All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Weston board agrees to survey to kick off broadband project
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Jan. 28 meeting, the Weston Select Board agreed to participate in the Windham Regional Commission broadband project. Board member Ann Fuji’i said that the town will participate in the survey but can withdraw from further action at any time. The WRC will be surveying landowners in […]
Derry residents get rundown on feasibility study for water/wastewater systems
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday, Jan. 27, about 20 Londonderry residents gathered at the Twitchell Building for the first of three planned public meetings about a study to be conducted on the feasibility of creating town water and wastewater systems. Planning Commission chair Sharon Crossman told the group, “Every time we […]
GM school board: Good budget despite hikes Directors vow to start early, keep working on budget process
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a little over a month, voters in Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester will be asked to approve a school budget of $14,108,968, which represents an increase of more than 9 percent. During that time, the members of the Green Mountain Unified School District board representing those […]
Two Rivers school districts, admin budgets OK’d In flurry of meetings, boards send proposals for March vote
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last week, in a flurry of meetings, the boards of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union and its two school districts adopted difficult budgets with large increases and some important details still unresolved. Now their task is to convince the voters of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish, Chester, Ludlow and […]
Derry budget holds slight tax hike; cannabis article at Town Meeting
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Londonderry Select Board on Monday, Jan. 20, passed a budget for fiscal year 2020/21 that will result in an expected total municipal tax rate of $0.40385 that includes the building reserve fund and all appropriations. This will result in about a $25 hike in taxes for a […]
Take a run: Offices open in local governments Petitions to be on the ballot are due Jan. 27
Vermont’s towns are run by community minded folks who step up and serve in local government positions – from town clerks and select board members to Library Trustees, Listers, Constables and more. This is the time of year that residents can take out a petition to get on the ballot for Town Meeting Day elections. […]
TRSU postpones budget while districts continue work on theirs
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the surprise resignation of Superintendent Meg Powden took center stage at Monday’s meeting of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union, the work of finalizing the SU’s budget went on. At its meeting of Jan. 2, the board had rejected a 9.54 percent increase and asked the administration […]
Chester board nears final budget version
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday, the Chester Select Board took its next-to-last look at its 2020 budget with the goal of limiting an increase in the tax rate. At the time of the meeting it appeared that that the budget was $241,565 greater than last year — equivalent to 6 […]
State experts urge action on emerald ash borer beetle
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The primary take-away for individuals attending a community forum about the emerald ash borer beetle is not to move wood during the bug’s “flight season,” which in Vermont is from June 1 to Sept. 30. For communities, the lesson is that the longer one waits to act, the […]
Powden resigns as TRSU superintendent effective June 30
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Meg Powden, superintendent of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union, resigned her position on Monday, Jan. 13 effective June 30 — the end of the 2019/2020 school year. She will have served four years, overseeing the operations of two school districts — Green Mountain Unified and Ludlow-Mt. Holly […]
Derry voters to weigh local options tax Board tackles 2020-21 budgeting before Town Meeting
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Londonderry Select Board at its meeting on Monday, Jan. 6 voted to place on the March 3 Town Meeting warning an article for the town to vote on a 1 percent local options tax on sales, rooms, meals and alcohol, in an attempt to reduce the municipal […]
GM board restores priorities, bets on programs to attract more students At least two board members will not run for re-election
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Presented with a 2020-21 budget that stripped out all of the educational priorities it adopted in mid-2019, the finance committee of the Green Mountain Unified School District on Monday pushed back to restore programs, teacher positions and supplies while taking a gamble that offering more would make […]
TRSU board mulls budget increases, LMH may lose transportation
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC While school officials asserted that an overall budget increase of 9.54 percent at the Two Rivers Supervisory Union level was necessary and that new special education programs are saving money, board members asked for details to show their school boards and the communities they represent. The board […]
TRSU proposes cutting GM educational priorities
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Three weeks after the Finance Committee of the Green Mountain Unified School District asked the Two Rivers Supervisory Union to come back with a budget that would include several of its education priorities while trying to keep the per pupil cost as low as possible, members received […]
Chester board, Springfield officials talk Transfer Station fees
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Following a question about the cost of the Springfield Transfer Station at its Dec. 4 meeting, the Chester Select Board heard from Springfield officials last Wednesday, Dec. 18. At that early December meeting, Lister and Chester resident Wanda Purdy had questioned the number of Chester residents buying […]
Weston board begins to address state cannabis legislation, regional broadband service
By Bruce Frauman ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC State cannabis legislation and its affects on local jurisdictions, regional broadband service and the rising cost of recycling and solid waste disposal were all discussed at the Dec. 17 Weston Select Board. After several board members admitted confusion over a letter describing cannabis regulation legislation now in a […]
2 approaches: Green Mountain, Ludlow-Mt. Holly school boards tackle spending LMH over the 'excess spending' threshold
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The two districts that make up the Two Rivers Supervisory Union are wrestling with controlling the spending in their FY 2021 budgets this year as one looks to increase its educational offerings and accommodate more students, while the other tries to manage the Act 46 downsizing that […]
GM school board, Cavendish library trustees seek solution over safety concerns
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC There was plenty to talk about – apart from the budget/governance related rumpus – at the Dec. 12 meeting of the Green Mountain Unified School District board, including a tour and discussion of the Cavendish Library and its relationship with the adjoining elementary school. Before the 6 […]
Derry to undertake water/waste system study Local option tax, Williams Dam future also discussed
By Bruce Frauman ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Londonderry Select Board has agreed to move forward with a water and wastewater management study. At its Monday, Dec. 16 meeting, the board also agreed to authorize Town Administrator Shane O’Keefe to sign a contract for the study with a consultant recommended by the water/wastewater committee. O’Keefe […]
Chester property owner ticketed for unpermitted building fire
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC A property owner on Nudist Camp Road in Chester burned to the ground a cabin he bought in October on Monday afternoon sending fire trucks from a host of neighboring towns to the scene. Just before 5 p.m., the Chester Fire Department was alerted to a “fully […]
