All Entries in the "Chester" Category
Chester Planning Commission hearing for tonight cancelled
The Chester Planning Commission’s public hearing on Unified Development Bylaw revisions scheduled for 6 p.m. tonight has been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation was insufficient legal warning. The hearing is tentatively being rescheduled for Dec. 19.
Chester limits service of Select Board members, others
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC There was more than a little interest in the conflict over wording of an ethics policy for town officials and employees at Wednesday’s Chester Select Board meeting. The idea of a conflict of interest policy has been kicking around since mid-2015, when board member Heather Chase asked […]
Chester zoning administrator’s action questioned
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Calling the situation “very disconcerting,” a Chester resident told the Select Board last Wednesday, that the town’s zoning administrator had issued a building permit for a property without a clear ‘use’ as outlined in the town’s Unified Development Bylaws. Marilyn Mahusky, who has been a vocal critic […]
Temporary bridge placed over failing Popple Dungeon culvert
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC If you’re traveling on Popple Dungeon Road in Chester in the next couple of years, you might want to slow down just past the three-mile mark where you will find yourself driving up onto a one lane bridge sitting up on stone blocks. The town of Chester placed […]
Chester considers sex offender ordinance, stalls on board appointments
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC While Chester’s town attorney asserted that it could “enmesh” the town in a lawsuit “that you will lose,” resident Randy Miles stressed the need for an ordinance that would limit where sex offenders could live, saying he was willing to spend taxpayer dollars fighting to keep the […]
Sparse but enthusiastic group turns out for Chester planning forum
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing, LLC If Harry Truman was right and “decisions are made by those who show up,” then on Saturday, around 50 people began charting the course for Chester’s downtown for years to come. Despite efforts by town government to bring people out to express their opinions on issues facing […]
Citizen Matt: Chester Det. Wilson takes on a new beat
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC In just a few days, Matt Wilson will no longer be a Chester Police detective. The 15-year veteran of the force will be leaving the department in late October to take a position a little closer to home — as a matter of fact, in his home, where […]
Chester Master Plan steering committee expands to 10; other appointments on hold
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The long awaited master planning process for downtown Chester is about to begin its year-long run and at its Oct. 5 meeting, the town’s Select Board was slated to appoint its steering committee, but there was a twist. As late as Wednesday morning at the Chester Economic […]
Chester board hears about affordable housing, public trees and historic buildings
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board did a lot of listening at its Sept. 21 meeting, with presentations on affordable housing and public trees as well as monthly financial updates and more than half an hour of public comments. Wendy Harrison, director of Development and Community Relations for the […]
A taxing day in Chester
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Paying your annual property taxes is no fun, but collecting them is no picnic either as The Telegraph found when visiting the Chester Town Clerk’s office on Sept. 15 just two and a half hours before the deadline. Nevertheless, Town Clerk Deb Aldrich and Assistant Town Clerk Julie Hance put […]
Chester board considers sex offender ordinance
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two items on the agenda for Sept. 7 meeting of the Chester Select Board brought out interested residents: a proposed ordinance to limit where sex offenders could live in Chester and a discussion of whether 19 roads that are plowed and maintained by the town are in […]
Jack Coleman, force behind Chester’s Players Guild, Overture to Christmas, dies at 95
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC To the wider world, John Royston Coleman was the accomplished economist, college president, central banker, foundation executive and author who took off for the hills of Vermont to run a country inn. But to people in Chester — where he settled to run The Inn at Long […]
Fallen tree on power lines shuts down Route 11
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Fire Department was called out at about 7 a.m. this morning for a tree that had fallen from the hillside on Route 11 just west of Adams Road. According to Fire Department Capt. Ben Whalen, the tree was laying on the power lines, which were arcing. […]
Chester water rates increase; Coach Road water pipes to be ‘looped’
By Christian Avard © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester residents and second homeowners will be seeing an increase in water rates with their next bill. Acting as the town’s Water Commissioners, the Chester Select Board approved a $2 water rate increase at its Aug. 17 meeting. Water users will be charged $46 per equivalent unit […]
Another water rate hike on tap in Chester; Select Board ethics policy debate continues
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board, at its Wednesday, Aug. 3 meeting, decided not to act on a recommendation from Town Manager David Pisha to approve a water rate increase. Instead, the five-member panel will warn the rate increase for the next meeting — Aug. 17 — and make […]
Bock wins Democratic Primary in Windsor 3-1; victory in November seems assured
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Tom Bock sprinted to a victory over Melody Reed in the Democratic Primary for Vermont state representative from the Windsor 3-1 District, which includes Chester, Andover, Baltimore and North Springfield. Despite ballot counting glitches in Andover and Baltimore, by 9:30 p.m. it appeared that Bock […]
14 in Chester honored for 20-plus years of service
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Before getting down to a regular agenda on Wednesday, Aug. 3, the Chester Select Board took a few minutes to recognize 14 people who have served the town of Chester for as many as 35 years. The Vermont Public Service Award is given every five years by […]
Two superload trucks knock out power, Internet, cable in separate Chester accidents
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two “superloads,” being driven from Ohio, brought down fiber-optic lines along Route 103 just north of the Stone Village, and electric, fiber-optic and cable lines on Route 103 South at Sylvan Road, in separate but almost simultaneous accidents late this afternoon. Superloads are even larger than the common wideloads seen […]
Grafton group seeks to sway Chester board against wind project
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The July 20 Chester Select Board was a presentation-rich environment, with information on an impending townwide reappraisal and an offer to donate the north shore of the Rainbow Rock swimming hole to the town. The longest, however, was a PowerPoint presentation by opponents of the wind project […]
Truck closes Route 11 in midday accident
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC At about noon today, Wednesday, July 20, a concrete pumping truck traveling west on Route 11 in Londonderry ran off the highway, crashed into some trees and wound up half overturned in the ditch. The accident closed the road for the entire afternoon and remained closed at […]