News from Alexis

Friday, July 18th, 2008

Construction & Maintenance Grant Status

The VAST Office received over 150 grant-in-aid applications for trail construction and maintenance projects for the 2008-2009 snowmobile season.  Approximately 123 were approved, with bridge replacement and re-decking projects and trail relocation projects as the highest priority.  There were 62 Bridge related projects, 31 trail relocation projects, 23 safety related projects, and 27 erosion mitigation, culvert and gate installation projects.  The rest of the projects fell within the misc.  category.  At this time, the following projects have been approved (pending a complete application): trail relocation, bridge decking and replacement, and safety related issues.  Unfortunately, the remaining projects have been denied because of the limited funding in the construction and maintenance budgets.  Funding the equipment grant program was the highest priority for the upcoming season and we were limited in approving all of the equipment applications.  As emphasized at the Spring Construction Seminar, we had to make some difficult choices in approving the grants.

Equipment Grant Status

After spending the entire day reviewing and prioritizing the 22 equipment grant applications, the following clubs have been approved (from the SSTP Budget):

 

  • Billtown Moonshiners: PB200 & Mtn Snow Drag
  • Justin Morrill: New Holland Tractor & Metal Plessis Track Kit
  • Lunenburg Polar Bears: PB200
  • Sterling Snow Riders: Prinoth Husky
  • Williston Hillhawks: Tucker 2000
  • Danville S-Ski-Mo's: Tucker 2000
  • Malletts Bay Lakers: BR400
  • Foote of the Mtn: Tucker 2000

Since the VAST Board of Directors have not approved the FY09 Budget, the funding for the equipment grants in the VAST General Budget have not been finalized.  The VAST Board will be meeting at the end of July to review and appoved the proposed budget.  Until then, the following clubs have been selected to receive equipment grants PENDING approval of the budget from the Board:

 

  • Smugglers Notch: Tucker 1000
  • Caledonia County Snowmobile Trails Club: PB Trailbully
  • Twinfield Snow Travelers: Tucker 2000
  • Hurricane Riders: Tucker 1000 & Mogul Master Drag
  • Brighton Snowmobile Club: PB Edge

The following clubs have been selected to receive funding from the balance of the FY08 Equipment budget for the purchase of grooming drags and financial assistance towards capital repairs:

 

  • North Country Mountaineers
  • Mt Abe Snow Sports
  • Deerfield Valley Stump Jumpers

Thank you very much for submitting your equipment applications.  There were some difficult decisions made today and unfortunately there isn't enough funding to support and approve every application that was submitted to the VAST Office.  All applicants will be notified the status of their applications in the next couple of days.

Mark your calendars for the 40th Anniversary Celebration on July 26th, 2008.  It will be held at the Hartland Recreation Center.  We have a motorcycle ride that will be leaving from the Montpelier High School at noon and will be traveling to the celebration site in Hartland.  If you will not be participating in the ride, join us at 3pm at the Hartland Rec Center for Live Music and great food.  Questions, contact us at the VAST Office.  Oh and here's your chance to throw a few shots at Bryant, Pres Poulin and myself in the dunk tank!

Here's to making this a fun filled fantastic summer!  Cheers.

Equipment Grant Application is now available on the VAST website.

Happy Trails!