All Entries in the "Chester" Category
DRB hearing turns rancorous as Julian Materials changes quarry application New plans include moving stone cutting outside Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Years of quarry noise and months of zoning hearings boiled over at Monday night’s meeting of the Chester Development Review Board as Julian Materials proposed a heavily amended version of its conditional use application, while neighbors demanded to know when there would be enforcement of the current […]
Flood resiliency takes center stage at legislative forum in Weston Area residents anxious for solutions to persistent flooding
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC WESTON Flood resiliency and mitigation was the major topic addressed during a gathering on Saturday of about 30 residents of Weston and surrounding towns for a discussion with state Rep. Kelly Pajala, and state Sens. Alison Clarkson, Dick McCormack and Becca White. McCormack, Clarkson and White represent Windsor […]
DRB hears objections to Julian Materials’ permit
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday, Oct. 23, Chester’s Development Review Board continued its hearing on a conditional use permit application by Julian Materials to make changes in the use and operations of its three quarries in Gassetts. And with the next session not scheduled until Monday, Dec. 11, it’s looking […]
Chester’s Whiting Library welcomes new director
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing Chester’s Whiting Library has a new library director, Gail Zachariah, a Westminster resident and head of engagement and youth services at the Keene, N.H., Public Library for 23 years before her departure in August. She will be the second library director since Deirdre Doran resigned last spring. High school […]
State action on Chieftain appeal looks stalled
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District board has stopped paying for an attorney to defend its Chieftain name, appeals to the Vermont Agency of Education, which could permanently settle the issue of whether the name violates school policy, appear to have stalled. The […]
Chester Select Board to explore offering benefits to full-time Whiting Library staff
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board agenda was short, it yielded a lot of discussion and some progress on a couple of long-standing issues. Whiting Library Board chair Matt Gorsky came before the board to ask for “some reasonable accommodation” to get benefits for the library’s two […]
Carrara arraigned on child sex charges, held without bail
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Appearing via video conference from Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Jason Carrara of Chester was arraigned Monday, Sept. 25 by Judge John R. Treadwell in the Windham County Superior Court in Brattleboro. Representing Carrara, attorney Brian Marsicovetere entered a plea of not guilty to a charge […]
Chester man arrested on child sex charge
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Police arrested a Chester man today, Sunday, Sept. 24, on a charge of aggravated sexual assault on a child. According to the Chester Police, 40-year-old Jason Carrara surrendered at the Public Safety Building on Pleasant Street and was processed before being taken to Southern State Correctional Facility to […]
A bird’s eye view of the Chester Fall Festival
©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Thanks to drone pilot Tuck Wunderle, The Telegraph took an early Sunday morning flight over the 2023 Chester Fall Festival on the Green in beautiful Chester. The festival was held Saturday, Sept. 16 and Sunday, Sept. 17. Weather concerns might have held some people back on Saturday, but Sunday saw […]
DRB holds first hearing on permits for Julian quarries Site visits set for Sept. 25
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Development Review Board hearings are quasi-judicial proceedings that can be quiet, formal affairs that consist of taking testimony and checking boxes. But they can also be confrontational and charged with emotion when people disagree over development plans. The latter was what Chester DRB chair Bob Greenfield was […]
Chester board bans new, unhosted short-term rentals for six months
By Shawn Cunningham ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Wednesday night, after much discussion and public comment, the Chester Select Board voted to impose a six-month moratorium on new unhosted short-term rentals beginning on Oct. 1. The suggestion for the moratorium came from Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow, who pointed out that there are seven such rentals […]
Remote meeting styles evolve with good and bad experiences, technology
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The recent move by Green Mountain Unified School District Board to prohibit comment from those who attend its meetings by Zoom – including board members – prompts the question of where other boards stand on the issue of remote vs. in-person meetings and what goes into […]
Chester residents call for more short-term rental regulations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday, several Chester residents attended the Select Board meeting to tell members that they want more regulation of short-term rentals before it’s too late and that neighborhoods like the Stone Village are full of “empty houses for tourists.” The topic was on the board’s agenda because […]
Chester to bypass vendor, roll out first phase of STR registration applications No implementation dates from swamped Granicus
By Shawn Cunningham ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Friday’s “kick off” meeting with Granicus, the company that Chester hired to establish and manage its short-term rental registry, has spurred the town to seek an old-school route while waiting for the more hi-tech segments to be created. “Alex bravely answered our questions and stayed chipper,” Zoning […]
UPDATED – Chester police seek info in School St. gun incident
UPDATE: Chester Police say that the subject wanted in this incident called and asked to speak with an officer late this afternoon. Chief Tom Williams told The Telegraph that police have spoken with him and are continuing their investigation. © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Police Department is looking for a man who brandished […]
Work on Chester’s delayed short-term rental registry to move forward
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Implementing a short-term rental registry has been a more daunting task than Chester’s town government had expected. More than five months after signing a contract to provide Chester a short-term rental registration program that was planned to launch by April, Granicus told the town on July 13 […]
Chester public safety agencies to host National Night Out Tuesday, Aug. 1
The Chester public safety agencies are hosting their annual National Night Out from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 1 at the Public Safety Building, 130 Pleasant St. Come join members of the Police and Fire departments and the Ambulance Service for a night of fun that includes food, games, music and various emergency […]
Flooding cancels customer appreciation day
© 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Kim Rushford still appreciates his customers, but when flood waters wrecked the driveway to his garage at Route 103 north and carried some of his equipment off the premises, he decided he needed to cancel the Customer Appreciation Day scheduled for Saturday, July 22. For the time being, Rushford, who […]
Bridge closure on Popple Dungeon due to flooding
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Town of Chester learned Friday night that the abutment for a small bridge on Popple Dungeon Road has been severely undermined and must be closed until further notice. The bridge on Popple Dungeon is just west of Nudist Camp Road and just before the Williams River […]
Road conditions in Chester and Weston
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The following lists of road conditions are as of Thursday night, July 14. Work continues in Chester and Weston to make all of the roads passable. Please note, passable means just that. These are not permanent repairs, but fixes to make it possible so that everyone who […]
