Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Chester board OKs community health initiative, full-time Fire Chief post
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board at its April 17 meeting approved some major new initiatives in public safety, including a community health program that would expand the work of the town’s ambulance service beyond emergency response and a full-time fire chief. Ambulance Chief Mike Randzio told the board […]
GM and LMH budgets go down to defeat again
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Voters from four area towns went to the polls yesterday, Tuesday, April 23, and again defeated the 2024-25 budget for the Green Mountain Unified School District. This time the vote was 220 yes to 340 no with two blank ballots. The 120-vote margin was up from the […]
Fire danger is high across Vermont today
According to the National Weather Service and Vermont’s Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, the danger of fire is high for today, Tuesday April 23. See the Weather Service statement below and be careful out there. “Fine fuels, such as grass and leaf litter, remain very dry across the region. Low relative humidity values of […]
A scorecard for voters in the April 23 GM school budget re-vote
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Next Tuesday, April 23, voters in Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester will go to the polls to decide whether or not to approve a somewhat smaller budget for the Green Mountain Unified School District for the 2024-25 school year. The original budget was rejected in March by […]
Chester board gets water/wastewater update, approves coin drops
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Engineer Naomi Johnson of Dufresne Group updated the Chester Select Board last Wednesday on several town water and sewer projects that have been completed or are nearing completion. These include an “asset management plan” for the town’s wastewater system, an inventory of the water system to find […]
FBI, Chester Police arrest 31-year-old Chester man on drug, assault charges
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than two dozen local, state and federal law enforcement officers arrested a Chester man this morning, Friday, April 5, on charges that include distribution of fentanyl and cocaine, as well as aggravated assault. Britian Stocker, 31, was wanted on federal and Massachusetts state warrants. Chester Police […]
Julians admit violations, will cease hammering, other activities
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester’s Development Review Board was set to hear an appeal of the town’s notice of violation against Julian Materials/Allstone on Monday night when it was announced that those companies and the neighbors of its three quarries in Gassetts had agreed to a stipulation that brings a halt […]
Bring on the beat: Chester company give boost to school music programs
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday, Zacciah Blackburn and Dorothy Stone delivered a musical gift to Chester-Andover Elementary School. Blackburn and Stone, owners of Sunreed Instruments located on Old Stage Road in Chester, had offered both CAES and Green Mountain Union High School a gift of $1,000 each. CAES music teacher […]
Chester Board addresses preserving ancient roads Conservation Committee could aid with public accessibility
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the middle of a rather routine “housekeeping” meeting last Wednesday, the Chester Select Board took time to discuss the town’s 16.67 miles of Class 4 roads. Often called “ancient roads,” Class 4 roads are town-owned rights-of-way that are no longer maintained. Some are still recognizable as […]
Local short-term rental regulation one year later
By Shawn Cunningham ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC A a year ago, The Telegraph published an article about where area towns stood in dealing with short-term rentals such as AirBnb and VRBO. At Town Meeting earlier this month, Andover residents voted down making short-term rentals a conditional use while the Town of Londonderry began advertising for […]
Chester hones STR ordinance changes as moratorium nears end
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a routine reorganization following Tuesday’s Town Meeting Day election, the Chester Select Board, with new member Tim Roper, got down to working on some proposed changes to its Short-Term Rental Ordinance. The board’s six month moratorium on new un-hosted rentals ends on April 1 and it […]
Voters nix GMUSD budget; Other area results Wunderle, Leahy win school board seats; Roper wins, Knapp re-elected to Chester Select Board
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last year was a rocky one for the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District and to cap it off, on Tuesday, voters shot down the proposed $17.4 million budget by a vote of 699 to 620 in a turnout substantially higher than one year ago […]
Andover voters reject ‘short-term rental’ article; set Monday meeting next year
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an otherwise routine Town Meeting in Andover on Monday night one thing stood out. On Tuesday, the town government asked its voters to weigh in by Australian ballot on whether it should add “short-term rental” to the list of conditional uses under its zoning bylaws. But […]
Cavendish voters narrowly approve cannabis sales, end ‘from the floor’ voting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Voters in Cavendish on Tuesday voted 182 to 168 to allow retail sale of cannabis in the town. But the hot topic at Monday’s informational meeting were articles that would permanently eliminate voting from the floor of the annual Town Meeting in favor of Australian balloting. The […]
Julian quarry neighbors call on Select Board for action 'We want our neighborhood back'
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing The agenda for last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board was short and did not suggest the outpouring of emotion — from frustration to anger — that would come during public comment as neighbors of three quarries in Gassetts pushed the board to act more decisively on the complaints they […]
Chester voters hear from candidates in contested races
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC About 35 Chester voters turned out on Friday night to hear candidates running for contested seats on the Select Board, school district board and Trustees of Public funds address issues and why they want to serve. Moderator Bill Dakin introduced the candidates and asked each group some […]
Chester Police arrest armed road rage suspect Two songs and a cellphone picture aid in the arrest
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a case that a Chester officer described as an example of how technology can help in crime investigations, police arrested a 19-year-old Bellows Falls man who allegedly brandished a gun in a road rage incident on Route 11 on Thursday. Around 3 p.m. Thursday, 911 dispatchers […]
Chester quarry appeal set for April 1; Julian brother behind bars in Connecticut
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The earliest date that Chester Development Review Board members and lawyers for both the complainants and the Julian Materials company could synchronize their calendars to meet over the appeal of the notice of violation by the company is Monday, April 1. Considering the length of the issue […]
Julians appeal Chester’s notice of violation
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Friday brought the latest twist in the ongoing saga of the Julian quarries in Gassetts as Julian attorney Mark Hall submitted an appeal to the Town of Chester’s notice of violation in which he said the entire operation would be shut down for 2 to 3 weeks […]
Despite objection, Chester board refuses to remove road from list Community coalition hopes to build 'safe space' for youth in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Signing the annual certification of road mileage is usually a low-key, pro forma task in a select board’s first February agenda, but last Wednesday night a land owner who objects to the classification of an old road became increasingly agitated, raising his voice and insisting the board […]
