Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
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: […]
DRB hears objections to Julian Materials’ permit
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday, Oct. 23, Chester’s Development Review Board continued its hearing on a conditional use permit application by Julian Materials to make changes in the use and operations of its three quarries in Gassetts. And with the next session not scheduled until Monday, Dec. 11, it’s looking […]
Londonderry woman arrested after rifle fire
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC A Londonderry woman is facing charges of reckless endangerment and first-degree aggravated domestic assault after a rifle was fired in the town Sunday night. No one was injured. According to the Vermont State Police, Ivory King, 34, of Londonderry, fired a rifle outside the home of a […]
GMUSD board actions on mascot appeal lacking in transparency
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Anyone hoping for a bit more clarity on the issue of the Green Mountain Unified School District’s hiring a law firm for the appeals of its decision that the use of the name Chieftain does not violate its own policy would be disappointed after last Thursday’s board […]
Chester board issues health order on Potash Brook Road house
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board meeting would have been a simple housekeeping session with members signing loan documents, approving a grant application and passing on a liquor license renewal. But preceding the housekeeping session, the board held a health order hearing regarding the house on Potash Brook […]
Quarry hearing focuses on noise, unanswered questions
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC One neighbor leaving last Wednesday’s Development Review Board hearing on the Julian Materials in Gassetts said his head was buzzing. It was not because of the noise of extracting stone but rather the complex and technical noise assessment presented by Eddie Duncan of RSG Inc. of White […]
Report: GM PCB levels under control; long, complex cleanup ahead
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The results of air monitoring and sampling as well as identifying sources of PCBs at Green Mountain High that took place over the summer are in and the report is a mixed bag. While some areas – especially the caulking around windows – are registering quite quite […]
State action on Chieftain appeal looks stalled
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District board has stopped paying for an attorney to defend its Chieftain name, appeals to the Vermont Agency of Education, which could permanently settle the issue of whether the name violates school policy, appear to have stalled. The […]
GM board votes to stop attorney’s defense of ‘Chieftain’ for now
By Shawn Cunningham ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Board of Directors of the Green Mountain Unified School District voted 6 to 3 last night to stop paying an attorney and have him halt work representing the board to defend the Chieftain mascot in an appeal before the state Agency of Education. Instead, the board will […]
Chester Select Board to explore offering benefits to full-time Whiting Library staff
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board agenda was short, it yielded a lot of discussion and some progress on a couple of long-standing issues. Whiting Library Board chair Matt Gorsky came before the board to ask for “some reasonable accommodation” to get benefits for the library’s two […]
Carrara arraigned on child sex charges, held without bail
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Appearing via video conference from Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Jason Carrara of Chester was arraigned Monday, Sept. 25 by Judge John R. Treadwell in the Windham County Superior Court in Brattleboro. Representing Carrara, attorney Brian Marsicovetere entered a plea of not guilty to a charge […]
Despite long agenda, GM board meets for 7 minutes; legal fees go unaddressed
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Thursday night’s Green Mountain Unified School District Board meeting ended almost as soon as it began. The board adjourned slightly more than seven minutes into the meeting over how to handle an agenda item regarding the appeal of its May 18 decision that the name Chieftain does […]
