All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Chester board approves $3.3 million budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board approved the town’s $3.343 million budget at its Wednesday, Jan. 20 meeting and decided to use the general fund surplus of $335,295 to pay upfront for the match for the grant to do the Depot Street sidewalk project rather than borrowing the $200,000 […]
Chester board OKs annual warning, drops cannabis discussion Town budget, paving bonds, dump truck and police cruiser among items to be voted
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board at a special meeting on Monday afternoon approved the town’s warning for the March 2 Town Meeting Australian ballot, but decided to postpone putting an article on cannabis sales in front of the voters until board members could discuss it further in a […]
Covid cases vs. ‘case rates’: How population plays into local numbers
By Cherise Madigan ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Cases of Covid-19 are continuing to rise in area towns, with Springfield up by 22 to a total of 108 and Manchester up by 27 to 81 in the span of just one week. By comparison, Vermont statewide has experienced has seen its case count rise by 898 […]
Weekly Covid Update: Vaccinations to begin for Vermonters 75 and up Signups begin Monday, shots on Wednesday, with Phase 2
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On the morning of Monday, Jan. 25, Phase 2 of the Vermont vaccination plan will begin, allowing Vermonters age 75 and older to begin registering for inoculations. The first vaccines for this group will start on Wednesday. The website and phone number for vaccination registration will be released on Monday morning. […]
GMUSD budget up less than 1% despite special ed hike
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The directors of the Green Mountain Unified School District approved a $14.2 million budget last Thursday. It represents an increase of less than 1 percent over last year’s spending plan, despite a recent 14 percent increase by the Two Rivers Supervisory Union, which charges its spending back […]
Vermont vaccine rollout shifts to age based eligibility
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC With the supply of the vaccine to combat Covid-19 in Vermont smaller and less reliable than anticipated, the administration of Gov. Phil Scott is changing its strategy for rolling it out. In what has been called Phase 1A, workers in health care, residents in long-term care facilities […]
Derry Board still mulls details of Town Meeting; opts for caretaker service, nixing full-time hire
By Cherise Madigan ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A new Highway and Buildings maintenance position mulled by the Londonderry Select Board earlier this month will not come to fruition following criticism of the expenditure from some residents and board members. The proposed position, which would have totaled nearly $80,000 per year with benefits, will now be […]
Weston board reviews increased T&G tax rate, eyes Town Meeting delay
By Cherise Madigan ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Despite a decreased budget, the Taconic & Green Regional School District’s estimated tax rate is expected to increase by 3.9 cents in fiscal 2022, according to Weston’s representative on the district board, Deborah Lyneis. The increase will bump the current equalized rate of $1.603 to about $1.642, she […]
Covid Weekly Update: State of emergency, vaccine rollout continue Not all activities seen as drivers of Covid numbers
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Gov. Phil Scott extended the state of emergency throughout Vermont through mid-February as new weekly Covid-19 totals again topped 1,000 for the second week in a row. The new weekly total of 1,115 was down slightly from the record-setting high of 1,207 last week, for a total of 9,734. Seven Vermonters […]
TRSU board approves 14% budget increase
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Thursday night, the board of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union unanimously approved a budget of $6.548 million, which taxpayers in the SU’s two districts will see as assessments in the district budgets for the 2021/22 school year. The spending plan included an overall increase of $807,764 […]
Chester board opts out of in-person Town Meeting All questions to be voted by Australian ballot; online informational meeting to be held
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board last Wednesday opted to hold an informational meeting on Monday, March 1 followed by a vote on all issues before the voters by Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 2 — Vermont’s Town Meeting Day. At the beginning of the discussion, board chair Arne […]
Project Londonderry volunteers establish new non-profit organization Members work toward North Village Master Plan, seek community input
From the editor: To correct the record: Project Londonderry organizers have notified The Chester Telegraph that the 501(c)(3) organization recently established is actually known as The Community Fund for Londonderry, and is separate from the Project Londonderry initiative, which remains a volunteer effort coordinated by the Town Planning Commission. The Community Fund for Londonderry is […]
Local Covid-19 numbers grow in post-holiday spikes
By Cherise Madigan © 2021 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Vermont Department of Health announced 165 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, with 38 hospitalized, eight of whom are in intensive care. Now more than 500 new cases have been reported since Thursday, Dec. 31. Since Sunday, Vermont’s seven-day average positivity rate has risen from 2.3 […]
Chester Rotary seeks ‘competent organization’ to take over Fall Festival
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Rotary is hoping that a “competent organization” will soon step forward to take over the annual Chester Fall Festival “for the sake of the community and the town,” said Rotary President Ian Montgomery on Tuesday morning. The festival, which was in its 45th year with the […]
Derry board nixes new maintenance position, seeks volunteers
By Cherise Madigan © 2021 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The suggestion of a new Highway, Building and Grounds Maintenance employee drew a crowd to Londonderry’s virtual Select Board meeting on Monday night after a number of residents expressed opposition to the position’s cost in a year that has been financially difficult for many. The $20-per-hour full-time […]
Weekly Covid Update: Federal vaccine reductions vex Scott administration
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A spike in the daily Covid-19 new case totals, two new deaths, and lower than expected vaccine allotments coming from the federal government capped off 2020’s final Covid-19 press conference on Thursday, Dec. 31, which also marked the 100th press conference given by Gov. Phil Scott and his state health team […]
Boards struggle with holding annual meetings during pandemic Legislation may give municipalities more options
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Town Meeting day is more than two months away, but municipalities — including school districts — throughout Vermont are working out how that annual ritual of direct democracy will be handled during a global pandemic in which personal contact can be hazardous. When Gov. Phil Scott announced […]
3 GM board members eschew re-election, annual meeting in flux
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC On the evening following a snowstorm that normally would have cancelled all school activities, the Green Mountain Unified School District board and finance committee met remotely last Thursday with three members announcing they would not run for re-election and the board deciding to hold a Zoom annual […]
Chester board mulls dismantling 131-year-old Jeffrey Barn Lack of insurance, upkeep at core of Select Board decision
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board is looking for a contractor to dismantle the 131-year-old Jeffrey Barn on Rt. 103 North after learning that the town’s insurer will no longer cover it. Town Manager Julie Hance told the board at its Wednesday, Dec. 16 meeting that the Vermont League […]
Derry board ponders delay in Town Meeting; addresses property taxes and budgeting
By Cherise Madigan 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Londonderry’s 2021 Town Meeting may move to Pingree Park — and from March to May — if the state grants towns the ability to delay meetings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And state legislators are working to make the one-time exception a reality, Town Clerk Kelly Pajala, who also […]
