09/14/2011
By Kara Herlihy
Governor Peter Shumlin returned to Waitsfield Tuesday afternoon, September 13, to tour flood-damaged Bridge Street businesses and the closed covered bridge.
Bridge Street business owners guided Shumlin through the many gutted commercial spaces that were devastated by flooding during Hurricane Irene two weeks ago.
Waitsfield Select Board member Charlie Hosford directed the governor to the damaged abutment underneath the covered bridge; Shumlin walked down the eroded riverbank to see the damage to the bridge that was closed by the town following inspection by Dubois and King.
In the assessment, engineers from Dubois and King said it was evident that a portion of the sandbar and riverbank that used to be upstream washed away and reformed further down the river.
Many businesses remain closed and under construction while others have re-opened for business following cleanup. Artisans’ Gallery is open; the building sustained basement flooding and a few inches of mud on the first floor. Like many area businesses, the fuel tank was lost during the flood.
Open flags flew in front of All Things Bright and Beautiful, Bridge Street Emporium and the Madsonian Museum. Cheap Thrills is still closed, as is the Green Cup Cafe, MINT, Birke Studio and Liz Lovely Cookies, which didn’t have an opportunity to open before Irene. Mad River Valley TV, whose studios were destroyed during the flooding, has re-opened next to The Blue Toad in the Village Square Shopping Center.
Shumlin continued his Valley visit with a visit to the Lareau Farm Inn in Waitsfield and attended a Mary Haas Foundation annual fundraiser dinner at Timbers and Gate House Lodge at Sugarbush.
