fails...  

Vilas Bridge: 1930

US 4 Lebanon, NH-Hartford: 1936 

Hinsdale route 119: 1921

By Jordan Cuddemi

Valley News Staff Writer

Friday, August 2, 2013
(Published in print: Friday, August 2, 2013)

        

Building Razed to Make Way for Bridge Project

White River Junction — A vacant apartment building at the corner of Route 4 and Prospect Street was mostly torn down Thursday to make way for construction of a new permanent bridge between White River Junction and West Lebanon.     

The bidding period for companies interested in the bridge project closed yesterday afternoon, and once New Hampshire awards the contract, work is expected to be completed by October 2015 at an estimated cost of $10 million.A temporary bridge was installed in 2009 after the existing span built in 1936 was closed due to unsafe levels of corrosion.A dust cloud rose Thursday while workers from Nott’s Excavating, of White River Junction, used a backhoe to raze the vacant three-story, 3,400-square-foot former apartment building that was built in 1920.

Old mattresses, Star Trek posters, dated appliances and building materials accumulated into an unsightly pile of rubble. All that stood last night was the corner of the building nearest the closed bridge.

 

Temporary US 4 Lebanon, NH-Hartford, VT Bridge Opens

Removal Of 10-Ton Weight Posting Will Allow Truck Traffic On Connecticut River Bridge Until A New Bridge Can Be Built  

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) announces a newly constructed temporary bridge carrying US Route 4 over the Connecticut River between Lebanon, New Hampshire (Bridge Street) and Hartford, Vermont (Maple Street) opened today to traffic.

The temporary bridge allows full legal loads. It also has a sidewalk open for pedestrian traffic.

The 390-foot long US Route 4 Bridge was built in 1936 and rebuilt in 1976. It is a State of New Hampshire "Red List" bridge, with more frequent inspections required due to known deficiencies. The bridge was posted at a 10-Ton load limit in July of 2008 that restricted heavy truck traffic. It has now been closed to all traffic and motorists are being detoured onto the temporary bridge. Current plans are to advertise for a permanent bridge replacement in 2012.

CPM Constructors, of Freeport, Maine was the general contractor for the $2.9 million temporary bridge project. Morrill Construction, of North Haverhill, New Hampshire performed site work.

Truck Restrictions On Lebanon, Nh – Hartford, Vt Bridge

Us Route 4 Bridge Over The Connecticut River

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation announce the planned restriction of heavy truck traffic and the use of alternating one-way traffic on the US Route 4 Bridge over the Connecticut River connecting Lebanon, New Hampshire (Bridge Street) and Hartford (White River Junction), Vermont (Maple Street) on Monday, July 21, 2008.

This truck restriction will be in place pending further inspections and evaluation of the bridge. Initial evaluations and analysis of the bridge have found continued and significant corrosion on the steel structure. Depending on what further inspections show, it is possible the bridge will be posted to a 10-ton load capacity to protect public safety.

Signs will be in place beginning July 18 alerting motorists to the trucking restrictions and advising trucks to seek alternate routes, including the Interstate 89 bridges over the Connecticut River.

The 390-foot long US Route 4 Bridge was built in 1936 and rebuilt in 1976. It is a State of New Hampshire “Red List” bridge, with more frequent inspections required due to known deficiencies. It is scheduled to be replaced in 2010.