All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Budget passes at relocated Andover Town Meeting
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC Failure of the Town Hall heating system forced the Andover Town Meeting to be moved to a hall at the Andover Community Church across the street, resulting in a standing room only crowd and prompting a joke from moderator Jon Bliss about the separation of church and state. Despite […]
News analysis: Are school tax rates going down?
Last August, Chester’s Select Board asked representatives of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and the tax department, to attend a special meeting to explain Vermont’s education finance system. But it seems the Chester Select Board is still having difficulties understanding the way that about 70 percent of Chester’s property tax burden is calculated. […]
Water system upgrade, Edson monument placement addressed at Chester Select Board meeting
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Feb. 18 meeting, the Chester Select Board heard a project update and information on funding alternatives for Chester’s water upgrade, considered a request to place the new Edson monument in an alternate site on the Green and got a report on traffic ticket income from Police Chief […]
Candidates in contested Chester Select Board race address pressing issues
©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC The Telegraph asked the two candidates for the open three-year term on the Chester Select Board to respond to a set of questions that address their vision for the town. The other two candidates — incumbents Tom Bock and Arne Jonynas — are unopposed in seeking re-election to one-year terms. The three-year […]
Londonderry hears from candidates, considers new fire truck
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC About 25 people turned out for Candidates Night at Town Hall in South Londonderry on Tuesday Feb. 10. In the absence of town moderator Wendell Coleman, Select Board member Robert Cowles took over the moderating duties. Cowles also announced that after 18 years on the board, he would not […]
Chester firefighters stretched and cramped and looking for a solution
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The two-bay end of the town garage that houses the Chester Fire Department was quiet on a recent evening — a welcomed break from more than a month of non-stop action for the 17 part-time firefighters, whose main coverage area spans 89 hilly square miles in Chester […]
Community architect addresses villages’ futures at Rotary talk
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC An architect who specializes in helping people think about the futures of their town centers attracted a crowd of 45 to the Fullerton Inn in Chester last Thursday night. While most were from Chester, residents of Ludlow, Londonderry, Springfield and Grafton also came to hear the Chester Rotary Club-sponsored […]
Board seeks higher return on Chester economic loan fund
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC Having speculated for several years whether a loan fund created to help Chester’s businesses could get a higher rate of return on its unused balance, the Chester Select Board heard a presentation by representatives of the wealth management division of People’s Bank at its Feb.y 4 meeting. The Chester […]
From the editor: No surprises in complaint rejection, but hope for transparency lives on
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC Two weeks ago, the Chester Select Board unanimously adopted a motion from a letter by town attorney Jim Carroll as a reply to The Chester Telegraph’s complaint that it had held an illegal executive session back in November. The Chester Telegraph claimed that the Nov. 19 executive session was […]
Chester Planning Commission continues to hone sign regs
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC In the absence of Tom Bock, Naomi Johnson took the chair of the Chester Planning Commission for its Monday, Jan. 26 meeting as the commission began reviewing the “definitions” section of the Unified Development Bylaws. While the past several meetings were attended by a substantial number of business people […]
Fire destroys Chester home on Sunday, donations welcome
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015-The Chester Telegraph Chester Fire Chief Matt Wilson says that a fire that destroyed the home of Andy and Judy Lavallee on First Avenue in Chester on Sunday was not suspicious, but that the cause has not been officially confirmed. According to the Chester Fire Department, firefighters responded around 8:30 a.m. to […]
Chester Select Board rejects Open Meeting Law complaint, pulls Australian ballot articles
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board heard from the town’s attorney regarding The Chester Telegraph’s complaint of a violation of Vermont’s Open Meeting Law and the board removed the questions regarding Australian ballot voting for all questions from the Town Meeting warning at its Jan. 21 meeting. Jim Carroll, attorney […]
Chester Historical Society throws future of Yosemite Fire House into question
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC The future of an iconic Chester structure is in question as the organization that has been responsible for it for nearly 38 years has expressed a desire to shed that responsibility. At a meeting on Thursday Jan. 22, Chester Historical Society President Ron Patch told the society’s membership […]
Spending issues on Town Meeting agendas for Andover, Chester, Grafton & Weston
2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC This time of year, town governments throughout Vermont begin setting their proposed spending agendas that voters will have to vote up or down either from the floor or by Australian ballot. Below are summaries of those articles for Andover, Chester, Grafton and Weston. Because of the Tuesday snows, we’ll give you […]
From the editor: On the recent downs and ups of the Chester Telegraph
Around 11:20 a.m. last Tuesday morning, as we were editing and writing articles for The Chester Telegraph, the company that hosted our website began experiencing instability on its servers. As you probably noticed, attempts to access the paper were met with 502 errors, 504 errors and other messages that indicated we and other websites hosted […]
Open offices: What’s up in Chester, Andover, Grafton, Weston and Londonderry
©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC Next week: We’ll outline the fiscal articles that will be on the ballots for Andover, Chester, Grafton, Londonderry and Weston. Chester petitions due Monday Petitions to run for elective office in Chester are due at the Town Office by 5 p.m. Monday Jan. 26. According to Chester Town Clerk Deb Aldrich, […]
Chester Planning Commission begins drafting sign law, comments still sought
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC Having taken several hours of testimony from business owners and residents at two earlier meetings, the Chester Planning Commission met on Monday, Jan. 12 to discuss and organize the work of revising the town’s sign ordinance. Commission chair Tom Bock referred to the complexity of the work […]
SAPA-TV announces video on demand; seeks donations to further broadcasting
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC If living on a Class 3 road out in the woods has always meant missing the thrill of watching a Chester, Springfield or Weathersfield select board meeting in your pajamas, you won’t be deprived any longer. As Springfield Area Public Access Television begins its video on demand service, […]
Chester board considers eliminating votes during town meeting; adopts budget proposal for voter approval
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 The Chester Telegraph The Chester Select Board is considering whether voting from the floor at town meeting should be eliminated. Two articles were proposed for consideration at the Monday March 2 meeting. Article 2 asks “Shall the Town of Chester vote on all public questions by Australian ballot.” Article 3 asks […]
Commentary: Do it in public — a call for transparency and accountability
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015 The Chester Telegraph The Chester Telegraph has sent a formal letter of complaint alleging that on Nov. 19 of last year the Chester Select Board held an illegal executive session. You can read a copy of that complaint here. That seems like a pretty serious step. But the fact is that […]
