Upcoming Concerts and Events of Note

It’s the middle of August and while our calendars all feel packed, please take a moment to consider these opportunities for some great near-the-end-of-summer activities.

Circus Smirkus is coming home! Final performances for the 2016 Circus Smirkus Tour, Hup, Hup and Away, will be on August 12 at 7 PM and August 13 at 2 PM and 7 PM. Shows do sell out quickly, so get your tickets in advance at https://smirkus.org.

Final performances of To Kill a Mockingbird, Sinners, and Annie Get Your Gun are also this weekend!   All three performances have been given stellar reviews.   For show times and ticket information, https://www.themirror.org. Tickets are also available at Willey’s.

Coming next Tuesday night at 7:30 PM, Summer Music from Greensboro is presenting a FREE concert in the GAAR tent on the Greensboro village green.  The talented six-person retro big band Chaise Lounge from Washington, D.C. will perform.  This is sure to be a great family-friendly evening of dancing!

And the Highland Center for the Arts is offering tours of the new theater complex – for more information (and to sign up) check out the website.

Check your green sheets and the online GA or town calendars regularly for additional events.

Loon Babies!

As many of you know, Greensboro welcomed new residents to the community this summer. For the first time since 1982, a pair of loons successfully hatched two chicks on Caspian Lake. According to reports, the babies are thriving. A first nest attempt failed, and the second attempt was quickly getting swamped by motorboat wake. Volunteers modified the nest with sideboards and foam, and the pair of loons began incubating their eggs.   The hard work of conservation paid off in late July when the chicks hatched.

Eric Hanson, Vermont’s State Loon Biologist, continues to encourage both motorized and non-motorized boaters, as well as swimmers, to not pursue the chicks in open water, as it could be considered a threat by the parents.   There have been many beautiful photos of the loons and their babies circulating on Facebook. Please remember that many of these photos were taken by professional photographers with special lenses from a distance. It is not recommended to approach the babies or parents to take photos with phones or other devices.

Preservation of loon habitat is something in which we can all participate, not only by keeping our distance from the loons themselves. Limiting motorboat speed and wake near shorelines and possible nesting areas is critical. Indirect threats to loon habitat include storm-water runoff, which can kill the species that serve as their food supply. Working to mitigate that impact by preserving our shorelines, properly using waste management systems, and limiting the use of pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals around the lake can make a difference.

Welcome our New Zoning Administrator and Select Board Member

As many of you know, Kristen Leahy, Greensboro’s Zoning Administrator for the past several years, stepped down this spring. The Town hired a new Zoning Administrator this past month. Audrey DeProspero of Lyndonville. She will be available in the town offices on Wednesdays from 9-4. Please extend Audrey a warm welcome to Greensboro, and give her a chance to find her bearings and get to know our community and its zoning needs.

The Select Board also appointed Michael LaPierre to fill Ernest Macchia’s seat on the Greensboro Select Board until town meeting in March, at which time we will be electing two select board members to serve 2-year terms and one person to serve a 3-year term.

 

2016 Greensboro Association Annual Meeting

This year’s Annual Meeting of the Greensboro Association covered a range of topics. We approved the budget for next year and elected a new slate of Officers, which you can find here: https://www.greensboroassociation.org/about/board-of-trustees/.

John Schweizer and Stewart Arnold spoke about their efforts to work with the State to curb future ice and water damage to shoreline properties. This is an ongoing project and we’ll keep you informed of its progress.

Susan Wood provided an update from our Select Board about town happenings. She explained that the proposed ban on temporary signage was abandoned. There has been some repair accomplished to the sidewalks along Breezy Avenue.   The town sold the old fire station and also purchased new equipment for road upkeep and maintenance. In addition, the Select Board will be working on planning for long range infrastructure improvement, as well as long-range planning for the upkeep and maintenance of town-owned property. Sue also shared that recycling regulations will be changing, and the town may have to move the recycling center to a new location or perhaps build a new facility. Final regulations for regulations have not been passed, so the needs are still unclear. In addition, the town will be conducting speed studies to better understand speeding issues in certain parts of town. Finally, the stump dump is full and is now closed to the public.

We also had an opportunity to celebrate Andy and Judy Dales, 2016’s recipients of the Greensboro Award. For a chance to learn more about their contributions to Greensboro, watch this video, kindly provided by Andy and Judy’s son, Cameron Dales: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir43Uej_Q78

Chief Aaron Cochran of the Hardwick Police shared statistics on incidents in Greensboro during the past year. We also had an opportunity to meet the department’s new canine. Chief Cochran reported increases in criminal offenses in 2015, a decrease in domestic violence incidents, and that the number of reported burglaries in Greensboro was the same as 2014. Chief Cochran also fielded questions about the drug problem in our area.

Finally, Joe Wood provided an update on work of the Planning Commission. The town will work with a consultant for 18 months to complete the process of redrafting the town plan. The survey circulated earlier this summer garnered approximately 400 responses, of which 250 were from part-time residents and 150 from full-time residents. The data from the surveys is still under review and will be made available shortly.

We will continue to keep you updated on happenings in Greensboro throughout the coming year, and we hope you’ll join us for next year’s annual meeting!

GREENSBORO PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC FORUM  #1 

The Greensboro Planning Commission is holding the first in a series of public forums on August 15th, 2016 at the Fellowship Hall.  The Planning Commission is seeking public input regarding the community survey results and invites further discussion about what we want Greensboro to be as based on those results.  Public input gathered at the forum will be strongly considered by the Planning Commission as it works on revising the Town Plan. The public forum will be held at the Fellowship Hall on August 15, 2016 and will begin at 7 PM.  For more information, please contact the Town of Greensboro, Zoning Administrator at (802) 533.2911.

Subsequent dates for future community forums to be announced soon.

Please review the Community Survey Results  before the forum.

Please join us!