Green Mountain Meandering Missives

Photo: Selfie, taken in front of Montpelier City Hall (circa: 10/6/2022). During the most recent regular Montpelier City Council meeting, held on the evening of Wednesday, August 28, 2024, the potential sale and development of the 12 - 16 Main Street lot came up for discussion ( agenda item 11 ). This had previously been the site of the former Guertin Parklet structure , which the city had removed over two years ago, amidst the height of controversy and NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) or, rather, NOPE (Not On Planet Earth) concerning people living unhoused outdoors who were often occupying the small gazebo because they had nowhere else to go. My personal dream, hope and vision for the currently vacant property would be to have a four and possibly up to six story structure designed, developed and built that would house a bottle and can redemption center as well as a community center located on a lower floor, an emergency shelter with single rooms for people living unhoused outdoors above...

  According to a recent Seven Days article, here , the City of Montpelier is currently seeking to have the lot, which formerly hosted the Guertin Parklet structure (before the city had it removed in early May of 2022), developed; ironically, potentially, for housing: The Montpelier City Council is seeking developers’ proposals for a half-acre downtown lot that drew locals' complaints and repeated visits from police in recent years after its gazebo became a gathering place for people experiencing homelessness. [...] “It’s one of the pieces of the housing puzzle that the city can help with,” said Josh Jerome, Montpelier’s community and economic development specialist. The gazebo that previously occupied the city-owned lot had become a shelter of sorts, and bad behavior there promoted complaints to the city and calls for emergency services. People who lived in apartments next door reported finding syringes and   sleeping strangers in their halls and stairways; merchants sai...