Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
After tanker wreck, homeowner keeps his sense of humor
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 When Joel Brookes sat down to his morning coffee and looked out the window on Friday, May 16, he had no idea he was about to begin a journey that would stretch two years into the future. After watching the 10,000-gallon P&H tanker turn over and slide […]
Crews work to repair road damage in Andover, Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © The Chester Telegraph 2014 Clickable photo gallery is below the article. Photos by Shawn Cunningham, The Chester Telegraph T own road crews, VTrans and private contractors were busy Tuesday morning as they continued to put local roads back together after Monday’s torrential rains (Click here for Monday’s story.). In Andover, Simmonds […]
Torrential rains wash out Route 11, a number of Andover roads
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 A clickable photo gallery is below the article. Thanks to our photo contributors: Mark Burbela, Stacie Goodman Hill, Melissa Ryan and Marc Thomas. The skies opened up over Chester on Monday, and stayed that way, warranting the largest flood response since Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. […]
Wetlands delay Popple Dungeon repairs; education taxes discussed by Select Board
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 Proposed work to the decaying portion of Popple Dungeon Road has been put on hold because the Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Vermont have declared that an area that would be used to straighten the road and pull it away from a hillside is […]
Public questions lot size, noise proposals in Chester zoning regs
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 The Chester Select Board reconvened its public hearing on new zoning regulations on Wednesday, July 16 with a much larger crowd than had attended the July 2 meeting, in which only two members of the public attended. At that July 2 meeting, some thought the sparse attendance […]
Select Board hears concerns on raising lot sizes in Chester; sets tax rate; OKs Whiting grant; discusses Open Meetings Law
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 A very small crowd showed up for the Wednesday, July 2 Chester Select Board meeting even though the topics to be discussed – zoning and tax rates – are often hot button issues. While the adoption of new tax rates is more or less proforma, the zoning […]
New water rates pass in Chester as infrastructure problems are highlighted
By Shawn Cunningham After more than six months of discussing the dire need to increase water rates to bring the Water and Sewer Department into the black, the Chester Select Board at its Wednesday, June 18 meeting suddenly – and with relatively little discussion – voted to adopt a new rate schedule for delivering water […]
Residents’ concern over transitional housing continues; Select Board knew about proposal earlier than indicated
By Shawn Cunningham Nearly 40 residents packed into the benches at Chester Town Hall for the Wednesday, June 4 Chester Select Board meeting. Most were there to express their views on the transitional housing proposal put forward by the Springfield Justice Center. And most were from the Gassetts area, where they believed the center intended […]
Chester marks Memorial Day with parade, commemorations
W ith a parade, prayers, gun salutes, speeches, wreath layings and other ceremonies, Chester marked Memorial Day on Friday, May 30 – the traditional “Decoration Day” that began in the aftermath of the Civil War. This year’s remembrance was held under sunny skies as bands from Chester-Andover Elementary and Green Mountain Union High schools played […]
Attorney General releases redacted Larochelle documents
By Shawn Cunningham Documents formally requested by The Chester Telegraph under Vermont’s Public Documents law were released by Vermont’s Attorney General over the weekend. The documents show that the Vermont State Police investigation of Chester Police officer Paul Larochelle concluded that the officer’s behavior was “inappropriate and unbecoming,” but that it did not warrant criminal […]
Gas spill forces garage teardown as soil, water cleanup continues
By Shawn Cunningham Homeowner Joel Brookes watches each day as trucks haul away more and more contaminated soil from his land following the May 16 tanker accident that spilled 2,500 gallons of gasoline into his garden. At first, the cleanup was a small affair, but as gasoline reached the Williams River on May 21, the […]
Select board hears from residents for, against transitional housing
By Shawn Cunningham A small number of Chester residents turned out at the Wednesday, May 21, Select Board meeting to voice concern over a proposal by the Justice Center of Springfield to buy or rent a four-bedroom house in Chester to serve as transitional housing for inmates being released from the prison in Springfield. Justice […]
‘The fuel has made the water’ – Fire Chief Matt Wilson
On Wednesday morning — May 21 — Joel Brookes was walking his dog Buddy near the Williams River behind his home on Route 11 near Goldthwaite Road. He smelled gasoline and looked down to see – clearly through the polarized lenses of his sunglasses – the sheen of gas pouring out of the bank below […]
Route 11 followups: Cleanup underway at gas tanker accident site; fire probe continues
9 .m. Wednesday, May 21: Gasoline from the accident has begun to reach the Williams River. Chester Fire and Police departments and the Springfield Fire department were on the scene putting down booms, as was homeowner Joel Brookes. The Agency of Natural Resources has been called to the scene. Read the update here. By Shawn […]
Developers outline new plan for Chester town solar farm
By Shawn Cunningham A new plan for the Chester town solar farm was unveiled Monday morning, as the Chester Select Board and about 10 residents gathered at the Jeffrey well site on Route 103 North to look at plans for the 500 mega kilowatt solar farm that will be built there – possibly as […]
An Epic prom 2014 for Green Mountain students
The theme for this year’s Green Mountain Union High School prom was Rustic Romance, and while everyone in attendance on Saturday night at the Epic restaurant at Okemo Mountain certainly dressed for a romantic mood, nary a one of the 70 or so students in attendance donned much that could be described as rustic. […]
A Photo Gallery: Crews work to right tractor-trailer in turnover
All photos by Shawn Cunningham. On the Cover: Damage is evident after the tractor-trailer was righted Friday evening. Here’s the link to the full story. We’ve updated the gallery with photos of crews righting the tractor-trailer Friday evening. Click a photo to launch gallery.
BREAKING: Tanker truck overturns at Route 11; eyewitness hears BOOM, sees sliding truck
UPDATE: 5:27 p.m. Click here for the photo gallery of the day’s events. UPDATE: 12:15 p.m. One school bus will be diverted from route. See bottom of story; UPDATE: 11:45 a.m.; UPDATE: 10:08 a.m.; UPDATE: 9:40 a.m. By Shawn Cunningham These are early reports meant to inform and help residents and drivers navigate throughout […]
Inmate transitional house proposed; water rates still up in air
By Shawn Cunningham Among several long time discussions – including water rates and the solar farm – Chester’s Select Board heard about a plan to place a transitional housing facility for up to three inmates in a house that is yet to be selected in Chester. Wendi Germain of the Springfield Justice Center appeared […]
An Analysis: Part 4: Chester’s proposed bylaws need further changes, enforcement
This is the last in a series of articles about the proposed Unified Development Bylaws, which revise and combine zoning regulations, subdivision regulations and flood hazard standards. Proposed changes will affect many landowners. At 7 p.m. Monday, May 19, the Chester Planning Commission will meet at Chester Town Hall, 556 Elm St., to hear […]
