RSSAll Entries in the "Chester" Category

Chester board mulls construction finances, choices

Chester board mulls construction finances, choices

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an accelerated meeting last Wednesday that took visiting members of the Andover Select Board by surprise, the Chester Select Board heard from Town Manager Julie Hance about the finances and schedules of the soon to open Public Services Building on Pleasant Street and the soon to […]

Clearing a trail, one bite at a time

Clearing a trail, one bite at a time

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Day and night during the last two weeks of July, a band of workers quietly and methodically rid 14 acres of the new Chester hiking trail of the invasive barberry bush – by eating it. Actually the 16 goats – from Slippery Slope Farm in Londonderry – […]

Chester plays host to new farmers market

Chester plays host to new farmers market

By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC See Photo Gallery Below Despite only three vendors and a community organization info booth, the inaugural Chester Farmers Market, held on Wednesday, July 18, made an enthusiastic show of it in the grassy field next to the Baba a Louis parking lot on Route 11 West in Chester. […]

Public weighs in on Chester greenhouse proposal

Public weighs in on Chester greenhouse proposal Select Board continues speed limit talk; town garage rehab hits a budget wall

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Before taking up the regular business of its agenda for Wednesday, July 21, the Chester Select Board held a forum for the organizers of the community greenhouse project to explain what they are working on to the public, answer  community questions and take comments and suggestions. Around […]

Chester taxes jump as reassessment cancels CLA cushion

Chester taxes jump as reassessment cancels CLA cushion

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday night, the Chester Select Board set tax rates and, even though municipal and school budgets have seen only minor increases for this year and the 2021-22 school year, Chester taxpayers are looking at an increases of about 13 cents per hundred of assessed value (or […]

Fourth fireworks finally on Fifth

Fourth fireworks finally on Fifth

After a rain delay from the planned July 3 events, the American Legion in Chester had a perfect evening on Monday to hold the town Independence Day fireworks, bringing the long weekend to a close. If you didn’t get a chance to watch them live, Dennis Kopacz of Sculpted Physiques in Chester viewed the display […]

Greenhouse siting takes center stage at Chester Select Board meeting

Greenhouse siting takes center stage at Chester Select Board meeting

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The question of where to put a large greenhouse for community use was once again front and center on at the June 15 meeting of Chester’s Select Board with some questions and and a bit of push back from neighbors at each of the sites under consideration. […]

Chester board looks at possible greenhouse locations

Chester board looks at possible greenhouse locations

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board took a field trip before its meeting last Wednesday night, visiting two town-owned properties that have been proposed as possible sites for a large public greenhouse and gardens project that has come before the board in the past. Identifying the sites follows a […]

State panel finds 'reasonable grounds' in Chester Police discrimination case

State panel finds ‘reasonable grounds’ in Chester Police discrimination case

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Human Rights Commission has found “reasonable grounds” that a Chester police officer illegally discriminated against a Black man when it stopped him in May of 2019, a claim that the Town of Chester strongly denies. The commission investigates allegations of discrimination under state law to […]

Sign panel gives Chester wayfinding a go-ahead of sorts

Sign panel gives Chester wayfinding a go-ahead of sorts State will work with town to clear final hurtles

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its first meeting in more than a year and a half, Vermont’s Travel Information Council considered Chester’s long-waiting request to erect wayfinding signs as a downtown economic development move and gave the plan a partial but enthusiastic approval. The council is administered by the Agency of […]

Chester board names new Zoning Administrator

Chester board names new Zoning Administrator Will tour sites proposed for community greenhouse

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC For the second time in six months, the Chester Select Board appointed a new zoning administrator for the town. The appointment took place at its meeting on Wednesday, May 19. The board took the unanimous recommendation of the Planning Commission and appointed Preston Bristow of Woodstock to […]

Chester man agrees to $17,406 state fine for burn violation

Chester man agrees to $17,406 state fine for burn violation

A Chester man was fined $17,406 by the state for burning a structure on his property in December 2019 in violation of the Vermont Air Pollution Control Regulations and Solid Waste Management Rules. The Department of Environmental Conservation, under the Agency of Natural Resources, announced the fine on Tuesday evening. As The Telegraph reported at […]

Chester board OKs three events; wayfinding signs in limbo as state panel goes missing

Chester board OKs three events; wayfinding signs in limbo as state panel goes missing

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board was in an agreeable state of mind last Wednesday night, giving all three organizations that came before them the permissions and support they asked for including use of town property, police security and the nod to conduct a second coin drop on Route […]

Chester Planning Commission takes a step toward consensus

Chester Planning Commission takes a step toward consensus

By Shawn  Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC While it may have been the most constructive meeting of the Chester Planning Commission since Feb. 17, the word “quagmire” best described the Monday night meeting right up to the final minutes when its members — less Barre Pinske who exited abruptly apparently upset at the direction […]

Chester High/GM alums postpone annual celebration to 2022

Chester High/GM alums postpone annual celebration to 2022

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Citing ongoing concern about the Covid-19 pandemic, Chester High/Green Mountain Alumni Association director Jon Clark, a 1977 graduate,  says that the organization will again forgo holding its regular annual festivities — including the parade — this June, but will instead begin planning for the 2022 celebrations. The […]

Chester board reaffirms paper of record decision, adds The Commons as well

Chester board reaffirms paper of record decision, adds The Commons as well Members call Press Association's claims 'condescending,' 'bullying'

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board reaffirmed its March 18 decision to name The Chester Telegraph the town’s paper of record last Wednesday, but also decided to add a printed paper – The Commons – for its required legal notices. The choice reflected the board’s displeasure with the way […]

After reorganization fracas, planning panel looks forward

After reorganization fracas, planning panel looks forward

By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two weeks after a contentious reorganization meeting, which saw the chair elected by a coin flip and the nomination of a vice chair as “a joke,” the Chester Planning Commission was back together on Monday night but seeming more restrained in front of a guest – Jason […]

Chester board gets feedback on paper of record choice

Chester board gets feedback on paper of record choice

By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Before calling its meeting to order on the evening of Wednesday, April 7, the Chester Select Board held a forum to hear public comments on its decision to name The Chester Telegraph as the town’s paper of record for legally required public notices for the coming year. For […]

Chester board passes on reversing course on Mosher land

Chester board passes on reversing course on Mosher land

By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC At its March 17 meeting, the Chester Select Board heard from project managers who will consolidate the Thompson and Jewett bridges along Route 103 North into one bridge. Before getting deeply into the design phases of the project, they wanted to see if  Chester would change course and […]

New dimensions in Chester zoning proposal

New dimensions in Chester zoning proposal

March 17: Huge changes possible in Chester’s proposed new bylaws March 24: Proposed zoning bylaws raise questions of uses, costs By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Allowed uses — such as single family home, restaurant, retail shop or light industry to name just a few —  are not the only way of crafting […]