All Entries in the "Chester" Category
Car hits quilt shop building, interrupts Chester Select Board meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Forty minutes into last night’s Chester Select Board meeting, just as Water and Sewer Superintendent Jeff Holden was outlining the progress those departments have made this year, board member Ben Whalen’s fire department beeper sounded and he left the meeting. Shortly thereafter, The Telegraph got a report […]
AOT to Olsen: Interim paving on Rt. 11 to begin soon
© 2017 Telegraph Publishing, LLC State Rep. Oliver Olsen of Londonderry has shared an email in which Agency of Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn confirmed that work on the worst parts of Rt. 11 between Chester and Londonderry should begin shortly. “…if the weather holds, the contractor may begin paving this section of road on Thursday […]
Chester board OKs ‘audit’ of town zoning regs
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a couple of years of controversy over Chester’s zoning regulations and the way they are implemented, the town’s Select Board at its Aug. 2 meeting gave the go-ahead to an “audit” of the town’s development statutes. Noting that the town’s zoning code is old and that […]
Chester man held on $100,000 bail as new charges brought
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC An 18-year-old Chester man, charged earlier this year on two counts sexual assault, was arrested today by Ludlow Police and charged with kidnapping, attempted aggravated sexual assault and lewd and lascivious conduct with a child in connection with a July 2015 incident in Ludlow. According to Ludlow Police, […]
Lawsuit pending, Jack’s Diner owner re-emerges to seek DRB OK
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Six years after Chester’s Development Review Board denied a conditional use permit for an expanded Jack’s Diner with apartments above it – and while the town of Chester is currently suing him for zoning violations – Jacques Dodier is back with a new application that will be […]
Chester board OKs old waste district fund disbursement
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With board chair Arne Jonynas under the weather and members Dan Cote and Heather Chase traveling, the July 19 Chester Select Board could have been canceled for lack of a quorum. But using a speaker phone — which is allowed by the state law that permits members […]
Court allows supervised work hours for Chester sex assault defendant
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC WHITE RIVER JUNCTION Chester resident Ryan Stocker appeared before the Windsor County Superior Court Criminal Division twice this week, the second and third time he has come into this courthouse since he was charged in late June with two counts of sexual assault, On Tuesday, he appeared […]
Chester Planning Commission reboots with new members
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Nearly five months after three resignations deprived it of a quorum, the Chester Planning Commission reorganized itself with four of its five seats filled on Monday, July 17. Newly appointed members Barre Pinske and Tim Roper were welcomed by commission chair Naomi Johnson who worked through introductions, […]
Conservancy nears goal to create access to Chester swimming hole
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Less than a year ago, then-Chester Select Board chair John DeBenedetti asked Lydia Menendez how the Vermont River Conservancy would raise the money needed to buy 1.84 acres and a create public access to the Rainbow Rock swimming hole and give it to the town. “Magic,” quipped […]
Chester tax rates decline again; resident seeks to buy town land
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester’s tax rates are dropping again this year as they have for several years. At its July 5 meeting, the Select Board set the non-residential tax rate at $1.9793 per $100 of assessed value and the homestead rate at $1.9274. Last year’s rates were $2.0182 and $1.9545 […]
Possible lightning strike destroys Chester home, storms wreak more havoc
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester residents Dennis and Jan Rounds lost their Chester home to a fire in the early hours of Sunday. No one was at home at the time. Chester firefighters, who spent the early hours of Sunday morning extinguishing the house fire on Fenton Road, speculated that the […]
Chester board finds itself in a DRB dustup
By Shawn Cunningham ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester’s planning and zoning functions continue to be problematic even after the adoption of “pro-business” changes to the Unified Development Bylaws earlier this year. Front2Back Landscaping owner Randy Miles complained to the Select Board at its June 14 meeting that the Development Review Board had denied his application. […]
Truck inspection yields cause of yesterday’s Hazmat leak
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing, LLC One nail, sticking up as little as a quarter of an inch from the surface of a pallet punctured one plastic drum being carried on a Clean Harbors Environmental Services truck and closed Rt. 103 in Chester for nearly 20 hours starting on Tuesday afternoon, according to […]
UPDATE: ROUTE 103 NOW OPEN Route 103 South still closed as Hazmat cleanup continues
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC At 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, more than 18 hours after the 911 call that unleashed a large emergency Hazmat response, Chester and Springfield firefighters, ambulance crews, local and DMV police and other responders were still on the scene with Rt. 103 South closed east of the Chester-Andover […]
Sun shines on 2017 Chester Alumni Day Parade
©2017-Telegraph Publishing LLC After several days of rain, the clouds parted just in time for the annual Chester Alumni Day Parade on Saturday, June 6. Chester architect Claudio Veliz shot these photos commemorating the event. Click any photo to launch the gallery.
2 named to Chester Planning Board, shoring up of Rt. 35 starts
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Leaving one of the three vacant positions still open, the Chester Select Board appointed two candidates to the Chester Planning Commission at its meeting on Wednesday, June 7. The board, which interviewed five candidates in executive sessions this spring, put Chester residents Tim Roper and Barre Pinske […]
Chester commemorates Memorial Day 2017
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Although the weather was dreary and threatened rain, Chester once again observed Memorial Day on its traditional May 30th date. With honor guards from the American Legion and Chester Fire Department in the lead, residents watched as the Green Mountain High School and Chester-Andover Elementary School bands, […]
Chester board talks new fire station, cemetery expansion
By Shawn Cunningham ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board discussed plans for expansion of the Brookside Cemetery and a new emergency services building at its meeting last Wednesday – but one member appeared frustrated that topics brought up more than two years ago were still being “kicked down the road.” After hearing presentations […]
‘Worst of the worst’ on Route 11 budgeted for summer temp fix
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Complaints by local officials about the poor condition of Route 11 between Londonderry and Chester appear to have gained some traction of late as VTrans has offered an interim step in repairing the road. And one Londonderry ambulance service member says improvements can’t come soon enough since […]
Questions abound at Act 46 merger meeting in Cavendish
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing, LLC About 40 community members gathered in the cafeteria of Cavendish Town Elementary on Tuesday night to hear a presentation on the proposed Act 46 merger of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester to create a Green Mountain Unified School District. They also asked questions of members of the […]
