Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Stabilization of historic firehouse estimated at $90,000; moving structure also recommended
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the ongoing dust-up over the future of the nearly 150-year-old Yosemite Firehouse on Route 103 in Chester, the question of its condition and the funds that would be needed to save it have been a sticking point for all concerned. And now, with the arrival of […]
Police scale back search for missing Andover woman, request residents search their properties
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC With patrols still in the woods and combing the side roads, the Vermont State Police announced mid-afternoon on Friday that they are winding down this phase of the search for Lynn Perry. The Andover woman – who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease – has been missing from her […]
Search for Lynn Perry moves into third day
UPDATE: 6:50 p.m. Thursday July 30. Searchers have spent the afternoon looking for any trace of Lynn Perry in the Route 121 area. Several worked through the torrential downpour of the mid-afternoon. Chester fire chief Matt Wilson told the Telegraph that he had some tired firefighters still out there at 6:30 p.m. “We’re going […]
‘New England’ architecture gets a hearing at Jiffy Mart DRB meeting
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC What is the “over-all New England architectural appearance” and does the proposed Jiffy Mart “adhere harmoniously” to it were the questions on the table Monday night as the Chester Development Review Board reached the Special Criteria portion of its review for a conditional use […]
BIG BUZZ, LITTLE BUZZ: Local carver takes young Tennessee apprentice under his wing
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC Summer school never looked — or sounded — quite like this. For the past week, Barre Pinske has been teaching a master class for one in chainsaw carving at his Depot Street studio in Chester. That’s nothing out of the ordinary except Pinske’s student is a 14-year-old who […]
Chester board moves toward 2nd water vote, away from Yosemite Firehouse
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two historic Chester structures took center stage on Wednesday, July 15 as the Select Board started the runup to a new vote on upgrading the ancient and crumbling municipal water system while looking to back away from involvement in preserving the historic Yosemite Firehouse on Depot Street, […]
Long-delayed Popple Dungeon work begins
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC Popple Dungeon residents are holding their breaths and crossing their fingers as work gets underway on the long delayed project to reroute about 950 feet of crumbling paved roadway and improve the drainage under it to stabilize and preserve the road. This section of roadway stands above the […]
Chester public records get room to grow
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 Telegraph Publishing The records of a town take up a lot of space after 254 years. And during her tenure as Chester Town Clerk, Deb Aldrich has watched the 162-square-foot vault used to protect town records grow tighter and tighter. A Vermont statute mandates that a town have “a fireproof safe […]
Chester sets tax rate, agrees to title search on Yosemite Fire House
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board set this year’s tax rate, approved a contract for a title search to determine the ownership of the Yosemite Fire House, heard an update on Merritt Edson day festivities and discussed the options to move the proposed water project forward at its Wednesday, […]
Bridge work to close Route 11 between Chester, Londonderry for 10 days
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC UPDATE July 22: Bridge 41 on Route 11 between Chester and Londonderry was closed on Monday, July 20. It is expected to be closed through Thursday July 30. For a 10-day period between July and September, VTrans will be closing Route 11 for the rehabilitation of Bridge […]
Chester Select Board agrees to water project ‘do-over’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the wake of last Tuesday’s defeat of a vote to ratify the May 19 water project passage, the Chester Select Board met in a sparsely attended noon meeting on Thursday July 2 to affirm that it is behind the project and will bring it to another […]
Peer review questions proposed Chester Jiffy Mart’s traffic numbers
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC A privately commissioned peer review of the traffic study submitted by Jiffy Mart has called into question the numbers on which the convenience store chain has based its assertion that its proposed store would have no impact on congestion and crashes. The review was presented on Monday night, when […]
Chester voters overturn earlier vote approving water project
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC A vote to ratify the Chester water bond vote of May 19 went down to defeat today, Tuesday, June 30, in an anemic turnout of 143 voters out of a checklist of more than 2,000. The final tally was 69 yes to 74 no. The ratification vote was […]
Weston’s ‘Junie B. Jones’ a sugar cookie delight for kids, adults alike
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC There are many things to look at in judging whether a show is successful or not. There are the performances, of course, but there’s also lighting, sets, costumes, staging and choreography among others. When it comes to a show for kids, however, there’s one more thing – […]
Water main break in Chester means ‘all-nighter’ for town crew
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC A break in an 8-inch water main on Depot Street near Maple Street in Chester around 4 p.m. yesterday brought out a town crew that was expected to work through the night to make repairs. Until Water Superintendent Jeff Holden found the break and shut off the […]
Chester board reappoints DRB members without advertising openings
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC Several pending issues including action on the disposition of the Yosemite Fire House and a board member’s request to discuss the formation of a fire district were missing from the agenda for the Wednesday, June 17 meeting of the Chester Select Board. But the board re-appoinnted members of the […]
Chester to hold two public meetings and a vote next week
©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two public hearings and a townwide vote will be held in Chester next week: Monday, June 29 – The Town of Chester will hold an informational meeting ahead of a second vote on the town’s $4 million water project. This is happening because the first vote was not properly warned for […]
DRB to keep flood hazard review open on Chester Jiffy Mart
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a contentious hearing on June 1, this past Monday’s Chester Development Review Board meeting was polite and even relaxed in portions as the town’s quasi-judicial land use arbiters once again took up the application of Robert Record and Champlain Oil for a conditional use permit to […]
Chester Select Board member pushes fire district; board still unclear on ownership of historic firehouse
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its June 3 meeting, the Chester Select Board set up a busy session for June 17, when the meeting time will return to 7 p.m. from 6:30 at the request of chairman John DeBenedetti. Among the discussions at last week’s meeting that will be on the […]
Jiffy Mart developer sees new store as improvement to area’s character
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC Pointing to a “very old service station, a very old metal diner, an abandoned pizza parlor that’s overgrown, a dollar store site and a rental house that’s not in very good shape,” Matt Wamsganz, the point man overseeing constructing a 5,000-square-foot Jiffy Mart for Champlain Oil, told the Chester […]
