Save The Date! Single Parent Program Celebration!

By Kathy O'Brien
Posted Saturday, Aug 17, 2019

Be a part of the ripple effect

Please join us for the annual celebration of the

Champlain College Single Parents Program,

now in its 32nd year.

The Single Parents Program lifts up single parents in our community by providing exceptional advocacy and support to its participants through workshops, access to resources and services designed to help students reach their educational and professional dreams.

Graduates gain relevant skills through post-secondary education to become financially independent which has a multi-generational impact.

Hosted by Diana McCargo & Peter Swift,

Liz & Jim Foster, and Betsy Rich

Thursday, October 3, 2019
5:30-7:30 PM

Cocktails & hors d' oeuvres

Philo Ridge Farm, 2766 Mt Philo Road,
Charlotte, Vermont 05445

First Half 2019 Stats

By Kathy OBrien
Posted Tuesday, Aug 13, 2019

We are pleased to provide our noteworthy stats for the first half of 2019. We've accomplished some great results with our new website, paid search ads, print advertising, and social media. Click on the image below to view the full report from Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty.

Contact the Kathy O'Brien Team for all of your Vermont real estate needs. We're happy to share our expertise with you!

Union Station in Burlington

By Kathy O'Brien
Posted Monday, Aug 12, 2019

Final Report Recommends Union Station for Amtrak Train Storage

By Seven Days, Sarah Tabin

click to enlarge

CHITTENDEN COUNTY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
The Union Station site, facing south

A report has named Burlington's Union Station as the best place to store trains overnight once Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express begins service to the Queen City in 2021 or 2022.ï¿½

Union Station, at 1 Main Street, scored highest among five potential sites in a final report released by the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission on July 17. The report considered costs, noise and impacts on current rail operations, among other factors.ï¿½

The report is the final draft of a study released last summer that alsoï¿½endorsed Union Station, according to Eleni Churchill, the commission's transportation program manager. The commission beefed up its data collection on noise and air qualityï¿½afterï¿½neighbors voiced concerns at a public meetingï¿½in June 2018, she said.ï¿½

Study Suggests Burlington's Union Station for Overnight Train Storage

BY SARA TABIN

"Understandably, there are people who are concerned with having the train parked overnight in front of certain sites," Churchill said. "Theres going to be some impacts, but were going to see the benefits of this train coming into Burlington."ï¿½

The commission studied four other locations to store the 680-foot-long train: The Northern Urban Reserve, a parkland north of Waterfront Park along the bike path; Southern Urban Reserve, an area immediately north of the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center; Vermont Rail System's railyard near Perkins Pier; and Flynn Avenue, adjacent to the new City Market, Onion River Co-op store.ï¿½

The Vermont Agency of Transportation will make the final decision, but it isn't bound by the report's recommendations or to any particular timeline, according to Dan Delabruere, the rail program director at VTrans.ï¿½

We are actually going to look at that study and even other options," he said. We really need to look at everything to make this decision. I don't know that were close to making a decision at this point.ï¿½

The Ethan Allen Express train shuttles passengers between Rutland and New York City. Once other upgrades are complete, it will include northern stops in Middlebury and Vergennes before overnighting in Burlington from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.
click to enlarge

CHITTENDEN COUNTY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
The proposed train storage sites

All potential sites would need some upgrades to accommodate the trains.ï¿½

At $300,000, Union Station is the least expensive option. The costliest is the railyard: It would cost upward of $50 million to relocate the existing railyard to make room for the passenger train, according to the study. Both Urban Reserve sites are in the $2.2 million range, where Flynn Avenue would cost about $1.5 million.ï¿½

The station scored high for its existing electrical infrastructure and low impacts to both natural resources and existing train travel. But it was the only site of the five to score a zero, the lowest possible rating, for both its proximity to residences and air quality impacts.ï¿½

Union Station is located closest to residences the nearest is just 50 feet away compared to a nearly 530-foot buffer at all the other sites. But it impacts the fewest homes overall just 26, about half as many at either Urban Reserve, according to the report.ï¿½

While Delabruere didn't want to comment much on citizens' concerns, heï¿½didï¿½dispel the notion that the trains would idle overnight. The trainsï¿½would be outfitted with "hot start" equipment, he said, which only require a 20- to 40-minute warm up and cool down. They'd only idle for longer periods if the outside temperature is -20 degrees or colder, he said.ï¿½

Amtrak service can't start in Burlington, however, until Middlebury finishes its own massive rail project. The Addison County town is in the midst of replacing two century-old rail bridges with a new tunnel,ï¿½Delabruere said.ï¿½

"There's some time between now and when the Middlebury tunnel project will be complete, he said.ï¿½We have some time to think about this, and I don't know that we're forced into making a decision.ï¿½

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said the city hasn't taken a formal position on the issue, noting it's "in conversations" with VTrans as the agency deliberates.ï¿½

We dont have control, but we definitely have a voice," Weinberger said. "This is something weve fought for and wanted to see happen for a long time, so its exciting that were getting to the point where were actually talking about the details.ï¿½
ï¿½

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Changes in South Burlington

By Kathy O'Brien
Posted Thursday, Aug 1, 2019

Changes at the O'Brien Farm in South Burlington

9:38 a.m. EDT July 31, 2019

"Hillside," a single- and multi-family housing development is envisioned for the O'Brien Farm in South Burlington, as seen in this aerial rendering by Russ DeSantis Photography and Lincoln Brown Illustration. The view is from the south west, with Burlington International Airport and Kennedy Drive at left; Mt. Mansfield in the center distance. The light-colored multi-story buildings in the foreground are older properties that were built on portions of the farm: Lancaster at O’Brien Farm and Stonington Circle at O’Brien Farm.

COURTESY NEIL DIXON, O'BRIEN BROTHERS

A site map for Hillside at the O'Brien Farm, a housing development under construction in South Burlington. Future phases of building are planned for parcels at the left and top of this image created for O'Brien Brothers, the development firm.

A site map for Hillside at the O'Brien Farm, a housing development under construction in South Burlington. Future phases of building are planned for parcels at the left and top of this image created for O'Brien Brothers,

New homes, constructed and in the works, redefine a portion of the O'Brien Farm in South Burlington on July 14, 2019.

JOEL BANNER BAIRD/FREE PRESS

Evan Langfeldt, CEO of the O'Brien Brothers Agency, near the site of a planned residential development in South Burlington on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. The project is between Old Farm Road, Kimball Avenue and Route 116.

GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS

Evan Langfeldt, CEO of the O'Brien Brothers Agency, near the site of a planned residential development in South Burlington on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. The project is between Old Farm Road, Kimball Avenue and Route 116.

GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS

Evan Langfeldt, CEO of the O'Brien Brothers Agency, describes a planned residential development in South Burlington on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. The project is between Old Farm Road, Kimball Avenue and Route 116. The map shows the area a few years ago.

GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS

Leo O'Brien, Jr., 85, and brother Daniel J. O'Brien, 82, look out over farmstead land on Old Farm Road in South Burlington their family has owned since 1944. The farm work stopped decades ago and the land is one of the last open parcels left in the city. Buy Photo

Blog :: 08-2019

Be a part of the ripple effect

Final Report Recommends Union Station for Amtrak Train Storage

By Seven Days, Sarah Tabin

Changes at the O'Brien Farm in South Burlington