All Entries in the "Chester" Category
Chester Planning Commission agenda for Feb. 21, 2022
The Chester Planning Commission will hold its regular meeting at Town Hall, 556 Elm St. and via Zoom, at 6:30 p.m. on Monday Feb. 21, 2022. To join the meeting go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81029256359 1. Review minutes from the February 7, 2022 meeting. 2. Citizen comments. 3. Review proposed Village Green Zoning District bylaw amendment text […]
Variations on a Town Meeting Day Area towns choose formats, new dates for annual votes
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Once again this year the Vermont legislature has taken its cue from the continuing Covid pandemic and is giving municipalities options in how they can manage Town Meeting Day. And area select boards have chosen several variations — from fully remote meetings and Australian ballots for all […]
Chester resident gets cannabis sales on the ballot
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester voters will be making one more choice when they go to the polls (or fill out absentee ballots) for this Town Meeting day, as a petition to put an opt-in vote on retail sales of recreational cannabis garnered the required signatures to put it before the […]
Chester board nixes putting cannabis vote on ballot; petition could force issue
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board at its Wednesday, Jan. 19, meeting, discussed and took public input on placing an “opt-in” article for retail sales of cannabis on the Town Meeting day ballot and for the second time in two years, decided against it. But a petition that’s being […]
Area towns shuffled, separated under proposed redistricting plan
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont House yesterday passed H. 589 to bypass the work done by a tri-partisan board set up to create a legislative redistricting plan. The move substitutes the bill as the design for the “initial district plan.” The text of the legislation says that lawmakers will be […]
Chester Dems hold annual Share Heat fundraiser
The Chester Town Democratic Committee is holding its annual Share Heat Fundraiser to provide financial support for those in our community in need of assistance in paying for the cost of home heating fuel. As fuel prices have risen significantly, the need for heating fuel assistance to provide warmth and comfort continues to grow. The […]
Chester Select Board agenda for Jan. 19
The Chester Select Board will hold its regular meeting at Town Hall, 556 Elm Street and via Zoom at 6 p.m. Wednesday Jan. 19, 2022 followed by the board reconvening as the Board of Water and Wastewater Commissioners. To join the meeting go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81988842129 Below are the agendas Chester Select Board 1. Approve Minutes […]
Chester board opts for remote Town Meeting; kicks cannabis vote down the road
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC For the second year in a row, the Chester Select Board has concluded that putting the question of allowing retail sales of cannabis before the voters needs more board discussion, although they may look at it on Wednesday, Jan. 19, the final day before they must finalize […]
Landscape firm loses thousands of dollars in equipment in holiday theft
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was Friday, Dec. 24, and the crew from Terrigenous Landscape Architecture of Chester was looking forward to a holiday week off. They had been working in the back of a stone house in Baltimore, “putting in a stone wall and drainage to save one of these old […]
Chester board OKs ‘statement’ encouraging individual Covid mitigation measures
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC While a number of area towns including Cavendish, Ludlow and Windham have instituted mask mandates for public buildings, the Chester board issued a statement that while there is increasing transmission of Covid in Vermont and New Hampshire, “The Town of Chester is not supportive of implementing a mask […]
Chester board’s mask discussions to continue through holidays
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the Cavendish Select Board approved a mask mandate for public places with little debate and even less public attendance last Monday, Chester’s board has held two meetings and appears stymied over how to recommend but not mandate that people wear masks in public buildings due to […]
Residents safe, 3 dogs perish in Chester house fire
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Three residents of home at 35 Circle Drive in Chester escaped a fire last night but three of their five pets perished, said Chester Fire Chief Matt Wilson this morning. Wilson told The Telegraph that the call came in at 10:32 p.m. Tuesday for a structure fire […]
Chester board hears from department heads on budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Next year’s budget was the main item on the Chester Select Board’s agenda for Wednesday, Dec. 1 with the heads of the public safety departments and Town Clerk Deb Aldrich coming to the board to discuss their spending plans. Fire Chief Matt Wilson told the board that […]
Fire Department Christmas trees go on sale in Chester
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On the day after Thanksgiving, as snow began falling in earnest, the Chester Fire Department kicked off its annual sale of Christmas trees on Route 103 south, across from Marshall Road. The sale of 500 trees is one of the major fundraisers put on by the Yosemite Engine Company, which […]
Participants sought for workforce survey as Chester updated on Communities Challenge Chester board begins 2022 budget review; gets update on Lovers Lane Brook bridge
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Springfield Regional Development Corp. came before the Chester Select Board last week to update information on the Working Communities Challenge, a three-year, $300,000 grant program sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and several philanthropic organizations to remove barriers to work and increase the region’s […]
Stigers Rd. pond hydrant provides water supply for rural firefighting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC One of the big challenges to rural firefighting is getting enough water to the scene quickly enough to make a difference. A call for mutual aid can bring a fleet of tankers from surrounding towns, but those trucks have to get water from somewhere and the farther […]
Area towns look — cautiously — to spend large ARPA allocations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC There’s a lot of extra money in the bank accounts of town governments across the state with more coming next year. But most towns are taking cautious steps in deciding how to spend the funds. That’s because the money comes from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan […]
Chester board clears way for police union vote
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board chose not to challenge the makeup of a prospective union for the town’s Police Department after meeting in executive session last Wednesday night. An election can now take place to see if the six-member group of police employees — known as a “bargaining […]
Chester police move to unionize
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The New England Police Benevolent Association has filed a “petition for election of collective bargaining representative” with the Vermont Labor Relations Board on behalf of members of the Chester Police Department. The petition is a first step toward Chester Police officers being represented by a regional union […]
Andover board OKs dollar amount for emergency services; tables ATV ordinance till Town Meeting Chester now must draw up contract for fire, ambulance
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC During the calm portion of what turned into a headache-inducing meeting on Monday, the Andover Select Board decided that it would accept a $55,754.67 contract from the Town of Chester to provide emergency fire and medical/ambulance services, should one be offered. The price of service will fluctuate based […]
