Chester board hears GM appointment complaints, police on immigration enforcement

By Shawn Cunningham
2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC

As the clock ticked toward 6:30 and the conference room on the first floor of Chester’s Town Hall began to fill up, it looked like the May 21 Select Board meeting would be another long one with multiple comments by residents on several issues currently roiling the public discourse.

At one point in the meeting, there were 26 people in the room and 18 on Zoom. But just a few people rose to say their piece and not all of it spoke to the controversies.

Chester residents Steve Dock and Marilyn Mahusky each chided the board on its decision to stay out of the process for appointing a new Chester representative to the Green Mountain Unified School District board to replace Tuck Wunderle who is stepping down to accept a graduate fellowship. Two people had applied for the position: Patricia Benelli, a retired family lawyer and former educator, and John Keller, a telecommunications contractor. The choice became controversial when it was learned that Keller had been charged last summer with domestic assault, to which he pled guilty in late April of this year.

Dock told the board that if members believed that their “non-decision” would have “lowered the temperature and avoid divisiveness, it did the opposite.” He said this would “continue to fester and cause trouble for a long time.”

Mahusky said that the GM board also had abrogated its legal responsibility to make an appointment when it asked to meet with the Select Board to set up an election. She said that at this point, the Select Board has no legal role in the matter.

Later, board member Tim Roper spoke to clarify his decision to pass along the names of the candidates without making a choice during the May 7 meeting. He said that the only information he had at that time was a charging document that accused Keller of domestic assault. Roper said under the concept of “innocent until proven guilty,” he believed he had to pass since he had not been informed of Keller’s guilty plea. Roper added that if he had had the full story, he would have advocated for recommending Benelli for the job.

In response to complaints – including one alleging violations of Vermont’s open meetings law – the GM board will meet on Wednesday May 28 to “void” its previous executive sessions and re-interview the two candidates before deliberating once more. The agenda says they will then vote on the candidates.

During other public comment, Tallison Piland asked the board to consider adding storm drains to the sewer work to be done on Depot Street. He told the board that he and his neighbors have had floods and such drains could mitigate that flooding.

Mitchell Conley of Andover told the board he was there to advocate for four-wheel drive vehicles using Class 4 roads. He derided those who use their four-wheel drive trucks irresponsibly, giving the larger community of users a bad name. But, he added, that those traveling these roads “keeps them open and passable” in a way that hikers can’t, which keeps them accessible for use in emergencies. At its May 7 meeting, the board had asked the Chester Conservation Committee to look at model policies regarding Class 4 roads and make recommendations for the creation of a policy for the 17 miles of such roads in Chester.

Police address immigration enforcement concerns

Police Chief Tom Williams came to the meeting to talk about his department’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy in response to board member Arne Jonynas’ question about the role of local police in immigration enforcement.

Williams told the board that state law prevents the Chester department from getting involved in enforcing immigration issues. He said that certain policies come down from the state and must be adopted locally and cannot be changed without permission. According to Williams the policy can be complicated and officers must take care to walk a fine line between adhering to the policy while obeying certain federal statutes.

Immigration is a civil matter where the local police do not get involved. However, he added that if immigration enforcement by a federal agency becomes a criminal matter, the local police do have a role.  Williams said that federal agencies like ICE, DEA and the FBI generally don’t ask local police for assistance and don’t inform local law enforcement when they work in their jurisdictions.

Asked about federal agents using masks and not identifying themselves, Williams said he was not aware of the federal policy about this, but it’s good practice to be identifiable in the field.  He noted that, as a safety issue, DEA agents sometimes use masks in raids so they can’t be identified.

During the old business portion of the meeting, Town Manager Julie Hance told the board that the Police Department was down several officers and that the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department was filling in evening shifts while the department recruits new officers.

Recouping firefighting expenses, flag policy

The board also got a first look at a “reimbursement policy” for the Fire Department. The idea behind the policy is to recoup certain expenses for fighting fires – especially the use of expensive foam, which helps keep fires from reigniting. It also is aimed at situations when firefighters have to respond to fires caused by negligence.

Board members said that the wording of the policy made it seem like the town would come looking for money from residents who had lost their homes to fire. One board member questioned that since residents pay taxes for firefighting. Hance and Williams, who also serves on the Fire Department, said that homeowners would not be charged for firefighting, and that foam is covered by homeowners insurance. Several board members said they would like to see clarification on who would get billed and under what circumstances. Board chair Lee Gustafson said he would like to see some definition on how much would be charged for various violations. The board sent the policy back for some clarification and will look at it again in the future.

Finally, the board took up Roper’s complaint about American flags on public property. He said that flags along Main Street are wrapped around their poles or in poor condition and there should be some mechanism for maintaining them. For a number of years, the American Legion has been putting up flags along Main Street. After some discussion, the board decided that a meeting with Legion officials should be held to discuss the matter.