N.Y. to spend $3M to help bridge businesses
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By GORDON DRITSCHILO Rutland Herald Staff - Published: November 23, 2009
While New York will spend almost $3 million to help businesses affected by the closing of the Lake Champlain Bridge, Vermont officials said none of that money will come to this side of the border.
New York officials said the money would go to local businesses in the forms of loans and grants.
"I wouldn't say anything has been off the table, but at this time our fiscal situation does not allow us to make an allocation like New York's," Vermont Agency of Commerce spokesman David Mace said Friday.
A statement published by the N.Y. Department of Transportation said retailers and service firms who lost at least 20 percent of their revenue are eligible for small cash grants and that loans and grants are available to defray costs from detours along company routes.
Mace said the state is working with the Small Business Administration to make no-interest loans available and may pursue federal grants that become available next year.
"We're doing everything in our power to assist the businesses that are affected," he said.
Several merchants near the bridge reported catastrophic drops in business when it closed last month. At least one said Friday that the situation was looking up. Bridge Restaurant owner Lisa Cloutier said she has new customers in the form of state workers dealing with the bridge.
"I think I'm going to do fine with the ferry coming in," she said.
State officials conducted a successful test run at the proposed ferry location south of the bridge Thursday. Operations are expected to begin before the end of the year, according to the New York DOT.
Collection of soil samples as part of the planning process for the replacement bridge began Wednesday. New York officials also said they are developing the process for removing the bridge, but that they did not know when actual removal would begin.
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
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