A Tall Order!

Stevens & Associates is honored to be a part of the team conducting the preservation assessment of the Bennington Battle Monument. To learn more about the project, please click here to see the press release from The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.

Or better yet, stop by 15 Monument Circle, Old Bennington, VT 05201 on May 11, 2022 to watch engineers repel down the state’s tallest manmade structure in person.

The Radically Rural Summit – Sept. 27-28

Bob Stevens is looking forward to the Radically Rural Summit in Keene, NH on Sept. 27th & 28th.  He will join rural leaders, founders, and trailblazers as they come together for a two-day summit to learn, connect, collaborate, and lead change to create vibrant and robust rural communities.

This event features five program tracks including three programs per track over the course of two days, as well as keynote opening and closing speeches, and the popular CONNECT event on Thursday night.  As a panelist for the Historic Buildings as a Downtown Catalyst for Vibrancy session, Bob will focus on the Putnam Block Revitalization project, Bennington, VT.

For more information about this event, click HERE.

An Exciting New Project At New England Youth Theatre

S&A is grateful for another opportunity to work with great people on a meaningful downtown community project for the New England Youth Theatre.

To read more visit: https://lnkd.in/duvgFEY

L to R: Taylor Shulda – S&A landscape designer, Stephen Sterns – NEYT founder, Susan McMahan – associate director at Windham Regional Commission, Ham Hodgman – S&A civil engineer, Naomi Shafer – NEYT arts campus project manager, and Cory Frehsee, S&A principal and civil engineer.

 

Ham Hodgman, PE presents at IBC Training on January 24th

Hamilton (Ham) Hodgman, PE and Project Manager for Stevens & Associates will be presenting at IBC Training January 24.  This seminar will focus on IBC Chapter 17 Special Inspections in Vermont.   Ham’s session will cover the areas of Reinforced Concrete, Structural Steel, and Fire Proofing for primary building systems.

http://www.buildsafevt.org/NewsBriefs/ibc-training-january-24-2018

 

 

Proud to Sponsor ~ 2017 Vermont Development Conference

Stevens & Associates and M&S Development are proud sponsors of the 2017 Vermont Development Conference.  On November 14th, please join us along with over 275 design, development and real estate professionals for a full day of networking, seminars, and workshops.    Tickets are going fast.

For more information visit –  http://whiteandburke.com/resources/vermont-development-conference/  

 

S&A welcomes Erin Fajans, EI as an Associate Engineer to the team.

 

Erin Fajans has returned to her native southern Vermont to continue her career as an engineer. She received a Master of Civil Engineering Degree from Norwich University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Architectural Engineering Technology from Vermont Technical College.  In addition, Erin was the recipient of the Vermont Technical College Student of the Year and Architectural Engineering Technician of the Year awards.  Her previous experience as a mechanical designer and structural engineer included analyzing existing structural framing systems, new platform and foundation designs, as well as modifications to repurpose existing warehouses within the food processing industry.  She is currently focusing her efforts on the structural design of commercial and residential projects, and looks forward to applying her experience in commercial construction to her interest of historic preservation and reuse projects within downtown communities.

S&A welcomes Gabrielle Ciuffreda as a Project Coordinator to the team.

Gabrielle received her A.B. in Mathematics and Biology from Bryn Mawr College and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  In New York City, she honed her skills as a litigator for nearly a decade at a large national firm where she worked on high-stakes complex civil cases, specializing in patent litigation.  Since moving to Vermont, Gabby has worked for local non-profit organizations as a Real Estate & Environmental Compliance Manager and Director of Finance & Administration.  She currently lives in Guilford, where she is a member of the Select Board.  Gabby is excited to apply her knowledge and experience with project management & permitting, budgetary controls, contracts & corporate documents, grant management, and legal relationships to her projects at Stevens & Associates and for M&S Development.

Wetland Services: Habitat and Recreation

We spend a lot of time in this office figuring out how to work around and protect wetlands during construction projects, for good reason: wetlands provide a host of services that are valuable to both animals and humans.

The Vermont Wetlands Program recognizes 10 functions and values for wetlands. This blog looks at the first three: Wildlife Habitat, Fish Habitat, and Recreation and Economics.

Wildlife Habitat: Wetlands provide habitat (a place to live and food to eat) for many species of plants and animals. According to the Vermont Wetlands Program, wetlands have a very high rate of plant productivity, meaning they are very good at turning energy from the sun into food for animals to eat. These plants also provide good hiding spots for many animals, especially migratory birds. Why is all of this important? We as humans depend on a robust ecosystem to provide the resources we need to survive. Without it, our needs – from clean air and water to timber and food – would not be met.

Fish Habitat: In addition to plants, birds, and other animals living in the wetlands, fish live and breed there. The Northern Pike spawns in wetlands off Lake Champlain, for example; a healthy population of these fish is required for commercial and recreational fishing to continue. Not all wetlands provide fish habitat, but the ones that do are linked to our ability to continue to catch and eat fish.

Recreation and Economics: Wetlands are not only beautiful, they are full of species that people like to hunt, catch, and photograph. According to the Vermont Wetlands Program, the photography of wetland-dependent bird species entire almost 50 million people to spend $10 billion annually, nationwide. And waterfowl hunters spend over $600 million annually nationwide. That’s big business, especially in a tourism-dependent state like Vermont. Wetlands also provide timber, fish and shellfish, blueberries, cranberries, and wild rice (not all of these are harvested in Vermont, of course).

 

(Photos: US Fish and Wildlife Service)

Why Care About Wetlands?

One of the first things we do when we start designing a site (whether for a building, parking lot, or green space) is determine if there are wetlands on the property. If we think there might be, we hire a wetlands consultant to tell us exactly where the wetlands are and what kind they are.

Why? Well, it’s the law. But we’re doing more than just meeting a legal requirement. We’re trying to ensure that the wetlands in our state are preserved so they can continue serving valuable functions for wildlife and humans.

The Vermont Wetlands Program recognizes 10 functions and values for wetlands:

Wildlife Habitat
Fish Habitat
Recreation and Economics
Open Space and Aesthetics
Storm and Flood Water Storage
Endangered and Rare Species
Exemplary Communities
Education and Research
Erosion Control
Water Quality Protection

We will tackle each of these functions over the next several weeks, but the short version is this: wetlands are valuable not only in ecological terms, but also in economic terms. They save our buildings and communities from flood damage and mitigate the flood damage we do get. They filter water before it gets to our rivers and wells. They provide habitat for animals and plants, and draw tourists to the state.

So how can you tell if you have a wetland on your property? The Wildlife Program has a great guide  for landowners. You want to look for three things: water, wetland plants, and wetland soil. If there’s a wet, marshy spot or a pond or just a spot where trees and plants often fall over, you might have a wetland. If there are cattails, sedges, or other wetland plants, or if trees have shallow roots, you might have a wetland. If you dig a hole and it fills with water, or if the soil is especially dark or streaked with red, or smells like rotten eggs, you might have a wetland.

The only way to know for sure, though, is to contact a wetland scientist.