Lake Champlain ferry company moving maintenance operations

GRAND ISLE, Vt. (AP) — The Lake Champlain Ferries is hoping to move most of its maintenance operations from the Burlington waterfront to Grand Isle.

The new location is 3 acres. It’s adjacent to the dock where ferries run between Vermont and Cumberland Head, New York, 24-hours a day, seven-days a week, year round.

A ferry has operated in the area since 1796.

Last week, the Grand Isle Development Review board voted 3-2 in favor of the plan. The decision included stipulations to upgrade landscaping and ensure adequate safeguards against noise and water pollution.

The Grand Isle-Cumberland head route is one of three the ferry company operates. A second is between Charlotte and Essex, New York. A route between downtown Burlington and Fort Kent, New York, did not operate this year.

The Burlington Free Press reports opponents of the plan warned that sandblasting, painting and metalwork, some of which could involve hazardous materials, could pollute a part of the lake from which municipal water is drawn.