Costco's Colchester rivals try to crimp gas pumps, again

COLCHESTER – Costco customers hoping to tank up on discounted gasoline must postpone that errand until 2020, state and company officials say.

That timeline could slide further into the next decade, depending on the outcome of yet another court challenge to the proposed filling station filed by local fuel dealers R.L. Vallee and Timberlake Associates — and which heads to trial next month.

Tantalizingly, 12 new pumps are already in place at Costco.

They’ll whir into life only after upgrades are completed to the nearby intersection at Interstate 89 to deal with anticipated increases in traffic — part of an agreement Costco reached with the state in 2013.

EARLIER:

2014 — R.L. Vallee challenges Costco stormwater measures

2015 — VT Environmental Court rejects challenges to Costco plans

2016 — Costco cleared by VT Supreme Court to build fuel pumps

Frustration is building among the wholesaler’s approximate 70,000 local members, warehouse manager Chris Stafford said Monday, not least because other Costco outlets sell gas that is 20 to 30 cents cheaper than name-brand fuel.

“Customers are pretty fired up, Stafford said. “There are a lot of people rooting for this to happen.”

They’ve been rooting for about a decade, he added: ever since plans for a filling station were announced by a previous manager.

Vallee and Timberlake, on the other hand, have opposed Costco’s plans on aesthetic grounds as well as asserting measures to reduce stormwater runoff pollution were inadequate. Both operate gas stations nearby.

The latest salvo from Costco’s competitors targets the new filling station via the Vermont Agency of Transportation.

Specifically, Vallee and Timberlake again have asserted that stormwater management falls short. They have appealed the state environmental (Act 250) permit that allows VTrans to upgrade the interstate’s Exit 16 on-off ramps and add turning lanes at U.S. 7 and the upper and lower sections of Mountain View Drive.

Those latter improvements are critical to Costco’s gas-pump plans, as per its 2013 state permit.

The trial is set for March 26 – 30 at the Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.

Given the court’s go-ahead, the slow-moving, $8 million construction project will break ground in two years, said Mike LaCroix, a project manager for traffic design at VTrans.

Nearly all the project's costs will be paid for with federal funds, LaCroix added.

Conceivably, Costco could undertake its share of roadway improvements at the intersection for about $750,000, according to Michele Boomhower, who directs VTrans Policy, Planning and Intermodal Development Division.

Bundling those improvements with the state would reduce’s Costco’s share of traffic-impact fees to about $350,000, Boomhower added.

Costco, so far, has opted to piggyback with VTrans, rather than going it alone.

It’s a project that has the full support of the Town of Colchester, said Public Works Director Bryan Osborne.

Costco manager Stafford emphasized other homegrown support.

“You might say that Costco isn’t local,” Stafford said. “But our 300 employees are local.

“Costco is doing all they can do to make this happen,” he added. “We’re pushing all the buttons.”

RELATED: Gas price-fixing lawsuit against Vallee, others, grinds on

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 802-660-1843 or joelbaird@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @VTgoingUp.