Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Already voted? There’s still the Green Mountain School District renovation bond
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC By now, registered voters in Vermont should have received their general election ballots by mail and many have either returned them or dropped them off with their town clerk. But there’s another vote remaining that was not part of the mailing from the state of Vermont. Voters […]
Different approaches: How are area towns addressing the issue of short-term rentals?
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC As public concern grows around the proliferation of short-term rentals in area towns, select boards and planning panels have begun to take action. But while towns like Killington and Woodstock have established rental registries and regulations, local governments have either taken an incremental approach or only just […]
Chester Police Dept. study finds communication lacking, training procedures outdated
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Police Department needs to improve its communication with the public as well as bring its policies and related training procedures into the 21st century, according to a number of recommendations in an assessment of the town’s Police Department written by Jim Baker, a former director […]
Chester boards up ‘health hazard’ Hennessey house
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC On Tuesday afternoon, employees of the Town of Chester boarded up the house at 138 Cummings Road to keep people from staying in the house that the town says has no running water or working septic and is surrounded by a junk yard containing hazardous materials. The house […]
Chester Fire Department wins $450,000 grant to replace old tanker truck
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Town of Chester will be awarded a grant worth more than $450,000 toward the purchase of a new tanker for the Fire Department. The grant comes through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program and is the largest ever awarded to a Vermont municipality, according to a […]
Chester board bars occupancy at Cummings Rd. residence Health order mandates clean up
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Sept. 7 meeting, the Chester Select Board heard testimony regarding the state of the property at 138 Cummings Road owned by John Hennessey, then approved a health order that bans occupancy at the residence until a major clean up is done and mandates ongoing measures […]
Popple Dungeon bridge reopening missed again Residents continue to take the long way home
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester residents who live west of the intersection of Popple Dungeon and Zezza roads are still taking the long way home as Alpine Construction has yet to open the new bridge over the South Branch of the Williams River, which was slated to be usable on Tuesday. […]
GM board votes to put $20 million renovation bond before district voters
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Aug. 25, the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District decided to move forward with a multi-year, $20.5 million project to renovate its three school buildings. The vote was 6-1 — with three members absent — to put a 20 year bond before the voters […]
New efforts to clean up Chester properties
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Town of Chester is looking at alternative strategies beyond its salvage ordinance for getting properties where owners have accumulated a lot of junk cleaned up. Earlier this year, Town Manager Julie Hance asked the Select Board to approve the town’s participation in the state’s Hazardous Waste […]
Chester planners send ordinance regulating short-term rentals to Select Board
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC At a special meeting held on Monday, Aug. 22, the Chester Planning Commission put the final touches on an ordinance to register and regulate short-term rentals (such as those offered via Airbnb and VRBO) and voted to send it to the Select Board for review and adoption. […]
With a red carpet, cookout and tours, GM schools ready for reopening
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Next Wednesday, Aug. 31 will be the first day of schools for children in the Green Mountain Unified School District and unlike so many schools around the country, not one of the three has a teacher vacancy. But the high school is down two para-professionals and […]
Derry board asks One Londonderry to remove liaison following email kerfuffle
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Concerns over the relationship of a private organization with a mission to improve aspects of Londonderry and the town government and its transparency responsibilities prompted the Select Board at its Monday, Aug. 15 meeting, to take the unusual step to ask One Londonderry to remove one of […]
Popple Dungeon bridge reopening set for Sept. 5 Construction firm had sought three to five weeks more time
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The replacement for the culvert bridge across the south branch of the Williams River a little over 3 miles out on Popple Dungeon Road has been under construction since early June and was due to reopen this weekend. But Alpine Construction was pouring concrete for abutment #2 […]
Turnout is high in local primary voting; November matchups decided
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Held in the hot and vacation rich month of August, Vermont’s primaries are generally sleepy affairs in which a relatively small number loyalists from the state’s three parties – Democratic, Republican and Progressive – come out to reaffirm the incumbents and chose the occasional challenger. But this […]
Chester planners wrestle with scope of short-term rental ordinance
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the main event was a warned public hearing for an amendment to the town’s Unified Development Bylaws — which includes its zoning regulations — Monday night’s Chester Planning Commission meeting spent far more time and energy on the undercard — a discussion of the latest draft […]
After 20 years, Chief Cloud to retire from Chester Police
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC After nearly 20 years with the Chester Police Department, Chief Rick Cloud has told the town he intends to retire. In a July 18 letter to Town Manager Julie Hance, Cloud said he was resigning effective Jan. 7, 2023 and appreciated the opportunity the town had afforded […]
Popple Dungeon bridge construction falls behind schedule
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC A nine-week bridge construction job in Chester may stretch to 12 if the company doing the work up on Popple Dungeon Road has its way. According to Town Manager Julie Hance, Alpine Construction of Schuylerville, N.Y., has asked for three more weeks to finish the installation of […]
Chester Business Coalition talks business growth, affordable housing, state funding
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Saying that there is no one – such as a chamber of commerce or other organization – representing businesses in Chester, Steve Mancuso kicked off the July meeting of the nascent Chester Business Coalition at the American Legion on Monday night. Founded by Mancuso, an electrician who […]
Chester planning panel to hold public hearing on zoning change
© 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Planning Commission will hold a public hearing concerning a proposed amendment to the town’s Unified Development Bylaws (which includes zoning regulations) at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 1 at Town Hall, 556 Elm St. The amendment concerns legacy uses and adaptive reuses and the change would affect every […]
Wayward semi snags Chester traffic
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC A tractor trailer trying to make a tight turn in downtown Chester got hung up on guardrails and snarled traffic at Routes 103 and 11 for about three hours last night. At 9:43 p.m. the State Police dispatch center in Westminster announced that Route 103 in the […]
