RSSAuthor Archive for Shawn Cunningham

Chester hones STR ordinance changes as moratorium nears end

Chester hones STR ordinance changes as moratorium nears end

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a routine reorganization following Tuesday’s Town Meeting Day election, the Chester Select Board, with new member Tim Roper, got down to working on some proposed changes to its Short-Term Rental Ordinance. The board’s six month moratorium on new un-hosted rentals ends on April 1 and it […]

Voters nix GMUSD budget; Other area results

Voters nix GMUSD budget; Other area results Wunderle, Leahy win school board seats; Roper wins, Knapp re-elected to Chester Select Board

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last year was a rocky one for the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District and to cap it off, on Tuesday, voters shot down the proposed $17.4 million budget by a vote of 699 to 620 in a turnout substantially higher than one year ago […]

Andover voters reject 'short-term rental' article; set Monday meeting next year

Andover voters reject ‘short-term rental’ article; set Monday meeting next year

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an otherwise routine Town Meeting in Andover on Monday night one thing stood out. On Tuesday, the town government asked its voters to weigh in by Australian ballot on whether it should add “short-term rental” to the list of conditional uses under its zoning bylaws. But […]

Cavendish voters narrowly approve cannabis sales, end 'from the floor' voting

Cavendish voters narrowly approve cannabis sales, end ‘from the floor’ voting

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Voters in Cavendish on Tuesday voted 182 to 168 to allow retail sale of cannabis in the town. But the hot topic at Monday’s informational meeting were articles that would permanently eliminate voting from the floor of the annual Town Meeting in favor of Australian balloting. The […]

Julian quarry neighbors call on Select Board for action

Julian quarry neighbors call on Select Board for action 'We want our neighborhood back'

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing The agenda for last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board was short and did not suggest the outpouring of emotion — from frustration to anger — that would come during public comment as neighbors of three quarries in Gassetts pushed the board to act more decisively on the complaints they […]

Chester voters hear from candidates in contested races

Chester voters hear from candidates in contested races

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC About 35 Chester voters turned out on Friday night to hear candidates running for contested seats on the Select Board, school district board and Trustees of Public funds address issues and why they want to serve. Moderator Bill Dakin introduced the candidates and asked each group some […]

Chester Police arrest armed road rage suspect

Chester Police arrest armed road rage suspect Two songs and a cellphone picture aid in the arrest

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a case that a Chester officer described as an example of how technology can help in crime investigations, police arrested a 19-year-old Bellows Falls man who allegedly brandished a gun in a road rage incident on Route 11 on Thursday. Around 3 p.m. Thursday, 911 dispatchers […]

Chester quarry appeal set for April 1; Julian brother behind bars in Connecticut

Chester quarry appeal set for April 1; Julian brother behind bars in Connecticut

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The earliest date that Chester Development Review Board members and lawyers for both the complainants and the Julian Materials company could synchronize their calendars to meet over the appeal of the notice of violation by the company is Monday, April 1. Considering the length of the issue […]

Julians appeal Chester's notice of violation

Julians appeal Chester’s notice of violation

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Friday brought the latest twist in the ongoing saga of the Julian quarries in Gassetts as Julian attorney Mark Hall submitted an appeal to the Town of Chester’s notice of violation in which he said the entire operation would be shut down for 2 to 3 weeks […]

Despite objection, Chester board refuses to remove road from list

Despite objection, Chester board refuses to remove road from list Community coalition hopes to build 'safe space' for youth in Chester

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Signing the annual certification of road mileage is usually a low-key, pro forma task in a select board’s first February agenda, but last Wednesday night a land owner who objects to the classification of an old road became increasingly agitated, raising his voice and insisting the board […]

TRSU board picks OSSD Super Millington as new superintendent

TRSU board picks OSSD Super Millington as new superintendent

By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC After interviewing two candidates and after nearly 90 minutes of deliberation, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union Board voted 4-2 on Thursday night to offer the job of superintendent to Layne Millington, who currently is superintendent with the Orange Southwest Supervisory District, based in the town of Randolph. He […]

Julians are back with a new gambit and engineer

Julians are back with a new gambit and engineer

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Seven days after Chester Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow sent a Notice of Violation to the Julian companies,which operates quarries in Gassetts, he received an answer. The notice had given the Julians the choice of correcting five violations or appealing the notice to Chester’s DRB. The Julians chose […]

Local drone club scores in Vermont's first aerial competition

Local drone club scores in Vermont’s first aerial competition

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Riverside Middle School’s Dressel Gym was buzzing on Saturday with the sounds of competition as teams from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts competed in Vermont’s first Aerial Drone Competition. The competition is sponsored by The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation. Fifteen teams – including four from the […]

Just a Bill: Legislating on the edge of transparency guarantees

Just a Bill: Legislating on the edge of transparency guarantees

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Any long time reader of The Telegraph will know that we take Vermont’s Open Meeting Law and Public Records Act seriously. These are the statutes meant to preserve and defend the public’s right to know what government is doing in their name, in your name and with […]

Chester cites Julians for quarry violations

Chester cites Julians for quarry violations

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After years of complaints and a recent conditional use application that dragged on but eventually went nowhere, the Town of Chester has cited the operator of three quarries for five violations and is demanding that a number of steps be taken immediately. On Jan. 17, Julian Materials […]

Chester board hones STR regulations, focusing on unhosted rental limits and raising annual fee

Chester board hones STR regulations, focusing on unhosted rental limits and raising annual fee

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After several months of discussions, the Chester Select Board, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, closed in on several additions that would tighten the town’s short term rental ordinance, especially with regard to unhosted rentals. Back in early September of last year, after many months of discussions of additional […]

UPDATE: Julians pull out of zoning application; Will DRB proceedings go on?

UPDATE: Julians pull out of zoning application; Will DRB proceedings go on?

UPDATE- DRB accepts Julian withdrawal, Town to file notice of violation  On Monday night, Chester’s Development Review Board issued an order accepting Julian Materials’ withdrawal of its zoning application for three quarries in the Gassetts area. And in answer to neighbors asking “where do we go from here”  Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow said would “file […]

'Just a Bill,' give or take several hundred

‘Just a Bill,’ give or take several hundred A quick look at what's up with proposed laws in Montpelier

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Covering each year’s legislative session is nearly impossible for a small, local newspaper. To begin with, hundreds of bills are introduced even in a small state like Vermont. In the first three days of this year’s session, 203 would-be laws began a journey that most will never […]

Chester snowmobilers: Class 4 road change could 'cripple' club

Chester snowmobilers: Class 4 road change could ‘cripple’ club Smokeshire land owners say road no longer belongs to town

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The discussion of a Class 4 road generally won’t fill the benches at Chester Town Hall, but last Wednesday more than 20 people turned out in person, with more attending via Zoom for a request to make a town road private. Paul Bidgood, who owns land in […]

Chester man released on $20,000 bail after agreeing to plead guilty to child sex charges

Chester man released on $20,000 bail after agreeing to plead guilty to child sex charges

By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Jason Carrara, the Chester man who was arrested on two child sex charges on Sept. 24 and held without bail, has been released on a bond of $20,000, part of a deal with the office of the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s office that included a guilty plea […]