In discussing the new Jericho Town Plan some town members feel the necessity to do something to insure Jericho retains its rural character and attraction, increase affordable housing, and slow down the ever-increasing volume and speed of traffic, all without further upsetting the balance of man vs nature.

One town improvement proposal was to set the Old Red Mill - whose foundation is at risk and requires much engineering to determine stable support - onto a pontoon bridge named ‘Toon up the creek without a paddle’.

Another proposal is to purchase the Cambridge Covered bridge which is located in Jeffersonville, Vermont. According to the Vermont Historical Society, the Cambridge Junction bridge is a special type of covered bridge, featuring Burr Arch Truss construction which combines the idea of an arch bridge with what's called a King Post truss, which is how early post and beam houses were built.

The town had considered using recent windfall funds to purchase the Bridge House. The singular abode is approximately 140 feet long by 20 feet wide and is located on a private cul-de-sac overlooking northern Vermont. Oh, and it also comes with a second four-bedroom home built into the bridge. But the price of $17.5 Million did not quite meet the Affordable Housing criteria.

However, the idea of combining a rustic Vermont Bridge with Affordable Housing is beginning to sound as good as, well as good as Maple Syrup from a telephone pole. Jericho is a very creative town. The idea being, the housing idea, not the electro-jolt-maple-syrup idea, is to move the Cambridge-covered bridge to the front of the Jericho Country Store. Affordable housing, easily within walking distance of the JCS would be installed inside the bridge. Now that is Auxiliary Housing!

Traffic would be routed under the bridge - solving the problem of big trucks hitting the top of the bridge, and slower traffic would be accomplished through the use of a single lane only beneath the bridge. By building within the town center there would be one less building intruding on the views and open spaces. And who doesn’t like the Covered Bridge Design?

This idea fits in well with the proposal a few years back, to unpave Browns Trace. Alas, that idea fell through when the folks on Raceway road felt they might lose their monopoly on the best springtime roller coaster roadway.

Next up for consideration is an Agrihood inside the Jericho Center Green. That might solve the problem of contractors using noisy fossil fuel lawnmowers to scalp the grass and leaves of the park and in the process kill nearly all the invertebrates. Instead, there would be improved stewardship of the land, with food gardens, shared resources, berry bushes, fruit trees, and still room to enjoy a park area. The houses would be 150 to 399 sq ft, in clusters, with high energy efficiency, allowing an expanding population to live comfortably and sustainably. Perhaps we might even see a few more butterflies surviving a full life cycle.

Expected future drought concerns brought up the issue of how much capacity our aquifers have. It was suggested that the water runoff from Bolger Hill could supply the Agrihood water needs and thereby save the need for engineering a solution to the runoff and erosion from Bolger.

A moratorium on unsustainable size house building outside the town centers is also being tossed around, but no one has found a one-way bridge to contain the sprawl and extreme earth resources depletion.

The original reason for the cover (on covered bridges) was to protect the bridge's trusses and decks from snow and rain, preventing decay and rot. Similarly today, one reason for concentrating growth in the village centers is to safeguard agricultural, rural residential, forest, and recreational districts from decay.

Bridge or none, remember to leave room for wild things.

This story was compiled by a prankster in Jericho’s Division of Strategic Engagement for People and Nature in service of April Fool’s Day. Please do not drop off paddles at the Old Red Mill, nor expect less volume or speed of traffic any time soon.

Read about another past proposed Jericho Town idea: Jericho goes Quiet

Author notes:

The Town of Jericho has an infrastructure (water/sewer) feasibility study underway. (Phase I)
Jericho demographics: age and wealth, and school population are considerations in housing discussions and projections.
Town Plan Surveys asked the community their level of support for various housing sizes in each of the town areas: Less than 800 sq ft, single home 800-1200 sq ft 1-2 bedroom, 3-4 units (tri-plex, 4-plex), 5-9 units (condos of apartments), 15+ unit homes (condos or apartments). All of these are permittable. (See 3/21 PC meeting recording on MMCTV).
Jericho population: approximately 5,100
Jericho has a town administrator but not a town manager or project manager.
See more Jericho stats at State of the Union Report for Jericho, Vermont, and on the Jericho Town Website

VT Digger housing article: Can land conservation and housing development coexist in the Upper Valley?