Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Chester cites Julians for quarry violations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After years of complaints and a recent conditional use application that dragged on but eventually went nowhere, the Town of Chester has cited the operator of three quarries for five violations and is demanding that a number of steps be taken immediately. On Jan. 17, Julian Materials […]
Chester board hones STR regulations, focusing on unhosted rental limits and raising annual fee
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After several months of discussions, the Chester Select Board, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, closed in on several additions that would tighten the town’s short term rental ordinance, especially with regard to unhosted rentals. Back in early September of last year, after many months of discussions of additional […]
UPDATE: Julians pull out of zoning application; Will DRB proceedings go on?
UPDATE- DRB accepts Julian withdrawal, Town to file notice of violation On Monday night, Chester’s Development Review Board issued an order accepting Julian Materials’ withdrawal of its zoning application for three quarries in the Gassetts area. And in answer to neighbors asking “where do we go from here” Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow said would “file […]
‘Just a Bill,’ give or take several hundred A quick look at what's up with proposed laws in Montpelier
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Covering each year’s legislative session is nearly impossible for a small, local newspaper. To begin with, hundreds of bills are introduced even in a small state like Vermont. In the first three days of this year’s session, 203 would-be laws began a journey that most will never […]
Chester snowmobilers: Class 4 road change could ‘cripple’ club Smokeshire land owners say road no longer belongs to town
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The discussion of a Class 4 road generally won’t fill the benches at Chester Town Hall, but last Wednesday more than 20 people turned out in person, with more attending via Zoom for a request to make a town road private. Paul Bidgood, who owns land in […]
Chester man released on $20,000 bail after agreeing to plead guilty to child sex charges
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Jason Carrara, the Chester man who was arrested on two child sex charges on Sept. 24 and held without bail, has been released on a bond of $20,000, part of a deal with the office of the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s office that included a guilty plea […]
GMUSD board votes 6-3 to drop Chieftain name Board chair Deb Brown resigns amid medical concerns
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Signalling that the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District would be holding another one of its unusual meetings on Thursday night, board Vice Chair Adrienne Williams announced that board Chair Deb Brown has resigned, citing medical issues from a concussion she suffered weeks ago. The […]
Jason Julian pleads guilty to ‘environmental crime’ in Connecticut Co-owner of quarrying firm under dispute in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Jason Julian, whose firm Julian Materials operates three quarries in Chester that have been the subject of many complaints, pleaded guilty on Friday to six misdemeanor charges in a Connecticut court. The charges, brought by the State of Connecticut, say that Julian illegally disposed of fill containing […]
DRB hearing turns rancorous as Julian Materials changes quarry application New plans include moving stone cutting outside Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Years of quarry noise and months of zoning hearings boiled over at Monday night’s meeting of the Chester Development Review Board as Julian Materials proposed a heavily amended version of its conditional use application, while neighbors demanded to know when there would be enforcement of the current […]
GM board members spar over misconduct allegations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC What was ostensibly a review of the board’s ethics code and behavioral norms following complaints about the actions of at least two members of the Green Mountain Unified School District board turned into a tense discussion of a single member’s creation of images that he emailed to […]
Andover Select Board agenda for Dec. 11
The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday Dec. 11 in the Andover Town Office, 953 Weston Andover Road. Below is the board’s agenda. 1. Call Meeting to Order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes of November 27th meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five minutes per […]
Chester Select Board agenda for Dec. 6
The Chester Select Board will hold a special meeting after a continued hearing about a proposed amendment to the Unified Development Bylaws which will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday Dec. 6, 2023 at Town Hall, 556 Elm Street and via Zoom. To join the meeting go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81988842129. 1. Continued Hearing re: Proposed Amendment […]
Chieftain hearing seems to inch forward but questions remain
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC When the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District board voted on May 18 that its Chieftain name did not violate the district’s policy on non-discriminatory branding, several individuals and organizations appealed that decision to the Agency of Education. Emily Simmons, the general counsel with the […]
Chester planners shuffle the deck
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Planning Commission presented a fairly comprehensive amendment to the town’s zoning regulations to the Select Board on Nov. 15. The amendments are the commission’s response to Act 47 – the HOME (Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone) Act from the 2023 legislative session. The intent of […]
Chester DRB hears application for Goldthwaite Road wedding venue Question arises about whether use is permitted for property
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Several neighbors of 76 Goldthwaite Road in Chester attended Monday night’s Development Review Board meeting to register their concerns about an application to put a “wedding venue.” But how the application got to the board in the first place would be a good question. The application for […]
Chester board considers waiting period between home sale and allowing short-term rental
Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Forty-six days into a six-month moratorium on new un-hosted short-term rentals, the Chester Select Board appears to be leaning toward instituting a waiting period between the purchase of a property and the opening of such a short-term rental. The goal is to make it less attractive for investors […]
Analysis: Act 46 impacts ‘mental exercise’ of shuffling schools between districts
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC At the last Green Mountain Unified School District meeting on Oct. 19, member Scott Kendall of Andover asked for an analysis of whether it would be advantageous for Cavendish to “redistrict” to the Ludlow-Mount Holly District and if there would be an advantage or disadvantage to LMH […]
GM restructuring reboot gets under way
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Compared with recent Green Mountain Unified School District board meetings, last Thursday’s Restructuring Committee session was refreshingly low-key and constructive. It was all the more interesting because the committee is comprised of the entire board and 10 of the 11 members were present. The original four-person committee […]
Chester Select Board, TRSU Board begin budget work
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The beginning of November marks the start of budgeting season, a time when local government departments and schools propose next year’s spending for their oversight boards to review. And those boards usually look for savings and worry about getting voters to approve their decisions. The final draft […]
Andover Select Board agenda for Nov. 13
The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday Nov. 13, 2023 at the Town Office, 953 Weston-Andover Road. Below is the board’s agenda. 1. Call Meeting to Order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes of October 23 meeting & October 30 hearing. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: […]
