Vt. Lawmakers Study Plan For Private Rest Area

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Cash-strapped state government has turned to the private sector to provide relief for weary travelers.

The Shumlin Administration hopes a real estate developer will build a privately-owned rest area and visitors’ center off Interstate-89 in Randolph. The plan has won the support of a legislative oversight committee.

The state saved a few hundred thousand dollars when it shut down the northbound Randolph rest area three years ago.

But travelers heading north on interstates 91 and 89 now have to drive 80 miles to find roadside relief. Officials say the southbound rest area also may be closed because the state can’t afford $2-$3 million in needed upgrades.

So the Shumlin Administration has backed a plan by developer Jesse "Sam" Sammis to build a rest area and visitors’ center off I-89 exit 4 in Randolph. Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding told the Legislature’s Transportation Oversight Committee that the private rest area could serve both north and south bound travelers.

"If it goes forward it seems like a good opportunity for the Vermont taxpayer, the traveling public and for Vermont producers to have a place to display their products," he said.

Sammis has developed several projects in the Randolph area and has pursued a hotel and housing development at Exit 4 for over a decade. He told the committee that the state came to him with the rest area proposal.

"I said it’s a good idea, but how am I going to make this thing work financially? I’ve got to pay to build the buildings, put the infrastructure in," he said.

So Sammis said he plans to use a site next door to showcase Vermont products. He would charge companies rent to display their goods.

"I see this as a very exciting space where it really becomes a destination," he said.

Sammis still needs Act 250 approval for his exit 4 project. The overall development includes a hotel, as well as the rest area and visitors’ center.

Administration Secretary Spaulding says the state’s proposed agreement with Sammis makes clear that it will not be a party to the Act 250 case.

Spaulding says this would be Vermont’s first privately operated rest area, but it may not be the last.

"This is a very interesting possibility for the state of Vermont and would provide us an opportunity to find out whether these kinds of public private partnership actually will work and can be re-created elsewhere in the state," he said.

A draft agreement between Sammis and the state includes a non-compete clause in which the state agrees not to build another rest area between White River Junction and Burlington. The state has also promised to put up signs telling drivers about Sammis’ Randolph rest area.

The Transportation Oversight Committee did not take a formal vote, but it did endorse the private rest area concept.

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