All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Gustafson, Whalen win Select Board seats; budgets, bonds pass by wide margins
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the only contested race this year, incumbent member Ben Whalen and newcomer Lee Gustafson won election Tuesday night to one-year seats on the Chester Select Board. With 673 people voting, the totals were Whalen 441, Gustafson 388 and Kelly Arrison 318. When John DeBenedetti decided not […]
After long school meeting, Andover OKs $834,000 town budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With about 10 percent of the town’s population in attendance, the Andover Town Meeting on Saturday was – as usual – a well-mannered and friendly affair even though it started 70 minutes later than scheduled due to the school district meeting running over its allotted 15 minutes. […]
Chester commission disabled as member quits after walking out on meeting
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017-Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester Planning Commission member Tom Hildreth walked out of the panel’s Monday Feb. 27 meeting, declaring to the remaining two members “you don’t have a quorum,” as he packed up to leave. The following day he turned in his resignation to Town Hall. His action leaves just two members […]
Chester Select Board candidates address issues
Editor’s Note: Three people are vying for two one-year seats on the Chester Select Board: incumbent Ben Whalen, who is seeking a second term, and newcomers Lee Gustafson and Kelly Arrison, both local businessowners. Arne Jonynas, who has been serving in a one-year position, was spurred to seek a three-year seat that is being vacated […]
Chester bond issues seek funds for equipment, roads
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC There are three general obligation bonds on this year’s Town Meeting Day ballot in Chester. If passed, these will fund public works and buy various pieces of capital equipment. To borrow using a bond, the items being purchased must have a usable life that is longer than […]
Weston board questions GNAT-TV, clinic budget requests as Town Meeting nears
By Bruce Frauman ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Select Board is asking GNAT-TV and the Mountain Valley Medical Clinic to come before Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 7 to justify their funding requests. On Monday, Feb. 27, board member Charles Goodwin asked GNAT videographer Bruce Frauman, who is also the reporter of this article, […]
TRSU Act 46 merger committee approves four-town RED proposal
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Two Rivers Supervisory Union Act 46 Study Committee voted last night (Thursday, Feb. 23) to approve the subcommittee report that recommends the creation of a Regional Education District (RED) from Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester. If approved by the Vermont Board of Education at its March […]
Meadowsend Timberlands buys 600 acres; looks to renewable project down the road
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Meadowsend Timberlands has purchased 600 acres of land adjacent to the southern portion of its Stiles Brook Tract, straddling Grafton and Townsend, Jeremy Turner, managing forester for the company, confirmed on Tuesday. He added that a quarter of the tract is in Grafton, with the remaining acreage n […]
Chester board continues hearing comments on UDBs
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With two members not able to attend the Feb. 15 meeting, the Chester Select Board continued to hear comments on the Unified Development Bylaws in a public hearing, but in its regular meeting, did not take on anything of consequence, including a procedure for appointing public officials. […]
Derry Candidates Night: Three vie for open Select Board seats
By Bruce Frauman © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With the death of Londonderry Select Board chair Steve Prouty and members Wayne Blanchard and Bill Wylie deciding not to run for re-election, three Select Board seats will change hands on Town Meeting day. Emmett Dunbar and Cathy Aragi each came to the town’s Candidates Night on […]
Green Mountain RED merger moves forward; Ludlow, Mt. Holly reject plan
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday night, school merger study committee representatives from Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester who are working to form a Regional Education District heard from Mount Holly and Ludlow reps that those towns will not participate in the RED – even as a fallback position in their […]
Full Derry board meeting opens with tribute to Prouty
By Bruce Frauman ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With his voice breaking, Londonderry Select Board chair Paul Gordon opened the meeting of Feb. 13 saying, “It is with great sadness that I step in as vice chairman. The sudden passing of our chairman and friend, Steve Prouty, leaves us without our dedicated leader.” Prouty, 66, who […]
Ludlow, Mt. Holly schools close door on RED; 3 options remain
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Thursday night, Feb. 9, the Act 46 sub-committee for Mount Holly and Ludlow voted unanimously to tell the four towns working to form a Regional Education District that they would not participate in that effort – even as a backup in case other options don’t work […]
Residents hear Act 46 merger proposal at Flood Brook School
By Bruce Frauman ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Around 50 people braved the single digit temperatures and blowing snow on Thursday, Feb. 9 to attend an Act 46 School Merger Forum at Flood Brook School in Londonderry. The hour-long presentation by study committee member Debra Lyneis outlined the proposed merger of schools for nine towns into […]
Chester board hears comment on zoning regs; will interview appointments in public
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the Chester Select Board opened what could be a long series of hearings on proposed changes to the Unified Development Bylaws, with more than 40 residents in attendance. The bylaws are the combination of zoning regulations, flood hazard regulations and subdivision standards. They […]
Four TRSU schools move forward on RED, old options crop up
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the purpose of last Tuesday’s Act 46 sub-committee meeting was to pull together a proposal to form a Regional Education District — or RED — among the towns of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester, the question of what happens to Ludlow and Mount Holly followed the […]
Two contested races, 12 offices without candidates in Chester
© 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The petitions have been submitted, the signatures checked and here is the slate of candidates standing for elective office in Chester. There are two contested offices this year – two one-year terms on the Select Board and two unexpired two-year terms on the Chester Andover Elementary School board. Select Board […]
Ludlow-Mt. Holly Act 46 subcommittee explores options without GMUHS
By Shawn Cunningham ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC As they negotiated the fate of their beloved Black River High School, the crowd at Ludlow Elementary on Tuesday night seemed to be navigating the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. A week earlier, after more than a year of fact finding and negotiation, […]
Locals turn out in force to Montpelier, D.C. marches for women
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC MONTPELIER Saturday Jan. 21, 2017 was a day of surprises for many attending the Women’s March on Montpelier, just one small portion of a world-wide protest that began as a suggestion on Facebook after the election of Donald Trump to the presidency in November. Organizers and participants said […]
Chester board cancels planning, zoning interviews; appeals Act 250 decision
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board last Wednesday, Jan. 18, decided to cancel scheduled interviews with four candidates for the Chester Development Review Board and the Planning Commission until its members can agree on a process for interviewing them and all future candidates for such positions. […]
