Chester Board hears local option tax concerns, picks new moderator Frank Kelley to replace longtime Moderator Bill Dakin at 2026 Town Meeting

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC

For several meetings, the Chester Select Board has discussed putting on the Town Meeting Day ballot a 1 percent local option sales tax on rooms and meals, which would include short-term rentals and alcohol served at restaurants.

The tax, which would be paid for by each establishment’s patrons, is envisioned as a way to provide operating funds to the town’s Housing Commission. The commission is looking into ways the town can jump-start the construction of affordable houses in Chester.

The topic has been on the board’s agendas every month since August and, in October, members remarked that there seemed to be little interest in the subject. So in November, Town Manager Julie Hance sent a notice to all impacted business owners that the local option tax would be discussed again at the Select Board’s Dec. 3 meeting.

Hance kicked off the discussion by saying that just three of those notified contacted her with a comment, and all three are STR owners. She went on to talk about the work of the housing commission and to explain how the tax receipts would be spent. Hance noted that then Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow had estimated that $60,000 to $75,000 could be realized from the tax in addition to around $24,000 from the net proceeds of short-term rental registration fees.

According to Hance, the commission expected to have expenses including a “Chester-specific” market study to establish that there is a sufficient desire for housing in the town to attract developers. Hance estimated the cost of such a study at $6,000 to $8,000. Other expenses involved the use of consultants and help with permitting costs for projects.

Board member Arianna Knapp asked for an annual budget for such expenses, but Hance said that beyond the market study, the expenses would be hard to predict and will be triggered by individual circumstances. Nevertheless she said she would try to come up with some examples of how the money might be spent.

Ian Montgomery, who with his wife Polly, owns a short-term rental in the Stone Village, said the word affordability is being used a lot now.

“If you keep putting taxes on what we do, we can’t afford to live here,” said Montgomery, who says he understands that the town is trying to provide houses for can’t afford them, but that some who live here now are being priced out.

Conner Eklund, co-owner of the Stone Hearth Eatery, said while he was not thrilled with the tax, it should apply to all the businesses in town, not just the hospitality sector because they will benefit from more business arising from more residents. On the other hand, Eklund maintained that “the inns won’t benefit from the affordable housing because it’s getting people out of the inns and into apartments.”

Sue Bailey of Chester noted that the amounts are relatively small, giving the example that the 1 percent of a $50 meal is 50 cents.

Chester resident Damon Tyler said the proposal comes with “opportunity costs.” These are defined as the loss of the gains that could come from choices not taken when a decision is made.  He said he would be interested in hearing what the real estate professionals say about the future of their market.

“We have a high number of Baby Boomers and even higher number of second homeowners,” said Tyler, “I predict that a lot of those houses will be vacant soon.

Vicky Mustoe, owner of the Stone Hearth Inn, spoke of the costs of running the business including booking companies that take large percentages of what they charge for rooms. She said adding 1 percent doesn’t seem like a lot but it all adds up.

“To bring your tourists into town it costs us a lot to do that. Those people come in at 9 percent and you’re putting 10,” said Mustoe. “It’s a double figure and it doesn’t look good.” Mustoe went on to say that such increases put pressure on the inns in town and at some point they won’t be there anymore.

Housing commission chair Joe Karl told the meeting that “if we don’t have a place for a housekeeper or a waitress to live we’re all in trouble.”

After everyone had a chance to speak, board chair Lee Gustafson thanked them for coming and urged them to have their neighbors and friends let the board know what they think about the issue. It will be up to the board to decide whether to put the local option tax on the warning for Town Meeting. That decision will have to be made by mid- to late January.

Kelley chosen Town Moderator

Earlier this year, long-time Town Moderator Bill Dakin informed the town that he was resigning his post since he and his wife were moving out of Chester. Dakin was re-elected to that one-year position each year for 40 years, and many cannot remember a time when he did not preside over Town Meeting. However, his early resignation posed a problem.

In Chester, the position of Moderator is elected on the first Tuesday in March by Australian ballot, the day after  the in-person Town Meeting held on Monday night. So the Select Board had to appoint someone to moderate the Monday, March 2, 2026 evening session — a single-night job.

Two residents — Will Hoser and Frank Kelley — put their names forward for the board’s consideration and in fairly jovial interviews each laid out who he was and what he brought to the job.

Hoser said he was a farm boy from a small town in New Jersey. He entered a Future Farmers of America parliamentary procedure competition and is quite familiar with Roberts Rules of Order, which governs how meetings are to be held. Hoser added that his Swiss heritage means he tends to be neutral. Having worked as a physician’s assistant in emergency medicine for 31 years, he is transitioning to urgent care and has more control over his schedule. Pointing toward professional leadership experience, he noted he chaired the Vermont Board of Medical Practice for five years.

Kelley spoke of his longtime work as a teacher at Chester-Andover Elementary and his leadership in the Chester Conservation Committee, the annual Green Up campaign and the Chester Town Citizens’ Advisory Committee. The latter works as citizen advisors to the Police Department. He said that he from Boston and of Irish extraction so he would be handy if a raised voice was needed.

Board members unanimously praised both men saying that it was a difficult decision and that they could get a good moderator with a coin flip. In the end, Arne Jonynas nominated Kelley. Kelley was tapped by a vote in which both Lee Gustafson and Tim Roper abstained.

If Kelley wishes to continue in his role as moderator, he — and anyone else wishing to serve in the spot — will have to take out a petition and get the signatures needed to be on the Tuesday March 3 ballot. Board members urged both Hoser and Kelley to take out petitions for next year.

More on Class 4 roads

Kirk MacGinnis returned to the board with what he promised was a brief “judicial status” comment that he requested be made part of the minutes verbatim. He said his remarks were “procedural and intended for judicial review in connection with my active Rule 75 petition.”

MacGinnis is the owner of two parcels of land on either side of the Class 4 portion of Wyman’s Falls Road. He wants the town to discontinue that portion of the road so it would in effect become his property.

In the next few minutes, MacGinnis revisited his earlier complaints and asked that, while his complaint is before the Windsor County Superior Court’s Civil Division, the town not do any work around his property except to remove materials placed there by the Chester Conservation Committee for a bridge across the stream.

MacGinnis then asked Hance to sign a copy of his remarks to show she had received it and said that if the board had no questions he would be on his way.

Shortly after MacGinnis’s exit, Hance told the board that Paul Bidgood had died recently.

Bidgood had long asserted that Bailey Hill Road was no longer a Class 4 road and that the portion that crosses his land belonged to him.

An attorney from Massachusetts with a family history in the area, Bidgood had sued both Chester and Cavendish over road disputes in the past. More recently, he often forcefully pressed the town for proof that the road had not been discontinued (thrown up is the term used in old documents) but had recently been helpful with suggested wording for the draft Class 4 Road policy.

Hance asked the board if they wanted an executive session to hear about the status of the case and what town attorney Jim Carroll suggests as next steps. The board went into executive session at the end of the regular meeting but according to Hance, no actions were taken after the session.