Inspiration

The new Burlington high school and tech center project has been in the making for over two years now. The final beam of the school’s frame was added in October.Vermont Rep. Becca Balint was at the site Monday and presented a $1.2 million investment to treat stormwater to minimize the impacts of runoff to surface waters.”It’s a time when even when we can’t agree on some basic priorities, we can use federal dollars to really make life better for people back in our districts,” said Balint. Scientists like Matthew Vaughan with the Lake Champlain Basin Program are working harder than ever to keep harmful pollutants out of Vermont’s waterways so people can enjoy them all year. “Whenever we have the opportunity, we want to slow and spread out that stormwater at the source so it doesn’t have the opportunity to gain momentum and enter our water bodies untreated,” said Vaughan. Erik Shonstrom is a professor at Champlain College. Monday’s class assignment was to take an icy dip into the lake.”You can see we’ve made these great strides in creating a much cleaner and friendlier place and the way to see that is really getting your hands dirty and jumping in,” said Shonstrom.Part of his job is to help educate the next generation about the benefits of healthy waters in Vermont, and as a South Burlington resident, he is doing his small part in preserving the future of the state that he loves. “You kind of get a personal attachment to it, and you want to protect it and be a part of what keeps it healthy,” said Shonstrom.Balint said she believes this project will be a game changer for the community once it wraps construction.”I think people are going to look at buildings differently after this is completed,” said Balint. The Burlington School District said it hopes this investment will be a wake-up call to keep the lake in mind when redeveloping in Vermont.