Also on today’s menu:
Transportation Projects Increase By $1.3 Million
Legislature To Vote On Broadband Initiative
Infrastructure Initiatives To Meet Climate Change
A new seating plan that placed Gunstock Mountain Resort’s senior management team in the audience, rather than at the front of the room, prompted the entire management team to submit their resignations on July 10. The slight proved to be the final insult to a team that has endured ridicule during public meetings of the Gunstock Area Commission.
Led by Gunstock President and General Manager Tom Day, the managers gave two-week notices and promptly left the room, leaving both the commissioners and the audience in a state of shock. The commission canceled the agenda for the evening and instead entered a non-public session to discuss the ramifications of the mass walkout.
Gunstock employee Tom Brown told the commissioners, “[I]nstead of you guys being focused on the customers, you’re focused on the fight … and that is taking the focus off from the customer.”
Transportation Projects Increase By $1.3 Million
The rising cost of crude oil has pushed the cost of fuel and asphalt so high that the Executive Council has approved an additional $1.3 million in spending to cover the increases in construction projects around the state.
Some of the contracts awarded by the Department of Transportation as part of the state’s 10-year transportation improvement plan had been granted as early as August 2021, before the cost of petroleum-based products escalated. The additional funding will come from the federal government.
Since March 2021, the cost of oil has nearly doubled, from around $70 a barrel to nearly $130 per barrel in March of this year, according to a Bloomberg report. Now, the cost is around $100 per barrel, according to Market Watch.
Legislature To Vote On Broadband Initiative
The state’s $50 million broadband infrastructure program will come up for a vote before the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee on Friday. The Broadband Connect Program is designed to reach residents and businesses that lack access to high-speed internet through incentives to internet service providers.
Some broadband advocates have raised concerns about the state giving public money to private companies that will benefit from the infrastructure. Responding to those concerns, the state plans to require the winning contractor to offer at least one low-cost option at a speed that would allow for telework and remote learning, and the state is prioritizing internet providers such as cooperatives, non-profits, and government-affiliated organizations like municipalities in the bidding process.
Funding for the program, which comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, must be approved by both the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee and the Executive Council.
Infrastructure Initiatives To Meet Climate Change
President Joe Biden Jr. announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide $2.3 billion in funding for its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program for Fiscal Year 2022 — the largest BRIC investment in history — through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The money is intended to help communities prepare for heat waves, drought, wildfires, flood, hurricanes, and other hazards before disaster strikes.
Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services is expanding the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to promote the delivery of efficient air conditioning equipment, community cooling centers, and other initiatives in the wake of global warming.
Finally, the Department of the Interior is proposing the first Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Mexico, covering 700,000 acres, with the potential of providing power to more than three million homes. The Secretary of the Interior also plans to promote wind energy development in the waters off the mid- and southern Atlantic Coast and Florida’s Gulf Coast.
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