Champlain’s joie de vivre; Lewes’ joie de utilities

Still traveling this week. Still heading north. I guess we’ll have to stop at the Canadian border. Left our passports home. Don’t know what the border will look like in the middle of Lake Champlain.

Writing this in the harbor of Burlington, Vermont.

Behind me and the city are Vermont’s Green Mountains. Ver Mont.

Across the wide, fresh, blue lake to the west roll the peaks, saddles and endless forests of the Appalachians’ Adirondack range in upstate New York.

Lots of Canadians here with red-and-white maple leaf flags. Feeling more French influence all the time, especially in the accents and the indecipherable language.

Two nights ago we slept in the small harbor of Vergennes, Vermont, 200 yards or so from the cascading waterfalls in the center of this historic mill town. We traveled eight miles from the lake up Otter Creek to reach the village. I thought of the Broadkill River and its run up to Milton and the small dam where river meets Wagamons Pond.

Uptown in Vergennes we ate in a French bistro called Black Sheep. Joie de vivre. Sauces, soft-white filament lights strung at waist height around the outdoor patio, gluteny baguette, friendly people, black-and-white French engravings all over the walls, and one watercolor of a languorous, reclining woman mixed in. Vive la difference.

From this journey, I highly recommend the Black Sheep in Vergennes as well as the dockside bar and restaurant at Hoffman’s Marina in Brielle, New Jersey, the Greek restaurant Lefteris in downtown Tarrytown, New York, and Taco Hudson in Newburgh, New York. All remarkably good: Good food, good service, good atmosphere, good prices. Winning formula.

Sitting in the Black Sheep, I was pleasantly reminded of Marie Robinson’s Le Chanticleer, in the 1980s. Tucked comfortably in a Victorian house near the corner of Market and Third in Lewes, Le Chanticleer was Marie’s successful attempt to bring her French heritage to Lewes. Small, just a few tables and a similar number of menu items, Le Chanticleer evoked intimacy. Still, restaurant work is hard. Marie, a French teacher at Cape, hung in there for a few years but then moved on.

It saddened me to no longer hear the crowing of Le Chanticleer and Marie’s genteel conversation.

Lewes Board of Public Works

Speaking of genteel, I attended a Lewes Board of Public Works meeting recently. General Manager Darrin Gordon reported that there have been odor complaints near the wastewater lift station on Lewes Beach, not far from the treatment plant.

“One hundred thousand gallons of sewage go through there each day,” he told board members. “We’re addressing it. There will still be some odor coming off the marsh - but that's not us."

The board covered a few other items before I had to leave and pack for our Hudson River sojourn. Here’s what I found notable.

UBS money managers were on hand to discuss BPW’s cash reserves. In the period ended June 30, they said the reserve's market appreciation amounted to $889,000. An additional $251,000 in dividends and interest. They are projecting $518,000 in dividends and interest for the new fiscal year that started July. The reserves have earned $2.9 million in dividends and interest since they started managing.

UBS thinks market strength will continue for a while. "Recovery from the 2008 recession is long but very shallow. Growing at about 2.8 percent per year. We believe it can continue to grind higher." 

I’m not sure what the recent market dip did to the totals they reported or, amidst recession talk, how their attitudes may have changed.

As of that meeting a few weeks back, BPW’s portfolio of stocks and bonds was worth $13.2 million. "It's there for a variety of purposes," said board member Robert Kennedy. "Emergencies, access to capital if needed. Pay bills without having to go to capital markets. All there to enhance, improve, and repair utility services."

Gordon chimed in. "We have it pretty well slated and spent. Replacing old mains and other things over the next five years."

The board unanimously approved a $63,500 bid for a consulting firm to look at what should be done to upgrade the city’s electrical system. Solar fields, getting the system ready to accommodate electric vehicles, and redundancy to prevent outages were part of the discussion.

Finally, there are significant issues with the wastewater outfall pipe leading to the canal. Gordon said the pipe needs to be cleaned and rejoined, with more manholes added for maintenance. The pipe leads from the Lewes Beach treatment plant and parallels the new bicycle trail on the former railroad bed.

On Gordon’s recommendation, the board approved a $385,000 contract with Standard Pipe Services to perform work.

Kennedy said part of the problem has to do with the widening of the canal west of the railroad bridge. That’s resulting from the strong current created there by the narrowing at the bridge. Engineer Charlie O'Donnell said high-velocity current creates an eddy that has eroded the canal bank, and that impacts the outfall pipe.

I’d love to see that high-velocity current harnessed for hydroelectric power.

Joie de maintenance of utilities!