Parking Lot Construction
September Update
As we reported earlier this spring, our parking lot was in desperate need of being replaced. We are happy to report that Darrell Mathews and his crew from Mathews Excavating have started work on the project. As a part of that project, we also are addressing some much-needed drainage to help keep water from pooling up around the building, and to also replace a really old sewer line that runs under the parking lot. Unfortunately, while the Mathews Excavating crew was working on the drainage pipes they found contaminated soil from what was likely a very old gasoline spill or tank decades ago. This put a huge bump in the road of our project.
Thankfully, Dana Calkins and his crew at Calkins Excavating were able to quickly respond to our call for help with the contaminated soil. The soil has been properly handled and now we are back to being able to work on the original project. We appreciate all the work that Darrell Mathews, Dana Calkins, and their crews as well as Rachel Tamulonis at Stonecipher & Clark Environmental Solutions, LLC and others have put into getting the soil issue resolved and the parking lot replaced. Once the project is completed, the new drainage and parking lot will serve us very well for many years to come.
As we reported earlier this spring, our parking lot was in desperate need of being replaced. We are happy to report that Darrell Mathews and his crew from Mathews Excavating have started work on the project. As a part of that project, we also are addressing some much-needed drainage to help keep water from pooling up around the building, and to also replace a really old sewer line that runs under the parking lot. Unfortunately, while the Mathews Excavating crew was working on the drainage pipes they found contaminated soil from what was likely a very old gasoline spill or tank decades ago. This put a huge bump in the road of our project.
Thankfully, Dana Calkins and his crew at Calkins Excavating were able to quickly respond to our call for help with the contaminated soil. The soil has been properly handled and now we are back to being able to work on the original project. We appreciate all the work that Darrell Mathews, Dana Calkins, and their crews as well as Rachel Tamulonis at Stonecipher & Clark Environmental Solutions, LLC and others have put into getting the soil issue resolved and the parking lot replaced. Once the project is completed, the new drainage and parking lot will serve us very well for many years to come.
Regarding the soil contamination issue, we are working with the State of Vermont to try to get some funds to help with the unexpected cost of properly handling the contaminated soil. Unfortunately, the state fund that assists with this sort of issue requires there to be a tank involved, but in our case, no tank was found. Maybe the tank was buried years ago and has since been removed, but without evidence of a tank, we’ll have to pay for the full cost of the soil remediation on our own. We’ve been working with the Town of St Johnsbury as well as the St Johnsbury History and Heritage Center to try to find any old records (deeds, etc.) or pictures of the property that would prove there was an old tank that might have caused the soil contamination.
We continue to work on this, but so far have not found anything that proves a tank was there. If anyone has old pictures or documentation that might help us in that quest, we would be grateful if you can share that information with us by emailing jennifer@kingdomanimalshelter.com. We are not looking to point a finger to blame anyone for the contamination, we are just hoping to find evidence of a tank so that we can get some help from the State of Vermont to help pay for the cost of cleaning it up.
We continue to work on this, but so far have not found anything that proves a tank was there. If anyone has old pictures or documentation that might help us in that quest, we would be grateful if you can share that information with us by emailing jennifer@kingdomanimalshelter.com. We are not looking to point a finger to blame anyone for the contamination, we are just hoping to find evidence of a tank so that we can get some help from the State of Vermont to help pay for the cost of cleaning it up.
July 2020
The Board is pleased to announce that we are looking into starting work on a complete renovation of the parking lot! We have recently received an Estate gift from Felix Bottenhorn which can pay for the entire project. The Board had been planning this project for over a year and was just waiting for the right time and the funds to do it. We are grateful to Mr. Bottenhorn for giving us this Estate gift to make this happen.
As anyone knows that has driven into our lot, it is bumpy, uneven and starting to break up in places. Not only does it look quite shabby, but we began to feel that work needed to be done on it to make it safe for visitors and volunteers to walk safely across it to enter the Shelter. And it is nearly impossible for our snow plow person to do a good and safe job. In addition, there is standing water most of the time on the East side of the building in the driveway from poor drainage. There is also an old sewer line under the parking lot that needs replacing. We have not had an issue with it yet, but the previous tenants of the building did have trouble from time to time and had to have the town come out and clean it out.
We will have the lot dug down and remove all the old clay and poor soil. And part of an old foundation from a previous building will need to be dug out. You can see the wall of the old foundation protruding through the asphalt, about in the middle of the lot. There will be drainage pipes put in on the East side of the building which will eliminate that water problem, soggy ground and the ice build up there in the wintertime.
This all is coming together at an opportune time. Governor Scott is wanting to get the Vermont economy up and running again safely and as much as possible. Construction is one of the areas he is promoting as a safer area, being outdoors where people can come back to work. With the shelter closed to the public and the cats in foster homes so that no volunteers are coming and going at the moment to tend to cats, it is an excellent time to, hopefully, get this work done. Sometimes the Sun, Moon, and Stars all just come together and make it the right time for something like this to finally get completed!
-Rod Lauman, Board Member
The Board is pleased to announce that we are looking into starting work on a complete renovation of the parking lot! We have recently received an Estate gift from Felix Bottenhorn which can pay for the entire project. The Board had been planning this project for over a year and was just waiting for the right time and the funds to do it. We are grateful to Mr. Bottenhorn for giving us this Estate gift to make this happen.
As anyone knows that has driven into our lot, it is bumpy, uneven and starting to break up in places. Not only does it look quite shabby, but we began to feel that work needed to be done on it to make it safe for visitors and volunteers to walk safely across it to enter the Shelter. And it is nearly impossible for our snow plow person to do a good and safe job. In addition, there is standing water most of the time on the East side of the building in the driveway from poor drainage. There is also an old sewer line under the parking lot that needs replacing. We have not had an issue with it yet, but the previous tenants of the building did have trouble from time to time and had to have the town come out and clean it out.
We will have the lot dug down and remove all the old clay and poor soil. And part of an old foundation from a previous building will need to be dug out. You can see the wall of the old foundation protruding through the asphalt, about in the middle of the lot. There will be drainage pipes put in on the East side of the building which will eliminate that water problem, soggy ground and the ice build up there in the wintertime.
This all is coming together at an opportune time. Governor Scott is wanting to get the Vermont economy up and running again safely and as much as possible. Construction is one of the areas he is promoting as a safer area, being outdoors where people can come back to work. With the shelter closed to the public and the cats in foster homes so that no volunteers are coming and going at the moment to tend to cats, it is an excellent time to, hopefully, get this work done. Sometimes the Sun, Moon, and Stars all just come together and make it the right time for something like this to finally get completed!
-Rod Lauman, Board Member