Final Reading: New USDA program aims to help towns access federal disaster relief

Boaters paddle through the flooded intersection of Main and State Streets in Montpelier on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
As head of the Center for an Agricultural Economy in the Northeast Kingdom, Sarah Waring was surprised by the number of rules the federal government had for a grant to build a simple wooden pavilion in a park in Hardwick. The U.S. Department of Agriculture told staff, “‘oh, but you actually need to separate the design from the build.